However, you need to keep a proper perspective when looking at these reviews, because they may not tell you everything you need to know in order to make an informed decision about where to go to film school. Published lists of school rankings typically judge and rate schools by factors like their academic standards, curriculum, equipment, and so on. But what they won’t usually tell you is whether attending the film school can get you closer to a job in the film industry itself.

Let’s unpack that statement a little.

The film industry is a very practical, hands-on industry, where real-world experience is valued above formal education. Furthermore, the film industry is a very relationship-based field, where most of the hiring is based on connections and recommendations. Without an inside link to the film industry, it is difficult to get a job, no matter how “good” a film school you happen to attend.

Most film schools can do a reasonably good job of teaching you the technical and practical skills of filmmaking, but most of them can’t help you form and maintain direct connections to the film industry. Without those connections, your degree or diploma is worthless. This is why you simply can’t go by San Francisco film school reviews to make your decision for you; you’re going to have to dig a little deeper, and find out what kind of connection the film school has to the larger film industry—if any.

There are actually quite a few filmmakers who have found success without attending film school at all, simply because they were able to gain the necessary experience and connections by some other way. (Some are names you probably know, like Quentin Tarantino and Peter Jackson.) In fact, there are many within the film industry who recommend on-the-job training over classroom instruction, simply because it allows you to gain the experience and connections you can’t get inside a formal film school. One way to gain direct access to the film industry is to enroll in a film school using the mentor-apprentice approach (Film Connection, for instance). This type of program actually educates you on real film shoots and productions, with an experienced film professional showing you the ropes. You won’t find this kind of program on many ranked lists, but it is highly effective in connecting students to the film industry.

You can learn some things about film schools by reading the reviews, but you can’t learn all you need to know. That’s why you should balance San Francisco film school reviews with a little common sense.

As an apprentice you should think of yourself both as student and employee. You are learning but you are also working on the job and getting training as you begin to get exposure to what your future career will really feel and look like. Try to think of your apprenticeship as a combination of training and an extensive job interview. Apprentices should always be looking for ways to learn new skills and gain insight from the benefits of having a mentor, while trying to make a good impression on their mentor and show real potential value as an employee. Keep in mind that many mentors will be potential employers who may need someone with the skills you will gain to help fill out his or her company. If not directly a potential employer, your mentor will certainly be a peer in the industry you are looking to enter. Remember that many professional fields can be relatively small worlds and your mentor today may be your co-worker tomorrow.

A mentor is also someone already working in the field you wish to enter. He or she has done the grunt work you will be doing, and has made the contacts within the industry to survive for a number of years in what is likely a competitive workplace. As an apprentice you have the opportunity to gain advantages that your mentor did not have, but can share with you. As you meet co-workers of your mentor be friendly and try to make a positive impression. Use your apprenticeship as an opportunity to make professional connections and build relationships that may be with you for the rest of your life. Apprentices are often seen as the future of the industry, and you want to ensure that people look to you as a bright future.

Would it surprise you to learn that these reviews might actually be irrelevant to you—that you could do much better in deciding where to go to school than to look at the reviews?

You see, there is a key bit of information that Orlando audio engineering schools generally won’t tell you—and it’s information that is critical to your future success as an audio engineer or music producer. These reviews might be able to tell you which school is most popular, which schools have the highest rated curriculum or the most up-to-date equipment; but they can’t always tell you whether attending a particular school will actually get you closer to a career in the Orlando music industry.

The problem inherent with most formal audio engineering schools is that they really don’t give their students a direct connection to the music industry itself—and this is a real problem because most of the hiring in this business is based on inside connections. Getting a job as an audio engineer in a recording studio really requires you to know some people within the music business. This is true whether you learned the ropes by hanging out at a recording studio, or whether you went to the top ranked audio engineering school in Florida. This is why Orlando audio engineering school reviews might be irrelevant; without connections, it really doesn’t matter which school you attend. You’ll be hard pressed to find a job either way.

This reality has prompted many music professionals to suggest that traditional audio schools are not worth the time or money. In their view, you’d be better off trying to get an apprenticeship at one of Orlando’s high-quality recording studios, rather than trying to attend an expensive college or trade school. One way to land an apprenticeship is to enroll in a particular kind of audio school, one that uses the mentor-apprentice approach. The beauty of this approach is that you can actually attend your classes inside a real recording studio, and be taught one on one by a working audio engineer. By learning in an actual studio environment, you have the chance to make connections that you could not make in a classroom setting.

When you’re deciding how and where to get your audio education, make sure the school you attend has a way to connect you directly to the music industry. Without that, Orlando audio engineering school reviews are basically meaningless.

More students are taking online college courses than ever before. In 2005, roughly 3.2 million students took at least one online course from a degree-granting institution. That’s more than double the number from 2002. Although 2009 statistics aren’t available, you can be sure it’s more than 3.2 million.  Even the school faculty are coming around to E-learning: 62 percent of chief academy officers say that the learning outcomes in online education are now as good or superior to face-to-face instruction, and nearly 60 percent agree that E-learning is critical to the long-term strategy of their institution. All this data is from a poll conducted by the Sloan Consortium. Nearly two-thirds of the academic institutions with enrollments over 15,000 have some fully online programs.

