REALLY Need Advice!!!!!!!!

[Heitz]

i am sure about the numbers, dxqcanada. it's a "prestigious" photography school, basically it's well known and regarded as a great school, and apparently people who are high up in the photography business look to brooks for "new blood"
but i do think it is A Lot. most of what i would be paying for i believe is the connections i would be making and the quality of the personalized education. i don't necessarily want to be just a family or wedding photographer, but possibly more... for instance one of their students right now is doing amazing work with Celebrity Underwater Family Portraits, and she hasn't even graduated yet... not that i'm expecting that to be handed to me without work of course.

and although community classes would help with hobbyists, i've been part of community college photo classes, and they are pretty frustrating, a lot of "i like this photo" or "these are my kids" not enough technical details or serious discussion.
and this school that i'm referring to does a lot for the business side of things.
but that is a great suggestion and something i've thought about (finding someone willing to teach me the trade). but it's pretty tough to find a talented photographer who would have the time for that...

Elswick 12, what school do you go to? if you don't mind my asking.
thank you for all that insight, i really do love photography, and am AMAZED that i found something i'm this passionate about...but somehow it's still the hardest decision.
i swear each day i go back and forth on my decision several times. if it were a considerably cheaper school, i don't think the decision would be nearly as tough.
such a gamble!!

I'm a bit concerned about the 'prestigious' part. This could be a marketing tactic. Get some independent confirmation of just how successful graduates are. In my opinion, 90k is way too much.

 

[Ysarex]

Brooks was always the top school to learn commercial illustration. When the drakroom barrier went down and photography was subsumed into the graphics arts it also became possible to move the work to anywhere an electronic connection is possible. At Brooks you could learn to take that awesome photo of say high-end audio equipment for the catalog cover. I remember when that kind of work was done here and I knew the photographers who did it. Their jobs are gone. That piece of audio equpment after all is made in Asia -- might as well have Ramesh take the photo and then walk the flash drive down the hall to where Dalaja will drop it onto the In Design page. That gets sent off to Ying who takes care of coding it into the webpage. Made in Japan, photographed in Mumbai finished in Chongquing and sold at Macys. How long are you going to work for minimum rupees to pay off that $110,000?

If you're going to make a living behind a camera here in the states then what kind of photography work is actually available? What can't they ship over to Ramesh (he went to Brooks). Does Brooks teach sports photography or set you up with connections? Does Brooks teach journalistic photo? Face it; to get started you're going to shoot weddings and portraits and schools and local sports. You don't need Brooks for that. NO $110,000.00 student loan!!!!! Introduction | College, Inc. | FRONTLINE | PBS

Joe

 

[IByte]

i am sure about the numbers, dxqcanada. it's a "prestigious" photography school, basically it's well known and regarded as a great school, and apparently people who are high up in the photography business look to brooks for "new blood"
but i do think it is A Lot. most of what i would be paying for i believe is the connections i would be making and the quality of the personalized education. i don't necessarily want to be just a family or wedding photographer, but possibly more... for instance one of their students right now is doing amazing work with Celebrity Underwater Family Portraits, and she hasn't even graduated yet... not that i'm expecting that to be handed to me without work of course.

and although community classes would help with hobbyists, i've been part of community college photo classes, and they are pretty frustrating, a lot of "i like this photo" or "these are my kids" not enough technical details or serious discussion.
and this school that i'm referring to does a lot for the business side of things.
but that is a great suggestion and something i've thought about (finding someone willing to teach me the trade). but it's pretty tough to find a talented photographer who would have the time for that...

Elswick 12, what school do you go to? if you don't mind my asking.
thank you for all that insight, i really do love photography, and am AMAZED that i found something i'm this passionate about...but somehow it's still the hardest decision.
i swear each day i go back and forth on my decision several times. if it were a considerably cheaper school, i don't think the decision would be nearly as tough.
such a gamble!!

Do they give you a Hasselblad? Seriously it's not worth it but it seems you are tilting towards going. If you do they better give you a job right into National Geographic.

 

[MTVision]

i am sure about the numbers, dxqcanada. it's a "prestigious" photography school, basically it's well known and regarded as a great school, and apparently people who are high up in the photography business look to brooks for "new blood"
but i do think it is A Lot. most of what i would be paying for i believe is the connections i would be making and the quality of the personalized education. i don't necessarily want to be just a family or wedding photographer, but possibly more... for instance one of their students right now is doing amazing work with Celebrity Underwater Family Portraits, and she hasn't even graduated yet... not that i'm expecting that to be handed to me without work of course.

and although community classes would help with hobbyists, i've been part of community college photo classes, and they are pretty frustrating, a lot of "i like this photo" or "these are my kids" not enough technical details or serious discussion.
and this school that i'm referring to does a lot for the business side of things.
but that is a great suggestion and something i've thought about (finding someone willing to teach me the trade). but it's pretty tough to find a talented photographer who would have the time for that...

Elswick 12, what school do you go to? if you don't mind my asking.
thank you for all that insight, i really do love photography, and am AMAZED that i found something i'm this passionate about...but somehow it's still the hardest decision.
i swear each day i go back and forth on my decision several times. if it were a considerably cheaper school, i don't think the decision would be nearly as tough.
such a gamble!!

IMO any school accused of fraud - misleading students - is not a prestigious school. I looked it up and from what I read it use to be a really great school until it was bought by CEC.

