<p>Hey All
Current Chapman freshman here. Just wanted to create a place for any prospective students to ask questions.
I'm a Creative Producing major and live on campus in Henley.
Feel free to ask anything!</p>
<p>what do you know about the pre-med program at chapman?</p>
<p>thanks for offering to give some information. Are industry internships available to Dodge freshman? sophmores? Or are they reserved primarily for upperclassmen? How readily available are they?</p>
<p>football: I don’t know too much about the pre-med program, however, from what I have heard, it sounds like rather than focusing in on a pre-med track, you major in some sort of biological science. I even have a friend who is majoring in Athletic Training with the hopes of someday going to medical school. Since the school prides itself on being “liberal artsy” but with a little bit of a twist (combining a research institution) it seems like a pretty solid program.</p>
<p>norcalimom: Yes! Dodge sends out a weekly email called The Slate. On the bottom of each mailing, there are dozens and dozens of internship and job postings. In fact, I was able to secure one last summer before even matriculating to Chapman through their Career Development Center. Students also gain a lot of internships through professors/visiting guests. This past semester, Randal Kleiser (Director of Grease) was our Filmmaker in Residence. He was available to meet with students, as well as to give a Q&A + dinner with 10 students twice a week. After a dinner in October, he hired a student as his personal intern!</p>
<p>ocfresh, you are a breath of fresh air! 
My D applied to the Creative Producing program because of all the film schools, Chapman is the school to offer that program. My understanding is that it’s a pretty new track. Do you know how recent graduates have fared in the job market? How are they perceived vs. the Film Production majors? Also, she applied EA. Will she hear back in mid- to late-January like all other non-Dodge applicants, or do the Creative Producing applicants also wait it out like the Film Production applicants?</p>
<p>*the ONLY school to offer that program</p>
<p>Do industry internships normally pay a stipend?</p>
<p>ocfresh, that is so cool that you got an internship the summer before you actually started film school! Was housing easy to secure for your summer job?</p>
<p>Chapman is my first choice school and I’m applying as an English major - what has been your experience with English classes at Chapman so far? Do you know anything about how good the English department is?
Also, I’m trying to become a music journalist. I know that there’s a few major record labels that have available internships in LA, but that’s not really what I want. Are there smaller places outside of LA, maybe like cool music venues or hip publications, that I would easily find internships at?</p>
<p>I have been looking at Chapman ever since I first visited it when I was a freshman in high school and I really look forward to hopefully attending next fall but I’ve heard many rumors that at Chapman there are cliques because it is such a small school and many of the students are somewhat “rich snobs”. Is there any truth to this?</p>
<p>bigamy: There really is no way to say how well people are faring in the job market, however, in the In Production newsletter that Dodge makes, there is a listing in the back of what alumni are doing right now, along with what degree they graduated with, etc. Your daughter will most likely hear back between January 10th and mid February. Good Luck!
Internships don’t typically pay anything, and I actually live in LA so I just commuted from home for the internship. </p>
<p>anna: I have only taken one english class so far and enjoyed it. There is one english professor, Doug Sweet, who you just HAVE to take. I can’t even describe how laid back and fun he is. Not too sure about the music venues, but if you can find a place i’m sure they would love to have interns.</p>
<p>alex: Yes and no. You will find rich snobs, you will find laid back and fun people.</p>
<p>Thank you ocfresh for your brilliant answers. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the post, ocfresh! I was about to bump this thread… D really would like to look into summer jobs in LA and your answers help put things into perspective.</p>
<p>ocfresh, how are you enjoying the Creative Producing Program? What do you see are the major differences between Creative Producing and Film Production? Do you have opportunities to write and produce your own films?</p>
<p>bigmama:
I absolutely love Creative Producing. I like to tell people that its Film Production…without the Production. The only differences between the programs is that FP focuses on just that…Production. CP is more of dealing with the business aspects of Film Production, supporting filmmakers as they create their artistic vision, working with marketing and networking aspects of the progress. It seems the school is really stressing Social Media as a networking AND marketing tool now a days, and CP majors are encouraged to minor in either PR/AD as they both really dig into that tool.
There is a Professor- Cory O’Connor who teaches a couple PR/AD classes. He’s a great guy. Used to be an Exec at Disney Channel, and he is OBSESSED with Social Networking. Teaches a whole class (Internet Communications) about it. In fact, to get in touch with him, you need to tweet. Really funny.
Creative Producers also need to take a Entertainment Marketing class which USED to be taught by Prof. O’Connor, and now being taught (only for CP-ers) by Dawn Taubin, former President of Marketing for Warner Brothers. She focuses on one film each semester and delves into how it was marketed, etc. Last semester she focused on Inception, and a lot of students really enjoyed that class. It’s a capstone class for PR/AD and Creative Producers, so it’s a pretty intense semester.</p>
<p>After reading your post, ocfresh, I don’t know about my D, but I want to be a CP major too! That’s awesome! It’s going to be heart-wrenching for my D if she doesn’t get in. It was like everything made sense when she saw the program offered at Chapman - it’s exactly what she wants to do - not focusing on filming, but producing. Plus when we visited Chapman in the summer, she knew at once that was where she wanted to spend her next four years. Thanks again for your input. All the very best to you as you continue your program of studies there!</p>
<p>one more question, ocfresh… do you know how competitive it is to get into the Creative Producing program for 2011-2012? Are applicants still just swamping the Film Production and pretty much leaving the other Dodge majors with normal numbers of applicants?</p>
<p>bigmamabear - I’m applying for Creative Producing as well! I’m wondering the same thing as you are, about how competitive the major is. I totally understand how your daughter feels, I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t get in!</p>
<p>hey all! just wondering if anyone applied as health sciences major and if anyone has heard back / ur stats</p>
<p>As far as i’m concerned, CP is a lot less competitive than FP. FP gets by far the most applicants out of any other major at Dodge. You do have to realize though that CP is a much more recent addition to the school than FP is, so i’m honestly expecting it to be the next hot major. It is also in the film division of the school so you will still be getting a lot of hands on and on set experience.
Also…EA decisions BEGAN to be released last year on Jan 10th so I’m assuming the same goes for this year (although i’m sure it’s a very small pool released).
Generally speaking, it sounds like from last years experience, Admission Approved means you’re in, Decision Complete can mean anything- but unfortunately it usually points to a Wait list or Deny. Remember to wait for your letter to celebrate/cry…</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone else has asked this, but how prominent is Greek life on campus? Do you have to be a member in order to attend their parties? How often would you say you are able to find a party (not necessarily a Greek one, but ANY one) when you want to go to one? I have a friend who goes to a near by school (UCI) and she says she ends up having to go to other schools for parties.
As someone who didn’t party AT ALL in high school, I definitely want to have a reasonably good party scene at the college I go to. I’ve saved the partying for college so I hope I’m able to find some of that at Chapman, ha.</p>