Higher Education Advice

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edlamb0306

New Metal Member
Aug 11, 2011
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0
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So, I'm fairly close to doing all of my paperwork and applying for University. I'm starting my final year of college (English college, 16-18) which is when the whole process of getting a university place begins and I need to have a good idea of what course I want to study. I'm doing a Music Technology course at A-level right now. As you can all imaging, it's pretty simple for someone who already has knowledge and experience, but quite fun (except maybe for the part where we have to make a Dubstep track haha). I would love to take on some sort of Audio Production degree or similar, but the general consensus from reading posts on forums like here seems to be that taking a higher education course like this is not a good decision as it doesn't provide much use. My next choice would be doing an IT course (Information Management/Systems for Business, or whatever) which isn't really what I want to do for a living, but would give me pretty strong credentials if I came out with a good degree (which I should because I'm a good student and I'm very good at IT). The problem I can foresee with taking an Audio Engineering course or the like is not having much to fall back in if that line of work crumbles in some way or doesn't work out as planned. The IT course would give me broader employability possibilities.

I'm just wondering if anyone here has any advice and experience that they can offer me as I'm not quite sure what I want to do.

Also, if anyone has a space available as an assistant in a studio in the South of England, then that would be cool ;)
 
Basically I'll give you the summary of what everyone is going to tell you. If you can afford it without going into debt then go for it, although you won't have much to fall back on. I mean seriously, there are huge studios closing because they don't have clients, let alone us guys trying with our small studios.

I was going to go to an audio school but I couldn't afford it at the time. My friend ended up going. After 2 years of myself learning by trial and error and after he finished in 2 years, I was years ahead of him. But then again, some people have trouble learning on there own. He showed me a mix he did at the pro school studio for his final. The guitars sounded like they were midi although they were run through a hundred thousand dollar console with endless amps.

I'm now going to school for IT and I don't think I will ever look back. Although IT is not my passion like how audio is, I still enjoy it, and it will always beat working some dead end job 10-1. Besides, IT and Systems Info will never go away. Work audio on the side and if you are going to go to school, go for something that matters. In a market where everyone has a bachelors in something, you really have to go for something that is worth it and that you enjoy.

Cheers!
 
I did an audio degree.

I work what is essentially an IT job at the moment (odd bit of audio visual crossover), its good money and it means I can pick and choose my audio clients who I work with in my spare time as opposed to having to take every terrible musician that comes through the door. My advice: I hated doing my audio course - it was trite, unimaginative and I learnt much more just on here, go for the IT one and get the better guaranteed work.
 
roflsaurusrex said:
Basically I'll give you the summary of what everyone is going to tell you. If you can afford it without going into debt then go for it, although you won't have much to fall back on.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, this was what I expected. Whatever course I choose, I'll still have to pay back some debt as neither I, nor my parents will be able to afford that sort of money. If money was no object, then I would have definitely decided to go for an audio course; but as you said, it doesn't give me much to fall back on.

roflsaurusrex said:
I'm now going to school for IT and I don't think I will ever look back. Although IT is not my passion like how audio is, I still enjoy it, and it will always beat working some dead end job 10-1. Besides, IT and Systems Info will never go away. Work audio on the side and if you are going to go to school, go for something that matters. In a market where everyone has a bachelors in something, you really have to go for something that is worth it and that you enjoy.
Click to expand...

It's good to hear from someone who was in a similar course choice position as me. Thanks for the help. Taking an IT course and doing production on the side was what I was planning to do. This has just assured me a bit more.

If you read this reply, could you tell me any more about the IT course that you're doing, like its course title or what's involved? I'm still looking at all of the possibilities and it's a bit confusing. Is it just called 'Information Technology'?

Öwen said:
My advice: I hated doing my audio course - it was trite, unimaginative and I learnt much more just on here, go for the IT one and get the better guaranteed work.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Öwen. Good advice. That negativity towards audio courses is generally what I've seen when doing my research.