This school sounds almost exactly like those art institutes - they are for-profit, really expensive and as far as I saw they are only nationally accredited meaning most 4 year schools/universities will not accept the credits.


http://ddunleavy.typepad.com/the_big_picture/2005/07/investigation_c.html

 

[camerateur]

THANKS you guys, i really needed perspective. i'm actually leaning towards not going but i feel like i needed insight from actual photographer-types vs. friends/family.
what made it so appealing was that the professors/teachers there were once and some still are so successful, connected/talented so if i impressed instructors i feel that i could get a leg up in the professional/hollywood type of photography career through references/contacts.
the fact that the class sizes are so small that you get personalized instruction from them is really great...
but yeah this is too much money :/ it's a big gamble.
so i will go to school for it, but a school that is easier to pay back.
as long as i remain passionate and enthusiastic, i think any type of education for it will serve me well.
maybe a better investment would be better gear.

 

[SCraig]

THANKS you guys, i really needed perspective. i'm actually leaning towards not going but i feel like i needed insight from actual photographer-types vs. friends/family.
what made it so appealing was that the professors/teachers there were once and some still are so successful, connected/talented so if i impressed instructors i feel that i could get a leg up in the professional/hollywood type of photography career through references/contacts.
the fact that the class sizes are so small that you get personalized instruction from them is really great...
but yeah this is too much money :/ it's a big gamble.
so i will go to school for it, but a school that is easier to pay back.
as long as i remain passionate and enthusiastic, i think any type of education for it will serve me well.
maybe a better investment would be better gear.

A wise choice in my opinion. That school isn't going anywhere. Try another school for a while and if you don't like it, if you feel that it is holding you back from achieving what you want, then Brooks will still be there and willing to take your money.

 

[STM]

Honestly, when I found this on the web, it told me everything I needed to know about Brooks Institute, Don't walk, RUN LIKE HELL

http://ddunleavy.typepad.com/the_big_picture/2005/07/investigation_c.html

 

[Ysarex]

THANKS you guys, i really needed perspective. i'm actually leaning towards not going but i feel like i needed insight from actual photographer-types vs. friends/family.
what made it so appealing was that the professors/teachers there were once and some still are so successful, connected/talented so if i impressed instructors i feel that i could get a leg up in the professional/hollywood type of photography career through references/contacts.
the fact that the class sizes are so small that you get personalized instruction from them is really great...
but yeah this is too much money :/ it's a big gamble.
so i will go to school for it, but a school that is easier to pay back.
as long as i remain passionate and enthusiastic, i think any type of education for it will serve me well.
maybe a better investment would be better gear.

:cheer::cheer:

 

[OscarWilde]

THANKS you guys, i really needed perspective. i'm actually leaning towards not going but i feel like i needed insight from actual photographer-types vs. friends/family.
what made it so appealing was that the professors/teachers there were once and some still are so successful, connected/talented so if i impressed instructors i feel that i could get a leg up in the professional/hollywood type of photography career through references/contacts.
the fact that the class sizes are so small that you get personalized instruction from them is really great...
but yeah this is too much money :/ it's a big gamble.
so i will go to school for it, but a school that is easier to pay back.
as long as i remain passionate and enthusiastic, i think any type of education for it will serve me well.
maybe a better investment would be better gear.

Holy ****... did someone just ask for advice... receive good advice... and then take that advice..... and make an intelligible comment with said advice?

Hang on, let me go mark this on my calendar.....

 

[cgipson1]

Avoid the so called Art Institutes that are all over the US! Those schools and other like them are responsible for over 50% of the defaulted school loans in the US! They charge a lot, make a lot of promises, and don't teach much! We had a major thread not long ago on the "chain" that runs the so called Art institutes!

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...000-00-free-700-00-nikon-thoughts-please.html

Brooks is supposed to be a good school.. but wow, that is expensive!

 

[KmH]

Brooks Insitute is a top notch school, very respected school. Check out who some of the schools notable alumni are.
As you mention, the school, and it's faculty are very well connected within the industry.

Photography is only one of their programs. They also have Visual Journalism, Film, and Graphic Design programs.

I don't think they accept just anyone that can pony up the cost.

EDIT: Looks like I have to cross them off my list.
My how times change.......You better read some of what is mentioned here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_Institute

 

[OscarWilde]

Brooks Insitute is a top notch school, very respected school. Check out who some of the schools notable graduates are.
As you mention, the school, and it's faculty are very well connected within the industry.

I don't think they accept just anyone that can pony up the cost.

...

 

[STM]

Avoid the so called Art Institutes that are all over the US! Those schools and other like them are responsible for over 50% of the defaulted school loans in the US! They charge a lot, make a lot of promises, and don't teach much! We had a major thread not long ago on the "chain" that runs the so called Art institutes!

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...000-00-free-700-00-nikon-thoughts-please.html

Brooks is supposed to be a good school.. but wow, that is expensive!

For that kind of scratch it should be a free D3!

 

[tirediron]

Avoid the so called Art Institutes that are all over the US! Those schools and other like them are responsible for over 50% of the defaulted school loans in the US! They charge a lot, make a lot of promises, and don't teach much! We had a major thread not long ago on the "chain" that runs the so called Art institutes!

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...000-00-free-700-00-nikon-thoughts-please.html

Brooks is supposed to be a good school.. but wow, that is expensive!

For that kind of scratch it should be a free D3!

H3!