College

[Renzo]

Hello Everyone! I'm not sure where to post this topic but here goes: I'm a senior in High school and have been taking photography for about two years now. I recently decided to apply to a couple private schools like The Art Institute in Seattle WA, and Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. I have already been accepted to Brooks, but am skeptical of this school... has anyone had any experience with this school--good or bad? also any additional advice is welcomed, because i'm not so sure an expensive private school is for me. What are the pros and cons of a private art college compared to majoring in photography in community college? Any information at all is greatly appreciated!:thumbup:

 

[flyingember]

you applied to a school before finding out about it?

let me give you the short answer on if a school is worth it. Count on making < $25,000 per year if you work for someone starting out. If a school says anything higher you can assume it's a lie to get you to sign up. Closer to minimum wage is the most likely. Now do the math on the tuition. Every $10,000 in loans is going to be about $100-150/month owed depending on interest. Remember, private art schools tend to be crazy expensive, the art institute in Kansas City is one of the best in the country and runs $1000/hour. (I have $16,000 from 4 semesters at a public school and pay $190/month for 14 years)

You would be better off going to a school that is the most affordable for you and getting a relevant job at the same time. You get a job by having job experience in a practical field like photography. The degree just opens doors at places that want degrees. A portfolio or job experience is worth much more for a photographer. Maybe work in a photo lab for a place that takes photos like JC Penny, Picture People, a school photographer or the like. Then on the side freelance, freelance, freelance.

 

[John Mc]

I dont know what its like in the states,but im presuming you learn all from the same Sylabus?(excuse the spelling). if so,then a local College might be a good option. In Glasgow,theres 4 Colleges that offer Photography Courses,i applied for the less known one,because it's pass marks are one of the highest out the four.and a few sucessful Photographers have risen from starting there.

 

[KmH]

You might want to look at this:

Yearly Income of a Photographer | eHow.com

 

[KenC]

I took some photography courses at a community college a while back. On the first day of the most advanced course the instructor, who was a full-time professional photographer, asked who in the class wanted to make their living from photography. Everyone but me raised their hands. He pointed to me and said: "very good!" This happened in the early 90's when the economy, needless to say, was a bit better than it is now.

 

[Chamelion 6]

Well... There are some advantages to going to school for photography...

Depending on where you go there's a good chance your instructors are well connected and depending on the program there's a good chance you'll get the opportunity to display your work for people who would otherwise not pay any attention to you. Networking and connections.

Depending on the program you will probably get pushed into doing things you probably wouldn't do on your own, you will have a professional critic evaluating your work and pushing you. The end result is you will probably have a much better portfolio at the end than you probably would have otherwise within the same time frame.

On the other hand, those services are not cheap. College costs money. Like the others are pointing out, few photographers make much money, especially right out of school. I started out as a photojournalism major... The networking proved more valuable than the instruction. In the end, the people that did well probably would have succeeded anyway and school simply provided opportunities to get noticed without having to work quite so hard.

 

[chmille]

I have a friend that goes to Brook's or well a fellow classmate, anyways, I know he's interested in high fashion editorial photography, so if you are thinking along those lines Brooks is a really good place to go.

If you are thinking fine arts, you could really go anywhere. Just check to find out about universities that have good arts programs because a lot of them do.

Also, if you are wanting to do like portraits studio, etc. I would said either major in business or major in art and specialize in photography.

 

[pbelarge]

Something else to think about.
If you plan on taking school loans, there is a simple guideline on how much to borrow.
Do not borrow more than you would expect to make as a salary. If you expect to make $20,000 salary, borrow no more than $20,000.

So many students are piling up the debt today, that the expected age of paying the debt off is in the mid 30s...whoa, that is terrible to think of.

 

[bdiannec89]

I looked into the Art Institute of Nashville Tn and i really enjoyed the campus and I liked how every class that you will take relates and helps you in some way. However, private art schools like AI are so expensive. Consider what you want to photograph and go from there. I would love to go to AI but it is way out of budget for me. I hope to one day have my own studio but I know a lot of the customers i will be photographing will not really care where i have a degree from as long as the photographs are amazing and they love them. If you plan to go into portrait photography of families babies and such get a job at Jcpennys, Sears, Picture Me or some place similar to that but keep in mind each corprate company has there own way of doing things and try not to get fustrated with not being able to do everything that you want to do there. You can always talk to your local proffesional studios that take senior picture and such and see if you can help them out in any way, yeah you may not be behind the camera but you are still getting some experience. Good Luck!

 

[Renzo]

Thanks for all the input! I think that community college is looking very attractive right now, i'm not sure the degree is worth all the debt. Especially when ill come out making 20,000 a year-- doesn't make sense to me. I was looking around at different photographers salaries and kept coming across a wedding photographers AVERAGE salary: 230,000.... Does anyone know if this is accurate?