<p>Son wants to go to Emerson (he's a h.s. jr.) but his gpa is only around 3.0. He went to NYFA 4-week film program last summer, had a great experience. He is taking video production at school this year. He has high grades in video, English, and history. The low grades in math, science, and AP Spanish have weighed down his gpa. He was accepted into Emerson's summer filmmakers' program for this summer -- they accept only 16 students and he did have to submit a portfolio (2 short films) so I assume this means they saw some degree of talent there! So my question is, will his participation in this summer program help in any way when he applies to Emerson next year? Since it is such a small program, I assume that if he impresses the instructors, they will remember him when his application comes through. True?</p>
<p>Probably it will have an impact on his application that he demonstrates interest in Emerson and talent in film-making, but since instructors/professors don’t handle admissions at the undergraduate level, whether or not the instructors remember him when his application comes through is kind of a moot point. They won’t see his application or even know that he actually applied unless he rings one of them up and tells them. Now, it’s possible that one of these professors will go to bat for him if they find out he is applying – casually slip on over to the admissions office and put in the good word, so to speak, as athletic coaches and instructors in special programs who really want certain kids do. But he has to really impress the professor and give him a sense that he would be a great fit for Emerson.</p>
<p>But more generally, it looks great on college applications to have had these sorts of experiences and especially for Emerson, since he’s expressing interest through attending a summer program at that school. So I’d say probably it lifts his chances a bit, but he shouldn’t necessarily count on being admitted solely because of this program. He should work on getting some great SAT scores to sort of balance out that GPA (which is a good GPA! just not ‘competitive’ for some selective schools). Unless your family will undergo financial hardship by allowing him to go to the program, it would be a good idea.</p>