OT: go to college or build studio?

[Renie]

Think about it and think about how you feel about it. Follow your own path.

[Bookerv12]

A friend of mine asked, if at the age of 38, he should actually go to college and get a degree, because it seemed to him that every employer picks a graduate over a non graduate.
I advised him to take 4-5 years and just do it.
He said, "4 or 5 years?!! Oh man,,,,I'll be 43 years old!"
I asked,,, How old will you be if you don't?

He just finished his 1st year, and can't be happier.

Stay in school.
If you are still interested in a studio, go to school to learn the business end.
This business is not as charming as it used to be.

We do fairly well, but completely realize how lucky we have been.
Be skeptical when being advised to "follow your heart", without a backup plan.....That's only for choosing a wife.

If you choose not to finish school,,,, Good Luck.
If you choose to finish,,,Have fun with your studio!

[Extreme Mixing]

Go to school and NETWORK! Remember, these guys that you share classes now will become important contacts later on. It's not easy to go back to school. Finish now. Nobody really knows at 21 what they will want to be doing when they are 45. You'll be glad to have some options open to you later on.

Steve

[Chief Technician]

School.

Without it, I would not have the job I have today, which I started the day after graduation.

Stick it out. It's worth every penny.

[Renie]

Originally posted by Bookerv12:

Be skeptical when being advised to "follow your heart", without a backup plan.....That's only for choosing a wife.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Booker,

If you're referring to my post, I said 'path' not 'heart'. Generally the wisest decisions are made balancing the mind and heart not one or the other.

School is great for some, torture to others.
A degree is essential to some and a just a piece of paper to others.

Listen to what J says, he thinks it's driving him crazy being there, that's important information to listen to as part of the whole picture.

Maybe it's more of an American thing to revere
academia so much, maybe Brits have a more
skeptical approach to it!!

And you're right back up plans are a good idea!!

[Matt Zeiner]

Tough decision, dude - I know - I was there not too long ago. I had to leave school - no choice in the matter. I loved what I was studying (Classics - Latin, Ancient Greek, Ancient History), but I was quickly becoming an artist in every aspect. One day I said "**** it" and left to hit the Chitlin circuit with Matt guitar Murphy. Talk about going nowhere fast! Came off the road and taught myself electronics, started repairing TVs and VCRs...got into tube amps, started working for serious audiophiles and rebuilding Hammond Organs. Then I took all that knowledge and got into the Cinema industry as a field technician, got into the THX thing, became a bit of an audio specialist and acoustician. Left that gig to tour with Dickey Betts for three years - wrote a bunch of songs for his records, and helped produce. Still worked as a consultant designing playback rooms for cinema in my spare time... WHat I noticed, after several years, was that one common denominator emerged every time, regardless of what path I chose at the time for whatever reason: music. So I got into engineering and producing....still getting into it, as it were. The point is, although I left college, I never really left school. Get ready for some tough times. Its really hard to teach yourself, but when that is the only thing that makes sense, you have to do it and TAKE IT REAL SERIOUSLY! Your education, regardless of how you get it IS going to define you and will govern the number of choices you will have down the road. Don't make any rash decisions regardless of what you decide - I've been real lucky. I know quite a few who have not been. Good luck.

[Matt Zeiner]

Oh yeah - have you seen the cover of this month's MIX magazine?

[Guitarman2k2]

listening to the one guy who made (thru luck or talent) in spite of leaving school is like listening to the one guy who won lotto when the rent was due and he was about ot be out on the street as opposed to the 10,000 people who played lotto, didnt win and were put out on the street.

if your question had been "should i stay in school or take that A&R job with J Records that Clive just called me about" then i would suggest putting the school on hold and taking the gig. if its either, blow my cash on a glorified project studio (which is all $50 k wil get you) or finish school, i suggest finish school.

[JEdmunds]

hey guys,
thanks everyone for all the help...
hopefully this thread is relevant to others as well!

just to let you know, i haven't spoken to clive about anything yet [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] but i do have some asst positions open to me right now. with the help of all of your advice though, my goal is stay in school. so i'm going to save that studio money for the moment, shop around see what jobs are available this summer and then reassess my position in a couple months. I've currently got a paid internship gig at a major, so i'm ok for the moment.

so now that i'm not going to blow the money on the studio, does anyone have advice on the whole 'be an assistant' or 'finish school' debate?!?

>Maybe it's more of an American thing to revere
>academia so much, maybe Brits have a more
>skeptical approach to it!!

I am british, maybe this is the cause of all this!?! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Take care,
JE

[Joz]

Since you wanna be an A&R...hmmm (whats wrong with A&R these days).

God, why is everyone so nice?. Its ovious, building a studio over school...well if you even need to ask this question, you probably need to go to school.

Joz