How does school in the US work?

[Rachelsne]

I am English, married to an American and we live in Virginia

I am thinking about going back to school (im 26) and getting some decent education, as i would like a career in photography, I thought choosing something photography based would be a good idea.

However I dont understand how the school system works this is waht it says about the photography course, it is an Associates of applied science, my husband cant really remember what it all means either.
in the general education courses do you do all of them? and then a major along side of them, and is it just one from the list of majors or do you have to do them all? then to work out the cost its per credit hour-what does that mean? Im a virginian resident now.

AAS Photography
GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES
Course # Course Title Credits
ENG 111 College Composition I 3
SPD 100 Principles of Public Speaking 3
Social Science Electives1 6
MTH 120 Introduction to Mathematics2 3
HLT/PED Health or Physical Education Elective(s) 2
SDV 100 College Success Skills 1
Total General Education Course Credits 18

MAJOR and OTHER COURSES
Course # Course Title Credits
ART 121 Drawing I 3
ART 131-132 Fundamentals of Design I and II 3-3
ART 287 Portfolio and Resume Preparation 1
ART Art History Elective 3
ART/PHT Art/Photography Studio Electives 9
PHT 101-102 Photography I-II 3-3
PHT 110 History of Photography 3
PHT 135 Electronic Darkroom 3
PHT 206 Large Format Photography 3
PHT 221 Studio Lighting I 3
PHT 264 Digital Photography 3
PHT 270 Digital Imaging I 3
PHT 297 Cooperative Education in Photography 1
Total Major and Other Course Credits 48
Total Minimum Credits 66


Tuition & Fees (Effective Fall 2008)

• Tuition for Virginia students
  $81.65 per credit hour
• Out-of-state students
  $253.80 per credit hour
• Institutional fee (fall, spring)
  $10.50 per semester
• Institutional fee (summer)
  $7.25
• VCCS Technology fee
  $4.50 per credit hour
• Capital Fee (out-of-state students)
  $3.00 per credit hour

Thanks for your help!

 

[lockwood81]

An AAS degree is not transferable to a 4 year college degree, whereas an AS degree would be, but the AS has more general education courses. An AAS is more specialized in the field chosen to study.

Looks to me like the courses you listed are everything need to get an AAS degree.

But I'm in Florida things may be different up there.

 

[royalWITHcheese2]

A lot of times if you apply for information to be sent to your house, or call the school you can talk to an admissions counselor, which will walk you through everything. When I asked for stuff to be sent, I got a call within a week and they pretty much walked me through everything I needed to do. But I'm not saying don't ask here, sometimes it's difficult for anyone to understand. :er::mrgreen: Good luck!

 

[Big Mike]

A photographic education may not be the best way to a career in photography. It certainly won't hurt (except financially) but because there is no required certification to practice photography, you can make a lot of money with or without a formal education.

Your time (and money) might be better served by becoming an assistant to a working professional and learning 'on the job'.

That's just one opinion, it's not for everyone.

 

[Senor Hound]

How does school in the US work? It doesn't.

Seriously, though, you'll have to take all the classes. A class is a certain amount of credit hours, usually three. So you'll take the credit-hour price and multiply it. It means each class is roughly 300 bucks (not bad). Full-time is considered 12 hours per semester, though most students take 15. You'll need to take all of the general education classes it states, and if you plan on transferring any of these credits to another school, you'll need to contact that school and get a "course equivalence" sheet for your school. It will tell you, basically what class at that school fits the class they teach (if any class fits).

 

[Sarah23]

A photographic education may not be the best way to a career in photography. It certainly won't hurt (except financially) but because there is no required certification to practice photography, you can make a lot of money with or without a formal education.

Your time (and money) might be better served by becoming an assistant to a working professional and learning 'on the job'.

That's just one opinion, it's not for everyone.

I agree with Mike. While, it wont hurt to take some classes....you can learn just as much from reading, practicing, and getting someone to mentor you or become an assistant and learn from a pro.

 

[Village Idiot]

Do yourself a HUGE favor and start some correspondence with some students of the college that are in the major you're going for. If I would have been smart that would have saved me from wasting 5 or 6 years at two different schools that I eventually dropped out of when I got a job in the profession I was going to school for.

Some schools just have crappy curriculums or don't have time to devote to the students. Major universities like state universities like WVU, VT, UVA, etc, some times have huge unpersonalized classes. Where in VA do you live? If you're close to the Winchester area, there's Shenandoah Valley College in Winchester, some school South of VA....Lord Fairfax maybe? Then there's Shepherd University. I went to school there and of course I hate the school, but that was when it was a college and that was in the Computer Information Sciences major. They're a liberal arts college and have some very good art programs from what I understand.

Bottom line. Make sure you know what you're getting into so you don't ever end up feeling like you're wasting your money. School is expensive. It's a huge investment. Just make sure you get what you want out of it. After all, you're paying them to teach you, you're not paying them to take attendence and grade you on tests and how well you memorize things. Unfortunately, that's where the American higher education system is brokem.

As much as it's a comedy, there's some very good points in the movie "Accepted".