Demographics
US domestic
State/Location of residency: MN
Type of high school: Large suburban HS
Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Male, White
Other special factors: LD (Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia)
Intended Major(s)
Film/media studies (not interested in film schools, but rather liberal arts schools with film majors); political science; environmental studies
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.77
Weighted HS GPA: 3.87
(COVID year grades were lower due to remote learning with learning disability and parent health issues)
Class Rank: N/A
ACT/SAT Scores: 35 ACT
Coursework
8 AP classes by EOY; 4 “5s” so far
Awards
National Merit Commended Student
AP Scholar
Distinguished score on Project Lead the Way Civil Engineering Test
Extracurriculars
-Film club founder
-Selected through interview process to participate in student film workshop by local film institute
-Student legislative action committee member
-Library volunteer
-JV cross country
-JV track
-Club swim team
Essays/LORs/Other
Strong essays; completing all optional essays plus scholarship and honors college apps, where available
**Cost Constraints /(High school students:
Looking for good chances for merit aid given that need-based might be sparse (middle class, divorced family with stepparent income included)
Schools
Safety (certain admission and affordability)
University of Minnesota
University of Pittsburgh
University of Iowa
Lawrence University
Likely
University of Wisconsin - Madison
St. Olaf College
Match
Denison University
Oberlin College
Reach
Vanderbilt University
Carleton College
Northwestern University
Northeastern University
Wesleyan University
Washington University St. Louis
Just asking, film studies majors often apply to USC, NYU, LMU, Chapman, even SCAD. Or in cities with active film industries. How did you decide on this list? Do you have a portfolio for admission if it is a restricted major?
He’s newly interested in film and did not want to be restricted to applying into a film school. He wants a strong liberal arts school with the option to major in film. He is too new to the interest to have a portfolio and could end up with a different major. All of the options on the list offer film majors but don’t require a separate film school application/program. But we’re open to hearing feedback on other options!
Ideally he could get enough merit or scholarships to get the price close to our best public option (Madison). But we’re not sure if that’s realistic.
Clark U could be a good one to look at. Their Screen Studies major has a lot of production content and great internship opportunities. Major in Screen Studies | Bachelor of Arts Degree | Clark University Poli Sci and environmental studies should be solid too. And they tend to be pretty generous with merit.
Even leaving aside the odds of acceptance, your reaches don’t seem to have much affordability potential.
Conn College could be a good alternative to Wesleyan. They’re not super-generous with merit but do have some merit scholarships, which Wesleyan does not. Film Studies · Connecticut College (Conn exists because of Wesleyan’s one-time resistance to going coed, although of course both are coed now.)
Have you run the net price calculator on each college’s web site? For most of the private schools on the list (except Vanderbilt), be sure to include both divorced parents’ finances.
We have. Right now, we’re feeling our best financial options are Madison, St. Olaf (if we can get merit), Vandy (if he gets in and they only look at one parent), Pitt (again with merit), Denison (with merit), or Oberlin (with merit). I just am not seeing that the “full financial need” schools will be great for our situation as they cater to full pay or low income.
Yes, we’ve heard that about Madison! We’ve applied early action and are hopeful, but it’s for sure not a guarantee. Probably won’t hear until January.
He’s been accepted at Pitt, Iowa, UMN. Iowa has already awarded some merit ($12,500, but will up it to 15K if his unweighted goes to 3.8 after this semester). They have a screenwriting program that’s well regarded. Don’t know yet on merit for UMN or Pitt.
In addition to Madison, we also applied early action at St. Olaf, Lawrence and Northeastern. The rest will be regular decision due to a need to compare costs.
Thank you! This is super helpful. Hadn’t looked at Clark or Connecticut yet. Will check those out and the other thread as well.
And yes, our reaches are definitely financial reach schools (in addition to tough admissions). Vandy might be a wild card since they don’t look at both divorced parents’ incomes, but he’d have to get in first!
I’m least optimistic about Carleton, Northwestern and Wesleyan. Even if he gets in, it doesn’t seem like they work out financially unless you can easily pay full price or are low income. Sad since Carleton is one he really liked.
Another that I think shares some of the qualities of Carleton and other schools you like is Whitman, in eastern Washington. A bit of a hassle to get to (a connecting flight through Seattle), and I notice you haven’t been looking in a westward direction, but it’s extremely strong in environmental stuff and has a film & media studies major that looks promising Film & Media Studies | Whitman College
Many of these are CTCL schools (as are Lawrence, Denison, & St. Olaf from your list); the profiles there could be useful in getting a sense of each school’s vibe College Profiles – Colleges That Change Lives
Our D23 applied to a lot of the top film schools but also a number of liberal arts schools with well regarded film programs that didn’t require portfolios, and except for Penn State, she received good merit from: Quinnipiac, Marist, Hofstra, UCONN, Drexel (optional portfolio) and Penn State. Again, except for Penn State, final cost was $35-40k. Also, while Ithaca is a top film school, there was no portfolio and with merit, COA was less than $35k.
I know there was a prompt and she had to write a short story of less than a page. I don’t remember whether she had to submit other samples. She had a higher GPA than your student but applied test optional and received in-state tuition so it was going to be around $33k for her to attend.
She knew she wanted to be a filmmaker since middle school so she wanted a serious film school so she’s at Emerson now. Her other finalists were Chapman, UNCSA and Ithaca.
I saw the Carleton financial aid site encourages families to contact them if they want to get into more specifics than the online calculators ask. Perhaps worth a call if one of your son’s top choices?
I don’t think you have a merit list. Pitt, Denison, Oberlin, Northwestern, Northeastern types. So Kalamazoo is a good suggestion
U Denver, College of Charleston, UAH, Miami of Ohio would be good subs as would Depauw or Allegheny on the LAC end. Augustana in South Dakota too. Better merit chances.
In addition to Iowa, Kansas would be solid as would Oklahoma.
If you were willing to venture farther, U of Alabama would be $20k in all in with auto merit. Arizona, which has a solid program, about $35k all in.
I liked your list but not for your stated goal cost wise. Wisconsin may be a slight reach and even Denison and Oberlin RD.
You can definitely achieve your financial desires with some school selection flexibility. And many film programs are in the college of arts and sciences so a portfolio won’t be needed. But they will be less hands on…more theory etc