Hey all,

I applied to Chapman a year and a half ago and got as far as the waitlist. I thought that was pretty good, considering.

However, now that I've done a little bit of work and life in the "real world" I'm getting up the desire to re-apply. I didn't re-apply right away because I started up my own business, which has been going well. Ultimately, however, it's not the direction I want for my life (if I have any say at all!)

Enough about my life story. Has anyone reapplied to Chapman (or any other school)? Can I reuse materials I used in the first application?

Most importantly: is it a good idea to try to schedule an appointment with the department to see what I can do to improve my odds and/or improve my application?

Thanks!! Good luck to all with your current applications

Hi hgsouth,

Congrats on starting your business - I think seeing that sort of drive and initiative will be really big in the eyes of grad schools.

But here's my question:

If the application materials you submitted two years ago weren't enough to get you in, why would they be now? Have you subsequently worked on / polished them? Likely, Chapman's admissions office would find the same concerns in them that they may have two years ago.

Have you had any other creative projects you've worked in in the meantime that would better reflect your development as a filmmaker?

I wouldn't make an attempt to schedule such an interview, myself; I think it would come across as desperate.

I think that if you had asked for feedback or an interview shortly after you were rejected it might have been a better idea. Over a year later, I think it unlikely that such a meeting would be worthwhile. There's been a whole other huge class to apply and start classes since you were waitlisted.

And as a member of that class, I can tell you that Chapman is getting more competitive every year. There are some great folks in every class, but in each year that I've interacted with - two years ago, one year ago, this year - there's less and less disparity as the classes get younger. We still take people that don't get into USC or UCLA or NYU or Tisch, but the standards are getting higher.

That being said, Chapman is far easier to get into as a writer or producer than as a director. Not that you should apply to produce if you love directing, just a heads up. Those second choices on the application are serious... I know more than one writing student who applied for something else. (Editing seems to be lower on the totem pole than even writing, so if you want to be an editor, Chapman has a great program that is, apparently, not that competitive).

Welcome back, HGSouth.

I would not use the same materials. They didn't get you in, whether Chapman's standards have been upped since you got rejected anyway. I don't see why this year would be any different results for effectively singing the same tune.

Best of luck.

notroberttowne,

Where does Sound Design fall on the totem pole? It's something I'm very interested in, and I'm curious if you know how competitive it is?

sound design is down just below editing. it's kinda like fighting for a 2nd to last place with production design.
this year alone we only have 7 sound designers.

quote:

notroberttowne

Mike is there any truth to what notroberttowne is saying? I'm applying for the Fall 2010 for both Producing and Screenwriting. I can decided which one to pick or put down as my number one. I consider myself both business minded and creative. I do a lot of writing. Can you shed any insight you may have and possibly offer some advice.

Thanks in advance,
SilverLenz

I think the school would love to get more sound designers and producers. Directors and Screenwriters they've got plenty of. Which is not to say that there's no competition, but if you're applying to chapman and have an interest outside directing or writing you're not going to hurt your chances by at least listing a second choice outside of those two areas.

I'd say that the most competitive groups in my class (this year) were directors by a huge degree, then probably writers and cinematographers. After that are the editors, then the sound designers and production designers. I think for this year they actually dropped the MA in film studies entirely because there weren't enough students (which is weird because they went ahead with the production design MFA even though I think there's only one student in it).

quote:

notroberttowne

Wow.. there are so many questions I'd like to ask you about Chapman. For example how good is the Producer program. Have any of the producers in recent years won any awards. Also do they allow the producers to take screenwriting courses? I would like to to be able to dabble in screenwriting if i got selected as a producer.

SilverLenz

I don't know about awards, but I can assure you that the producers can take screenwriting classes. In fact, Chapman allows you to take as many classes as you want to/can without paying anything extra. I'd say that fact is a strong argument in it's favor... you can take feature writing and intro to sound design in your first summer as a producer if you can find the time. My understanding is that this is the case at some other schools only if you can find the time AND the money to pay for the extra classes.

Chapman does, however, lack to prestige alumni that many other schools have. You know that guy who wrote and directed the Fourth Kind this year? We have that guy. Seriously, though, the conservatory program's only been running for about five years and we ought to see a bit more traction as more and more of us get out there.

Thanks notroberttowne,

I was worried that If I picked Producing I wouldn't be able to take any screenwriting courses. I think I'm now going to put Producing as my number one choice and Screenwriting as my number two choice. Don't get me wrong I'd love to direct but, I see myself more as a producer/writer. Thanks again for all your advice.

SilverLenz

notroberttowne pretty much covered the general idea. I personally think it's all up to you. Which emphasis are you more "in love" with. I believe your top choice should be the one you love the most. My biggest peeve are people who go into an emphasis not giving a damn about it because it's a second choice and they chose it randomly. Go into the emphasis you love the most. This is a Graduate school, not undergrad. Do what you truly love here or you're just wasting your time and money.

Notroberttowne/Mike_V,

I'm finishing up my Chapman application and was wondering if either of you could answer this question. I'm working on the dramatic scene and was wondering if you guys thought it would be okay if the scene wasn't dialogue driven. I'm only in the first draft but have noticed that it’s more descriptive in nature. Don’t get me wrong there is dialogue but the story is more driven by description. I want the reader to be able to imagine what’s going on. I didn’t want it to be to wordy or have unnecessary dialogue. In other words I wanted to maximize my three page allotment.

Thanks in advance,
Silverlenz

The directions say:

You may use any format you like—narrative short story, screenplay, stage play, etc.

So, looks like your approach would fall under "narrative short story".

I'm writing the dramtic scene using screenplay format. I just isn't dialogue driven.

it is entirely up to you silverlenz. Mine was half/half. if you feel that it is more neccessary to be very heavily descriptive, then it's by your own discretion.
most of the assignments are very open-ended

i hope that helps....

It does. Thank you.

good luck. I hope it helps.

Thanks for the advice everyone!!