Chapman University - Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Reviews & Admissions Statistics

First off, let's talk about the pros to attending Chapman. The weather is great all the time and if you come here, you avoid that good for nothin snow back east. Disneyland is just around the corner and if you're lookin for a little bit of expensive fun, it's got you covered. The campus is absolutely beautiful as well while you're being surrounded by students who also (hopefully) love film.

Now let's talk about the cons, and trust me, there's a lot in the editing program.

The editing program is taught by one professor, unlike other programs such as directing and screenwriting which tends to be taught by multiple professors. Not so bad to have one editing professor right?... right?... Well there's a lot of problems with him and the way he teaches his class so if you don't like him, you simply can't switch.

For example, when I was in undergrad learning editing, I had a bunch of computer classes that taught me various programs on how to become a better editor and when I went into Chapman, I expected that this program was going to be similar. However, the editing program isn't taught with computers. You just simply show up to class, sit on a couch, and watch movies while the editing professor tells you on how to edit better. There's no hands-on learning, no using a computer in his class, it's purely learning by auditory learning. However, you do get to edit student projects and he'll give you auditory feedback on how to make them better.

In terms of his personality, if neuroticism is on a scale of 1 to 100, he's at least an 80+, while his agreeableness is below a 30. This translates to a highly competitive guy with a bit of rough edge around him and the kind of guy where if you disappoint him, he will give you an earful of negative talk and is not the kind of guy to give second chances either. For example, after one student did bad on an editing assignment, the teacher called their work completely incompetent and told them to their face that they have no talent. That's the kind of guy this professor is.

This isn't really a pro or con but if you decide to attend Chapman, you should definitely have some experience with editing film. This really isn't a school to cater to beginners.

This review will specifically go over the MFA Editing Curriculum at Dodge

Editing Expectations at Chapman:​

If you decide to attend the editing program at Chapman, you are expected to already be proficient in either Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, or Avid. It is also strongly recommended that you have experience with editing film specifically because if you don't, you are more likely to struggle in this program, and the resources to help struggling students succeed is scarce (more on that later).

I know that you can get a masters in editing even if you didn't go to film-school as an undergrad, but the editing program isn't built to help students succeed if they don't have a lot of prior film experience. If you come to school here, you are expected to know what you're doing. Prior experience with editing film is strongly strongly recommended if you decide to attend Chapman.

The Editing Class Itself:​

The editing curriculum is specifically taught by one person who has been there for a long time and has edited various films, some of which you have heard of before. The best way I can describe him is that he’s basically a milder version of a drill sergeant. He’s high strung, old school, no-nonsense, and honest to a fault. If you’re late to his class, he will yell at you so you better show up on time. He’s not the accommodating type and not the kind of guy who’s going to spare you the rod, meaning if he thinks your film is bad, he’s going to tell you that your film is bad, and break it into detail on why he thinks your film is bad. The editing curriculum is very intense and competitive. If you do bad on an editing assignment, instead of getting a bad grade, the editing teacher will simply replace you with someone else.

In terms of teaching style, he’s pretty old school. For one thing, he doesn’t teach you through the use of a computer, in fact, he hardly teaches you any editing technical skills at all. How his class works is that he gives you editing footage that you must complete in a week, and then he watches everyone’s edit live in class on a big screen. While watching the edits, he will give feedback based on what he wants done differently in everyone’s edit. And then for the next two weeks, you must revise your edits based on what the teacher wants. Oh and by the way, anything he wants differently to another person’s edit, also applies to your edits as well so you better remember everything he said. If the teacher gives you feedback on how to change your film, and you don’t apply the changes in your next edit, then he will yell at you in class.

Now the problem with the teacher is that his teaching style caters more to students who are good at processing auditory information. Since he does NOT give written feedback and refuses to do it, anybody who primarily learns by written instruction or by hands on instruction, may struggle in his class and may not be able to process all of the information as easily. He is not a good fit for everyone, so if you’re an editor and you decide to attend Chapman, keep in mind the fact that there’s only one editing mentor as of 2025. A teacher can either make or break your experience at this school and if you’re in this curriculum and you're not a good fit for this particular teacher, then it’s going to be tougher to succeed.

The Resources To Help Students Succeed at Chapman:​

In terms of bigger schools, such as the University of Kansas where I'm from, there isn't a lot of resources to help struggling students succeed in their classes. But in order for you to better understand, i'll give a comparison between Kansas and Chapman.

