Photography AA degree $46000.00 ??? with a "Free $700.00 Nikon" -- THOUGHTS PLEASE ??

[OpticMemory]

46k.. Thats insane for an AA. I suggest to look for an alternative and inexpensive avenue to learn photography.
I can do alot of 46k in terms of gear.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I just recently began my wedding photography business. No I dont have a photography degree. That would suck if you have a degree in something and you have to compete with people who can do the same thing without the degree.

My degree is in Structural engineer. When I look for an engineering job, other candidates have the same degree or somewhat comparable. That would suck if anyone can apply . Just saying...

 

[bentcountershaft]

I just recently began my wedding photography business. No I dont have a photography degree. That would suck if you have a degree in something and you have to compete with people who can do the same thing without the degree.

My degree is in Structural engineer. When I look for an engineering job, other candidates have the same degree or somewhat comparable. That would suck if anyone can apply . Just saying...

I've been thinking of doing a little structural engineering on the side, you know, just for a little extra cash. Tomorrow morning I'll be submitting my bridge plans to the city. Any last minute tips?

Back to topic:

I think I looked at the AI of Indy when I was a senior in high school. I wasn't in to photography then but I was looking at graphic design as a possibility. If it's the same place I looked at I actually took a trip there, but I don't remember much about it. I do remember it seeming expensive for what I saw. Not that it would have made much of a difference to me in the long run any way. I'm sure it would have been just as dissapointing to my parents when I dropped out of AI as it was when I dropped out of IU.

 

[CCericola]

It is the Art Institute. Of course they said " ooh you have a great eye" they are a for profit educational business. The recruiter doesn't get their bonus if they can't get you to buy what they are selling.

 

[KmH]

A $700 Nikon is not expensive for a DSLR camera.

The prosumer grade Nikon D800 is $3000, and the professional grade Nikon D3x is $8000.

Professional grade digital medium format cameras can cost over $40,000 - Hasselblad H4D-60 60 Megapixels Digital SLR Camera, 40.2x53.7mm CCD Image Sensor, 16-Bit Color, 80mm f/2.8 Lens

 

[Helen B]

Everything has been said already, I think, but I'll reinforce it anyway. I agree with everyone who says "run away fast". Not only are you committing a huge amount of money that could be spent in better ways, but you are also spending precious time that might be spent in better ways. I don't know how much you enjoy formal education, but I really dislike it, so the benefits have to be really good to tip the overall balance. The valuable things I got from my formal education were mostly from meeting people, and from learning how to learn: ask yourself how best to get these things and any specific technical/craft training you require. Unless you want to go into a job or get a professional membership that requires an associates degree (and they will accept one from the AI) it's going to be less valuable than a piece of toilet paper. Please don't get it just to prove something - there are better ways to do that as well. The way to prove that you are a good photographer who can do a good job is to show people good photographs, and show that you have personal initiative.

The best illustration I can think of is an answer that my girlfriend gave to undergraduates at Yale, when she was the guest of honor at a Dean's Tea. When asked how best they should break into film, she told them that their contemporaries were already working in film while they sat there at Yale. It wasn't a pretty scene, and she regrets having said it that way in those circumstances, but the point is still valid. And we're talking about Yale, not the AI.

 

[F_Stopped]

Not worth it to me. Spend that money on equipment and books/videos and get out there and shoot. You'll learn more by doing it over that same time frame.

 

[EGutierrez91]

Dahrol.... they are giving you a cheap camera, and charging outrageous fees.. and you will be in debt for a long long time! Even if you do manage to get a decent job out of it, you will still owe huge sums of money.....

I work IT.. and have seen the same type of schools totally destroy people wanting to get into the IT field. They would teach people how to pass certifications test... even give hints on how to cheat, and the people would pass the tests, and get their MCSE, or CCNA certs. But they couldn't get jobs except as low end techs, because they didn't really know how to do what the Certs signified.. they just knew how to pass the tests. And they charged huge sum for this "Certification training" they did... and told every one of the student they were "naturals"..lol!

Funny you mention that. I also work in the IT field. I see so many kids falling for these for-profit schools (I live in NYC and it seems like they sprout up here every day), and getting into so much debt. I know people with just experience and no degree making a decent amount of money, but only because of experience. Experience will trump everything! Getting your feet wet in the subject is always a great idea. What happens when you decide photography is not for you?

So you pay $46,000 in loans, to get a $700 camera? Why not take out a loan to buy the camera and learn yourself. Dahrol, I think you don't realize how much $46,000 is. I'm currently a college student and I'm in approximately in $30,000 of debt (studying Electrical Engineering), but engineering is a field where you need formal education. I still think it's a lot, but unfortunately I don't receive much financial aid, but I definitely wish I did. If you calculate the payments on the $30,000, even making huge payments, you are paying about $1,500 a year on interest alone. It's a lot of money. Sit down and do the math please. Have you asked any friends/family/neighbors about this?

Honestly, I'm genuinely concerned that you don't know what you're getting yourself into.

Take that money and put it towards a nice degree! You will be pretty limited in what you can do with that degree from the Art Institute. What happens if you don't make it?

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Art Institute is a scam. I looked at them, its actually about 90K after all is said and done. I'm enrolled at University of South Florida, utter peanuts compared to that Art Institute degree mill.

