Chapman, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts

“C” had been making movies since early in high school so she was fairly certain she was interested in filmmaking as she started to research colleges. She visited a number of schools and the minute she stepped foot on Dodge’s campus she fell in love and set her sights on preparing a successful application. Knowing the odds for acceptance were slim, she also prepared applications for many other programs.

Applying to many of the film programs within a larger university such as Chapman, required her to answer the university-based questions as well as program-based questions. We counted, and in all she responded to 32 prompts, some a few words, some far longer, all requiring her to tell pieces of her story in each one. She had a great depth of experience to pull from both with respect to films she had created, and instances where she could discuss her collaboration and leadership qualities which helped her efforts quite a bit.

Applying to over 10 programs also meant keeping track of the creative requirements as well as varying due dates for each program. Very often application to film programs do not follow the normal deadlines of the university so making sure she was following the correct due dates was critical to her success. We met over 20 times to discuss the merits of various programs, brainstorm essays, and review creative submissions and in the end she applied early decision and was accepted, with a merit aid scholarship of $20,000 per year!! All the hard work certainly paid off and she can’t wait to start her next chapter in the fall.

The BEST thank you notes I’ve ever received just reinforced how proud I am of working with her to achieve her goals!