Photography School

[MTVision]

I have a current issue, and I hope I posted this in the right forum. I currently have a 2.0 gpa and am a senior in college. I was a bit of a late bloomer in determining what career path I wanted to go into. I live in georgia but having issues find a tech school that provides photography as a Course but also seems to post Student Work that I feel best shows the past students' work. Do you guys have any ideas as to what school I could look into. It has to be a tech school as we are not financially strong and as you can tell by my gpa, I will probably not get a scholarship and I'm already looking into loans.

You're a senior in college? What are you going to school for now??

 

[Mrgiggls]

Thank you everyone for your replies, and in such a fast fashion . I may have shown bad grammar but that is not because of my writing skills per se, more that I was limited in time at the start of this post. I see everyone is suggesting to stay away from photography because of the poor economy, just how bad is it? Mrgiggls, I was not aware that tech schools are not covered in government grants, I will have to look into that. My only other choice is a field in computers, although I'm not sure which field to enter. Computers are more or less a natural talent of mine but I hate 'Foundation Courses' and would prefer to work with computers rather then learning classes that I doubt would help me.

Computer Science from a 4 year college is still an incredibly valuable thing. Trust me on this. Yes, you will learn a lot of theoretical stuff that has no real practical use, and learn to write 3 pages of code in Assembler that print "Hello world", but you'll end up in a much better place and have a deeper understanding of computers and computer technology than any kid fresh out of Devry or ITT. Not to mention all the ancillary benefits of having completed a core curriculum. One of my favorite classes was my Survey of English Lit by an extremely typical, scragly beard, thick glasses and tweed jacket wearing nerd that made what I thought would be a snoozer really interesting.
But regardless of the fact that I liked that class, a core curriculum will give you much more than you might think.

 

[apples]

i like tweed jackets....

SCAD is right here in atlanta, and in savannah; i hear thats a pretty decent art school. most tech schools around here aim for healthcare (read: nurse's assistant) or culinary school. Butttt...GSU seems to accept everyone into their masters programs as long as you can spell your name and get a favorable letter of rec from someone, give that a shot and see if you can raise that GPA in their MA program.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I would suggest a real school, if you can find one that will take you with that GPA.

Bah! I graduated high school with a 1.8 GPA. :lmao:

No, seriously!

Got into Kent State U, on probation.

Stayed on campus through the week by staying with friends I made in classes. Livin' outta my car ('73 T-Bird) for two semesters. :hippie:

Left school with a 3.4 GPA. :cheers:

 

[Mrgiggls]

Yeah a low high school GPA can be easily off-set by a solid SAT or ACT score....that's how I got into college lol.

 

[KmH]

Unless you start your own retail or commercial photography business there are very few jobs out there for photographers.

It has nothing to do with the economy, it has everything to do with the explosion of digital cameras, the Internet, and the massive daily flood of digital images to many people are willing to just give away.

Consequently, business related schooling would be more valuable than photography training - things like accounting, marketing, salemanship. You can teach yourself how to do photography.

A 2.0 GPA as senior in college indicates you are not a self-starter. Running a photography business is 75% about doing business tasks, and 25% about doing photography. Most one man photography business owners that are able to stay in business work 6 or 7 days a week and those are usually at least 10 hour days.
To make an income of about $30,000 a year, a photography business needs revenues of at least $150,000 a year ($12,500 a month). Out of that $30,000 you pay your personal taxes, health insurance, retirement, car payments, car insurance, food, entertainment, etc.

Only the top 15% of all the photographers in America make $50,000 a year or more.

 

[cgipson1]

I would suggest a real school, if you can find one that will take you with that GPA.

Bah! I graduated high school with a 1.8 GPA. :lmao:

No, seriously!

Got into Kent State U, on probation.

Stayed on campus through the week by staying with friends I made in classes. Livin' outta my car ('73 T-Bird) for two semesters. :hippie:

Left school with a 3.4 GPA. :cheers:

That is a high school GPA.. he has a COLLEGE GPA of 2.0.... I consider that to be a major difference (although for different reasons)

 

[IByte]

Thank you everyone for your replies, and in such a fast fashion . I may have shown bad grammar but that is not because of my writing skills per se, more that I was limited in time at the start of this post. I see everyone is suggesting to stay away from photography because of the poor economy, just how bad is it? Mrgiggls, I was not aware that tech schools are not covered in government grants, I will have to look into that. My only other choice is a field in computers, although I'm not sure which field to enter. Computers are more or less a natural talent of mine but I hate 'Foundation Courses' and would prefer to work with computers rather then learning classes that I doubt would help me.

Right now I'm taking computer engineering w/ a minor in forensics. I think since you want to involve photography within your academics, I'd say go into web designing and interactive media.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

That is a high school GPA.. he has a COLLEGE GPA of 2.0.... I consider that to be a major difference (although for different reasons)

Wait! He's a SENIOR IN COLLEGE looking for a trade school?

:scratch:

His profile says he's 17?

:scratch:

 

[MTVision]

Wait! He's a SENIOR IN COLLEGE looking for a trade school?

:scratch:

His profile says he's 17?

:scratch:

I think he is in high school. He did write he was a senior in college. In another post I asked him what he was majoring in just to be sure that it really was a typo.

 

[rexbobcat]

I do have to say that...with that GPA, it will be VERY hat to get into most 4 year universities...at least in my state.

I think that maybe taking the junior college > university route would be more feasible both with your GPA and your finances.

I would also suggest not majoring solely in photography. Maybe something related like in communications or multimedia would make you more marketable, plus if you have the photography skills then you don't really need the dedicated degree to advance down that career path. Even Nat Geo prefers their photographers to have a degree in something other than photography, because that means they have two marketable skillsets.

Take photography classes, but don't focus your entire education around it otherwise you're pigeonholing yourself and your possibilities.

 

[Mrgiggls]

Rex is wise...:hail:

 

[IByte]

I do have to say that...with that GPA, it will be VERY hat to get into most 4 year universities...at least in my state.

I think that maybe taking the junior college > university route would be more feasible both with your GPA and your finances.

I would also suggest not majoring solely in photography. Maybe something related like in communications or multimedia would make you more marketable, plus if you have the photography skills then you don't really need the dedicated degree to advance down that career path. Even Nat Geo prefers their photographers to have a degree in something other than photography, because that means they have two marketable skillsets.

Take photography classes, but don't focus your entire education around it otherwise you're pigeonholing yourself and your possibilities.

Ooooooooo National Geographic Society. A wildlife photogs an Anthropologists dream job.

 

[xposurepro]

I started offering tutoring classes when I was 15 to photo majors at our state university .. don't major in photography (unless you're going to a private art school) a 4yr B.A. in photography can be taught in about 4 months. It's pretty sad. Learn photography on your own and major in business or marketing .. the average career in photography is only about 10% photo related anyway. It's tough to admit but a crap photographer with solid business/marketing experience can run a pro shooter out of business fast in the real world of consumer portraiture.