 

[pgriz]

The value of an education has at least four components:
a) Facts and processes. That is what most focus on. But facts and processes become obsolete frighteningly fast. So the real purpose here is to learn how to learn. Identify and define the problem, construct an approach to solve the problem, research the known information about the problem, and then put it together to solve the problem. In the case of the liberal arts, it often a case of learning to ask the right question.
b) Discipline and hard work. Most real programs have a lot of material to cover and progress depends on assimilating the basics before going to more advanced subjects. Repetition, practice,and thorough reading of the material usually determine the good students from those who think they are there for a good time.
c) Broadening horizons. The real value of education is to broaden your horizons. Make you aware of whatyou don’t know. Now that you know the world is a much, much bigger and complex place than you initially imagined it to be, you’re better equipped to navigate it.
d) Building contacts. In many fields it’s who you know trumping what you know. In any class, there will be the future stellar achievers, and the town drunks. It’s often not clear who will end up where. Keeping the contacts, and then staying closer to those that are moving ahead is a wise career move.

For the professional fields (medicine, engineering, law, etc.), the formal education gives you the basic tools that allow you to pass the professional exams, but the real learning still happens after. Doctors still have to spend years in residency, engineers are almost always associated for the first 5-10 years with the senior engineers, and lawyers almost all do grunt-work for the senior partners before they are allowed into the partnership.

Photography is a field where no formal credentials are necessary. However, the most expensive school that exists out there is the school of hard knocks. Experience comes from making mistakes, and mistakes can be expensive in time lost, opportunity lost, reputation lost, and money lost. It’s a much better idea to learn from other people’s mistakes (either through formal education or apprenticeship), and to use your limited time on this planet effectively.

So to answer the question, whether the $46,000 is worth it –which of the above four points will be properly handled by a for-profit school? Will they be teaching principles, or application? My reading of the curriculum of many trade schools is that they focus on the application, but not on the underlying principles.

 

[Dahrol]

I'd consider this "information" you guys have been so caring to share with me, but NOBODY had told me the information I NEED to know, which is whether they have experienced the Art Institute, completed it, and gave %110 toward what they're doing. Nobody has explained to me whether they got quality instruction or practice while attending and/or if completing everything to the best of their ability achieved anything. Not one single person.

All I'm getting is "$46,000? YEAH RIGHT! ZOMG THEY'RE GONNA RAPE YOUR BANK!"

Anybody who still believes that little piece of paper they call a "degree" is actually worth something is still living in the 90's. The government has tricked us into believing that with that standard education, anything is possible. It's a lie, and I see it every single day.

It's about who you know, and what you're prepared to do with ANY opportunity you're given. It's about making the right connections and using your skill, natural or otherwise to do the talking for you, not your degree.

Remember when a high school diploma used to be worth something? It's sitting right over there on my desk. It's just...sitting there. Sure, it would be useful for "further education," but that's always what it is. It's like a never ending cycle. "You need more education...you need more education."

Basing your future on a degree has gotten so many people I know absolutely nowhere. A friend who went to a 4 year university and got a bachelor's in business administration, but is stuck working at a place that helps disabled people find work for around $20,000 a year. But hey, he got that piece of paper, so the options should be limitless for him, right?

They're only limitless if you're creative. The age of relying on other people to have jobs created for you is approaching an end, and that's why so many are stuck in crappy jobs at horrible wages, because they've settled. They haven't made the most of what they were given, they just settled.

Innovation and creativity is the wave of the future. If $46,000 is going to get me around people who are pros in their field, the best equipment to practice on, at my disposal, guidance, internships and other opportunities doing what I WANT to do, and not settling for what's available, it's worth the money to me. If I get to focus on what I want to do, and not get sidetracked by worthless and irrelevant curriculum, it's worth the money to me. When I want to learn something, I want to focus on all of the elements of what I'm learning. I don't want to go to school for art and be stuck doing Algebra 11 or Calculus. I want to learn about all of the elements of art, and be able to apply what I've learned to create works while under the tutelage of pros. THAT is what I want my money to go towards. Not some piece of paper. The end result of that piece of paper is irrelevant. It's whether or not I'm prepared to bust my ass to get the absolute most out of this experience I'm paying this astronomical cost for.

I'm not some 5 year old who wants to be an astronaut or a cop, or a doctor. I've been exposed to what I wanted to do for a while now, and it's remained a constant. That's the difference between experimenting and going for something. I'm not gonna go unless I know it's what I want to do. Why lock yourself into something you don't want to do? That's stupid.

When someone can tell me that they went to the Art Institute of INDIANAPOLIS, gave %110, took advantage of every opportunity while attending, and STILL were unsuccessful and felt scammed straight, THEN I have something to consider. Thus far, I haven't heard from one single person who has done that, so why should I listen to the "It looks like.." and the "I looked at thems?"

Did you experience it?

People can say what they want. That's the problem with society today. The internet can tell you anything it wants. Where's the truth? Where are the facts?

 

[Derrel]

I believe poster #2 went to an Art Institute branch on the west coast. I could be wrong. Your insistence that ONLY an Art Institute of INDIANAPOLIS graduate (and one who gave it the mythical '110%'-- lol) can give you the advice you seek shows just how seriously out of whack your thought processes are. You have been given much good advice, and yet, your head is still in a hole. Good luck. You're going to need it.

 

[Dahrol]

I believe poster #2 didn't elaborate on his experience, therefore, there isn't any "much good advice" I've been given yet.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

:shock:




Well, seems your mind is made up.


Have fun drawing Tippy.
Or photographing him, or whatever.

 

[cgipson1]

I won't say anything more... but you are discounting a massive amount of experience and knowledge here. The very fact that you can't find anyone who can say good things about the Art Institutes should be warning enough...

Did you see my post on the statistics for "For Profit" schools? They only enroll 12% of the student body for the US.. yet are responsible for 50% of Defaulted Student Loans that never get paid back. Doesn't that tell you something? It should! I was hoping to keep you from being one of that "50%"!

I also did some research on Ivy Tech (which I believe is the communitry college you tried).. they have more GOOD reviews than bad.. where as AI has more BAD reviews than good.

Good luck.... and I hope you don't look back someday and think to yourself "I wish I had listened!"