I need some advice?

[Funkadrummer]

I am currently in my fall semester at Columbia College Chicago. I am new to the city and love it, but my school im not so sure about. I am currently majoring in audio for visual media. Now I love my audio classes and any class that has to do with audio. But my academic classes are somewhat lacking, for the money I am paying I feel like I should be challanged more, now this may be the freshman classes and as I progress it could get harder but someone my general education classes its not all freshman. Basicly what I am asking is should I stay the whole year or leave at the end of my fall semester and find another school for next fall and in the spring go to a community college back in richmond va.

I dont know but this has been the hardest thing I have ever done. I was never the academic type of student in high school, but now that I am in college and paying for my education it jsut makes since for me to care. I barely graduated high school. My parents werent the type to force me to go to college and I decided all on my own, found the school, moved out her by myself, so I dont know what to do. I figured I would ask some guys who have already been through it.

Thanks for any help.

[James Walker]

If you're happy with the classes that deal with your major, stay at the school - don't change schools because you don't like the "gut" academic portion of your degree program.  Hang in there, and get through it as best you can.  Besides, while I don't know Richmond, VA, I do know that Chicago is a great city, especially where the performing arts are concerned, and I regret leaving the Chicago area when I finished school.

If you simply want to find more challenging and/or rewarding "academic" classes to take, ask around among the students who have been at the school for a while.  Find out who the better teachers are - the better the teacher, the more interesting and more challenging the class is, in my experience at least.  When I did my bachelor's degree, some of the non-music classes were great, and some were horrible - but the best classes had the best teachers.

[Dave Heim]

Columbia is known for its excellence in the area of AV, media, & Broadcasting.  If that's what you want to learn, you're in the right place.

I agree with Mr Walker - do some networking & talk to students who have been there a while.

[Funkadrummer]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

[Mark Counts]

I agree with all said by Dave and James.  I don't know much about Columbia College but I do know something about college. You will only get out of it what you put into it.  It is a vehicle
to get you where you want to go in life. I found when I had to pay for my college, weather the teacher was good or bad, I forced them to teach.  I was paying for it and I was going to get my monies worth.  I am sure you can find classes that will challenge you if you look for them in any college.  Good luck and remember to make every day count.
                                Nutty

[Danno]

James Walker is exactly right, it's the TEACHER that makes a class interesting (any class). Find out who the best teachers are at Columbia and take their classes.

I went to two different schools for my undergrad degree (Pitt and Penn State) and a third for my graduate degree (U. of S. Carolina), and it was always the same - a few good teachers, and the rest lousy/disinterested/boring. YOU have to seek out the good ones.

My favorite classes turned out to be classes that weren't really about my degree (Creative Writing). I got interested in theater because of a great director at Penn State and ended up doing theater for 8 years. I got interested in politics because of one professor at Pitt, hell, I don't even remember the class title, but he got me TOTALLY interested in what's going on in the world. And the creative writing part? Well, this is undoubtedly because creative writing is subjective, but I don't feel like I actually learned ANYTHING valuable about writing at either school. Okay, one thing - one of my professors always said "Don't waste the great literature of the past by failing to steal from it." THAT is valuable. Even Shakespeare's plays were all derived from older plays - he just made them GREAT.

My grad degree is in Media Arts, radio/tv and that sort of thing, and I did learn a lot there because that degree is more technical. I honestly feel that I could have learned 95% of it on my own, though, if I'd had access to the equipment. Great teachers are the only thing at college that I felt was worth the money.

[Funkadrummer]

Thanks, I dunno though i still feel that my education im getting isnt worth the cost of 13,000 a semester. That includes tuition, and room and board.

[Robyn]

Can you consider doing your first 2 years at an in-state college (for all the basics) and then transferring back to Columbia (or another audio-related school) for the last 2 years, and pick up your audio classes then? Will that work?

13K IS a big chunk of change, but then again, you're only in your first semester. Many of my freshman classes were huge (500 students) and I had both good and not-so-good professors. Very true that you will get out of it what you put into it. Glad that you've turned your attitude towards school around tho! :)

robyn

[Funkadrummer]

I think thats what I am gonna do. Cause for 16 credit hours at my local community college I can pay tuition for 1100.