Application Lottery Information
Freestyle was originally created and envisioned to be another choice for those students who are "just doing school", not necessarily excelling in school or students with art or technical experience in hopes of getting these kinds of students once again excited about school. We are not looking for the "best" student or even a particular type of student. Our application process does not require any experience and does not require a portfolio to match the reason why Freestyle was created. This would hopefully entice students who are "just doing school" to apply. Our only requirement are a 2.0+ TGPA, a Junior or Senior within MVLA UHSD. We want a mix of all students and a lottery has resulted in a good mix of all levels of creative and passionate students with all levels of talents, skills and enthusiasm levels.
Freestyle has a maximum of 160 total students that breaks down to:
40 Junior AM + 40 Senior AM = 80 AM students
40 Junior PM + 40 Senior PM = 80 PM students
Since there are typically MORE applicants than available seats, all student candidates are also subject to a RANDOM lottery.
How does the application lottery work? Each ELECTIVE class (Film, Design, Animation) has of maximum 13-14 students and each student is assigned a random number.
- A random lottery number of 14 or less in any one lottery type listed below is guaranteed a seat in the class because we have a maximum of 40 per AM/PM session for Juniors. We do our best to balance all the elective classes - Film, Digital Media, Animation. So that breaks down to something like this:
14 Film AM Juniors/Seniors
13 Design AM Juniors/Seniors
13 Animation AM Juniors/Seniors
40 Total AM Juniors/Seniors
Similarly for PM Juniors, AM Seniors, PM Seniors.
- A random lottery number of 14/15 or higher is subject to a wait list.
- For Seniors, returning students from their Junior year are gauranteed a seat and any new 1st Year Senior applicants fill in any available open seats in our 3 elective classes through random lotteries as described above. Sometimes there are Senior open seats, most of the time there are no Senior open seats.
Here are the possible choices any applicant can make:
- Film AM
- Design AM
- Animation AM
- Film PM
- Design PM
- Animation PM
Simply put, a student can be placed in 1 or all of the 6 lotteries above depending on their choices when they apply online.
So, for example, suppose 35 applicants chose Film only and AM only. Those 35 applicants were placed in only 1 lottery for Film AM. They are not eligible of any of the other 5 lotteries. Only 14 of those 35 will get accepted into Film AM. Suppose Avon and Brad both choose Film only and AM only. Each person is placed in only 1 of the 6 lotteries and for this example, suppose they get the following random lottery numbers:
Avon's random lottery # | Brad's random lottery # | |
#1 above - Film AM |
5 | 15 |
- Avon would get admitted to Film AM because her lottery # of 5 is below 15.
- Brad would be wait listed the Film AM lottery because his lottery number is above 15. If some drops out of Film AM, Brad would be admitted because his best wait list lottery number is 15 and he's next on the wait list. Since Brad only wanted Film AM, he is not entered into any of the other 5 possible lotteries listed above.
- We do NOT divulge wait list positions to prevent student collusion.
So suppose Carl and Debbie both choose 1st Choice: Film and 2nd Choice: Design, AM or PM but not interested in Animation. Each person is placed in 4 of the 6 lotteries above. Similar to Avon and Brad's case above, their highest lottery number in any one of the specific lotteries above will determine if each is accepted or not. In the case, where the same random number is received for 2 or more of the lotteries, the order of 1st Choice, 2nd Choice, or 3rd Choice becomes the determining factor.
Essentially, lottery numbers 1 through 14 (or 13) are accepted and lottery numbers 15 (or 14) or higher are placed on the wait list.
Generally:
- AM classes have the longer wait lists - Film AM has the longest wait list historically
- PM classes have the shorter wait lists - Animation PM has the shortest wait list historically with only a few or even nobody on the wait list.
- Choosing the option of all 3 elective classes (Film, Design, and Animation) along with AM OR PM with no AM/PM preference gives you the BEST possibility of being accepted because your name is in all 6 lotteries.
Clear as mud?
So what happens if you are on the wait list?
When/If a seat becomes available to you, we will email you and expect you to reply within 48 hours if you wish to take the available seat - so check your email often for a possible message from leo.florendo@freestyleacademy.rocks. We do not divulge wait list positions. Some seats become available when other students cannot make their schedule work and this can occur between now and August. Sometimes a seat becomes available as late as September. If your lottery number comes up for a vacated seat, you will be emailed immediately to fill the seat. If you don't reply or accept the open seat within 48 hours, then the offer goes to the next person on the wait list based on lottery number.