Admission and Retention Standards

The BFA Program

The B.F.A. program follows an open admission policy only for the first quarter; thereafter, students must progress according to department guidelines in order to continue. Prospective motion picture B.F.A. students must take MP-131 (Film Appreciation) the Fall Quarter of their freshman year and receive an "A" or "B" in order to proceed to any other classes as a major. The successful MP-131 student should register for MP-231 (Film History I) in the Winter Quarter of the freshman year. In order to be eligible to take MP-180 (Film Production I) and MP-232 (Film History II) in the Spring Quarter of the freshman year, students must have completed 24 university credit hours, received a "C" or higher in MP-231, and achieved an overall GPA of "2.25" by the end of Winter Quarter.

After the completion of the Spring Quarter of the freshman year, prospective B.F.A. students must submit a Sophomore Audition Application and be officially accepted as a film major in order to continue into the sophomore year of the B.F.A. program. Note that each year, there will be a limited number of students invited to enroll into the second year and become B.F.A. majors. No applications will be approved from anyone who did not receive a "B" or higher in both MP-131 and MP-180. Students who did not get an adequate MP-131 grade may reregister for MP-131 the next Fall only with the permission of the Motion Pictures Coordinator. Students who did not get an adequate MP-180 grade will not automatically be guaranteed the opportunity to take the course again, but may do so only with permission of the motion pictures faculty if there are empty spaces. Students without adequate grades in MP-131 and MP-180 take additional theatre arts classes with no assurance that they will ever be accepted into the B.F.A. program. Priority in allotting spaces into the sophomore class will be given to those students who have 1) received an "A" in MP-131 and/or MP-180, 2) completed at least 36 credit hours, 3) achieved an overall grade point of "3.0," 4) completed MP-231 and 232 with a "3.0" average or higher for these classes, 5) completed MP-214 and/or ART 214 by the Spring Quarter of the freshman year, 6) achieved a "3.0" average in all theory classes attempted, 7) completed two courses in English composition with a "3.0" average, 8) have no incompletes or withdrawals in any theatre arts classes, and 9) submitted an example of their best classroom writing. Selected freshmen, with faculty permission, may also be eligible to register for an upper-level theory course the Spring Quarter of the freshman year. Students will be informed, by mail, shortly after the end of the spring quarter, in late June, whether they have been accepted as B.F.A. majors.

At the end of the sophomore year, B.F.A. students must once again audition successfully for entrance into the junior year of the program. This process is called the Junior Audition and is a comprehensive process involving multiple meetings with faculty and review of all work done in the program. Before students are accepted into the junior year, they must minimally have a "2.5" grade point average in all film history/theory classes and a "2.25" overall grade point average. Students must also have completed six film history/theory courses, not including MP-131, and including MP-231, 232, and 233, and have earned at least 85 credit hours. Students are required to submit original media work for faculty evaluation. To be accepted to the third year, students must be disciplined and show promise of benefiting from continuing education. Sophomores are not automatically guaranteed a slot in the final two years of the program. Students not invited into the junior year may, at the faculty's discretion, either be dismissed from the major or be invited to audition again after certain deficiencies are made up. In their third year, all production students are expected to demonstrate growth in film technique and earn additional credits in film history, theory, and criticism, as well as credits in general education classes and electives. Any student whose overall grade point average falls below "2.25" will be suspended from production classes and the use of facilities until the grade point average is raised. The faculty reserves the right to suspend totally from the program any student who does not fulfill these continuing requirements or is not progressing satisfactorily in their motion pictures courses.

Note that the typical production student may tend to take five years to finish the production degree -- in part, to take advantage of additional time to finish a major junior or senior film project and/or because of the need to take time away from studies in order to earn money to help support those studies and filmmaking projects.

The BA Program

Students who are interested in the B.A. program generally follow the same program of study for the first year as the B.F.A. students, with one exception: instead of taking MP-180 their first year, they will take a special MP-281 for theory majors their second year. Students who do not love to read and write about films or who do not get "A's" and high "B's" in all their theory classes their freshman year, are strongly discouraged from pursuing this undergraduate B.A. degree, as should also any students who are not passionately interested in the "intellectual" component of film and film culture.

From their freshman year on, motion pictures students are eligible to apply for scholarships and financial aid directly from the university. After their freshman year, motion pictures students are also eligible to apply for Continuing Excellence scholarships from the Department of Theatre Arts.

A Note to Transfer Students

Many students transfer to Wright State with credits from other institutions. These students must fulfill the same requirements as other students. Transfer students can expect to take at least four years to graduate, although their final two years may not be full-time. No courses taken elsewhere are ever allowed to substitute for MP-131, MP-231, MP-232, or MP-233. Likely courses eligible for transfer credit include general education courses taken elsewhere; courses in photography, music, art, or television, which may fulfill the Related Requirements of the BFA or BA degrees; and miscellaneous courses, which may fulfill the elective credit. Students who wish to place out of MP-180, granted only rarely, must have over 60 credit hours elsewhere, a "3.0" average, significant experience in 16mm filmmaking, a demonstration reel; further, they must petition the faculty in the Spring Quarter preceding initial enrollment. Generally, faculty will not formally confer with students to evaluate the applicability of transfer credits until the Fall Quarter of the Sophomore year of studies.

Last updated June 12, 2007