• Kansas has a discord group where students who are struggling in their classes can go get help. The Chapman film school does not.
• Kansas has a tutoring center where students who are struggling in their classes can go get help. The Chapman film school does not.
• Both schools have computers that are dedicated to running various computer software including Premiere, Davinci Resolve, and many more.
• Both schools have teachers who are willing to help their students although in my opinion, teachers at Kansas have more dedicated office hours and are more willing to help you.
• Kansas has PLAs who are student assistants in the class who's job is to help students in the class and they even have dedicated office hours where struggling students can go get help. Chapman does not have PLA's.
• Both schools have disability services available.

Overall, Kansas has more resources to help struggling students succeed. If you are struggling at Chapman, you have to rely more on the optional good-will of others, rather than an obligation that dedicated school resources provide.

What if you're neurodivergent and/or have major learning disabilities?
Then stay away from the MFA editing program. At Dodge, only the strongest survive. The editing teacher isn't going to hold your hand and help struggling students out. He doesn't give a shit if you're disabled or you're going through mental problems, either you do a good job, or he's going to fail you. Like I said, the editing program is very competitive.

I studied in the MFA cine program for one year and deferred due to the corona virus, but decided not to return to the program, mainly due to disillusionment with the quality of the classes.
The first semester, everyone is required to take a class called "Story". To be blunt the class was kind of a joke. It involved reading stories like The Tell Tale Heart and the Oedipus myth, stories which basically every high school American is exposed to at some point. The homework was also pretty mind numbing and reminiscent of high school busy work, which makes you wonder why graduate students are being subjected to it. Furthermore, why are cine students forced to take an acting class their second year?

The only classes that I thought were useful were the ones specific to my discipline--cinematography. And that's the problem with Chapman's MFA program for production-- it should actually be a condensed two year degree like AFI. I would have loved to have taken all the cine classes, ignored the rest, and graduated much sooner and cheaper, but unfortunately that's the con of a curriculum that's predetermined.
Based on my experience of the program it's designed more for students who haven't had much prior production experience.

Unfortunately, I don't think Chapman does a very good job of preparing those students who do have less experience than others. The first semester cine students are required to make a project called a 3-2-1, yet are given pretty much zero instruction in the very basics of lighting. Two cine students dropped out right after the first semester because they realized it makes no sense to pay all that money for lessons that weren't even given. People go to film school to be taught and instructed in an organized way, not to figure everything out on their own. That's what YouTube is for. During the second semester, lighting was finally covered in more detail... after over 20K had already been spent by every student.

The philosophy at Chapman is actually that students are supposed to get most of their hands on practical knowledge by volunteering on student sets. Which is fine. That's why I dropped out. Because why pay money to work on sets when I can work on sets for free without paying? And that's the problem. The students I've worked under certainly know things that I've learned from, but there's no way of knowing what it is you don't know unless you actually have an experienced professor teaching you. Maybe more of that happens in the second year, but I didn't care to risk all that money to find out.

The second, and possibly most important, issue that I believe holds Chapman back is the quality of the students they admit. Networking is a huge part of film school, so if your classmates aren't that special, then you're in trouble. I'm not speaking about my fellow cine students, but mainly the quality of the directing students. Many seemed to have a working knowledge of cinema limited to Marvel and Christopher Nolan. Which I guess is fine if you want to try to make films like those. Others liked to spout trite and poorly reasoned regurgitations of the latest pop woke tropes, which I suppose is also fine if you want to direct Coke commercials. But if you want to make meaningful independent cinema... well, there weren't too many unique, truly authentic voices to be found in that bunch.

I know someone who attends AFI, and based on what I've heard the gulf between the quality of students at AFI and Chapman isn't very close. The resumes of the AFI students knock those of the Chapman students out of the park. Many have already shot, edited, or directed a feature, and many have legitimately impressive connections (connections are definitely not required to gain admission though). If you want to surround yourself with people very likely to be successful, you'll have a much better shot at AFI.

Demographically, most of the students in the whole graduate program (not just MFA cine) are white or international Chinese students. A very small percentage are black, and I'm not really sure what accounts for this disparity other than that Orange County itself has a very small black population, and black students probably prefer attending programs in LA where there is a much bigger local black population. The high number of international Chinese students makes networking somewhat difficult, as there can unfortunately be a bit of a language and cultural barrier. This group is kind of cliquey, probably because it streamlines things for them to work with those who speak the same native language. But they're also very good at connecting with fellow Chinese students at the other big schools like USC and AFI.
Honestly, I don't like referring to Chapman as a film school. They are currently phasing out all their film cameras, and much of the interest and excitement attending students have appears to be focused on digital TV production more than anything else. It is definitely not a cinema lover's school, although I was lucky to meet a few like minded people there. While I was disappointed overall, I'm glad I went for the one year I did. I learned some things I didn't know about cinematography before, and made some connections with people I will be working with in the future. But for those who want the best MFA experience, I suggest looking elsewhere.