It's looking a lot like an IT course for sure right now. Does anyone have any more help to offer?
 
I've got an audio degree. It was a good learning experience (academically) and I met some cool people, but looking back I really wish I'd done something like electrical engineering so I could earn some real money. Barely scraping by working live gigs every single weekend sucks ass. The problem being that I'm not really qualified to do anything else so I'm currently competing with thousands of other people for minimum wage admin work in order to get something more steady.

Get a real degree/job, keep audio as a hobby and work only with bands that you really like would be my advice.
 
edlamb0306 said:
If you read this reply, could you tell me any more about the IT course that you're doing, like its course title or what's involved? I'm still looking at all of the possibilities and it's a bit confusing. Is it just called 'Information Technology'?
Click to expand...

The degree I'm pursuing is called "Information Systems and Technology". It leaves me open for a very vast amount of positions and jobs. I also do a bit of Web Developing on the side and I'm studying for my A+ certification which is good for a lot of entry level IT jobs.
 
Don't fucking do it. It won't help you get a job in the audio world, nor any other world for that matter.

1st hand experience :(
 
I know people that don't know fucking shit about computers but got Net+/A+ certifications and do IT at fucking banks/medical places and make a shit ton of more money than I do when i was still broke getting three fucking paychecks last week.
 
roflsaurusrex said:
The degree I'm pursuing is called "Information Systems and Technology". It leaves me open for a very vast amount of positions and jobs. I also do a bit of Web Developing on the side and I'm studying for my A+ certification which is good for a lot of entry level IT jobs.
Click to expand...

I have a B.S. in Computer Information Systems. (From the computer science/engineering college, not the MIS degree in the business college)

I got a good job 2 weeks after graduating.

There are definitely a lot of job opportunities for developers. I get emailed about job offers nearby in Tampa and Orlando all the time. If you like computers learning to program seems to be a pretty good idea if you want a financially secure career.
 
once again, i would recommend staying from an actual audio degree, and get one in something more scientific that can still apply to the field. as was mentioned before, electrical engineering is a great way to go, because it applies to pretty much everything having to do with any kind of gear, and if you can't make a living doing that, you can make tons of cash in any of a number of jobs.

If you like computers learning to program seems to be a pretty good idea if you want a financially secure career.
Click to expand...

and if you're lucky, you could make tons of money starting your own plugin company or something
 
Work audio on the side and if you are going to go to school, go for something that matters. In a market where everyone has a bachelors in something, you really have to go for something that is worth it and that you enjoy.
Click to expand...

Brilliant.

I have an audio degree. Loved school. Got an internship at a nice ass studio here. I'm now the house engineer there and I rent another smaller studio where I do clients that don't have higher budgets. Still don't make much. When I do, it goes to gear. If I had to do it over again I'd have gone for something else, done audio on the side.
 
It's become near impossible for most anyone to make a living doing music, I agree with the others here about getting a degree where you can make a living. I have pretty much the most non-metal job ever (I own a mortgage company) and I make enough from that to fund my extravagant lifestyle of making albums at a loss and touring in a van, haha....
 
music performance degrees are worth it but audio courses are rubbish. If you are a very advanced hard working person the rest of the class will fall behind, the teachers have to teach to the majority so what's the point? Someone with a real future in audio will not need the infomation, they already know it or can learn it for free. Not only do these courses cost lots of dollars but your also not earning money for the duration of the course. Add the cost of the course to the loss of potential income and it makes no sense. And who is the guy teaching the course? Someone who has found the ONLY job in audio where your employer finds you clients
 
XxSicRokerxX said:
Want my advice? Go into the field of medicine.
Click to expand...

HAHA

Good luck on that one. If your motivation is in audio/IT and that stuff you're closer to enjoy physics than Medicine. Plus is a longer degree everywhere since you start 1st year until you are a specialist (10y+). The course is very demanding (you need to take care of lives) and not for everyone.

If you don't have Medicine or related courses as the first thing in your head, it means you don't have to study that.

Just my little 2c.
 
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