Even if the courses aren’t totally completed online, the internet and its tools are affecting classroom learning in a big way. Edutainment is a new trend – a combination of entertainment sites and education. Professors are putting lectures and other material on YouTube and iTunes. Computer gaming is beginning to have a place in teaching and learning. More than 120 schools have a presence in Second Life, the internet’s largest 3D social community. And of course, students are using multimedia devices like IPhones, IPads and blackberries as learning tools on campuses outside the classroom.

But some educators think the lack of face-to-face education could harm students in the long run. Because once they get out into the real world, they’re going to have to perform their jobs in front of people and alongside fellow workers, not typically isolated with just their computer in front of them.

That’s why one of the best forms of online education is a mentor system in which you enroll online, but you’re placed in real working environment while you learn. You learn as an apprentice, one-on-one with someone already working in whichever profession you’re interested in and you make valuable contacts that can lead to a real job once you’ve graduated from school. Some examples of this kind of mentor program can be found at the Film Connection Film Institute, the Radio Connection Broadcasting School and the Recording Connection Audio Institute.

While it’s fine to learn many things online, if you want to get yourself prepared for a job after you get your degree, a mentor-based program may be the perfect solution.

The only problem is, not every music school is for everyone, and just because someone says a certain school is best, that doesn’t make it the best choice for you. There are a vast number of career choices available within the field of music, and there’s no way that one school could effectively cover all of them. Furthermore, some music careers require a formal education, and some do not. One size definitely does not fit all when it comes to music education.

The point is, depending on what you want to do in music, you might not even need to go to music school; thus, you really wouldn’t need to bother with Dallas music school reviews. On the other hand, if your career choice requires a formal education in music, then those reviews might be much more relevant to you.

How can you tell whether music school is important to your career, and/or which type of school to attend? The choice is different for everyone, but just as a point of reference, here are some tips.

• Careers that really benefit from traditional music education include classical performers (e.g., piano, violin, cello, brass, woodwinds), orchestra directors, classical composers and arrangers, and professional music educators. For these careers, you’d do well to look at music schools in Dallas, and to see how well they are reviewed, because these are careers in which a prestigious degree really matters.
• Careers that might benefit from formal education might include: contemporary musicians (e.g., pop, rock, alternative, country), studio session players, recording artists and the like. Music education might help you polish your craft, but won’t always help you with the industry side of things. And a degree in music is not necessary for these careers.
• Careers that don’t benefit as much from formal education include music producers, audio engineers and related music business careers. Some music schools do offer training in these areas, but it’s usually pretty expensive and time-consuming. You’d do just as well by apprenticing in a real Dallas recording studio, or perhaps by enrolling in an audio engineering trade school. Better yet, consider a school that uses the mentor-apprentice approach (i.e., one that places you for private instruction in a real recording studio).

As you can see, not every music career requires a formal education. If you want a music career in Dallas, your career choice will help you determine whether Dallas music school reviews actually matter toward your future career.

First of all, before you apply for state aid, go ahead and apply for federal financial as well, and do it first.  It’s free and fairly simple, and chances are the federal government will have more resources than your state will.  Besides, many states determine your eligibility for their financial aid based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which you fill out to apply for government aid.  So go ahead and fill that out first, and see what comes of it; it may make things easier.  You may be eligible for both federal and state aid.

Every state is its own government, with different policies and programs available.  Generally speaking, the state where your school is located is the state where you’d apply for aid—and generally speaking, you’re more likely to get state funds if you go to school in the same state where you live.  (States like it when their residents stay and attend in-state schools.)  If you’re attending an official state college, it can also improve your chances for state aid.

To learn about a particular state’s financial aid programs, go to that state’s education department website.  The U.S. Department of Education has a detailed list with links to the state departments, which you can access through studentaid.ed.gov. Some states will go by your completed FAFSA to determine eligibility; some will ask you to fill out a separate application.  Many times, the state will coordinate directly with the financial aid department of the school you’re planning to attend, so you can access the state programs directly through the school’s financial aid department.  Each state is different, so educate yourself on your state’s particular process.

Types of financial aid offered by states are similar to what the federal government offers; Some financial aid is in the form of grants based on financial need, particular studies or other incentives. Other aid is in the form of student loans issued by the state.

Finally, in understanding state financial aid programs, be willing to “comparison shop,” especially if you’re dealing with student loans. You might be eligible for both federal and state loans, and you might not need all the money for which you’re eligible. Don’t just take every loan you’re offered; find out the interest rates and repayment terms offered by the state and federal governments, and take whichever loan(s) offer the lowest interest rates and best terms.

But while these reviews and lists of school rankings might tell you which school(s) are most popular, have the most advanced curriculum or equipment, and so on—there is a key bit of information that will likely be missing from these reviews, something that could make all the difference in your future career as a filmmaker.

You see, while it’s fine to get a formal education in film, there’s something you need to succeed as a filmmaker beyond just an education: you need connections. The film industry is a very practical, relationship-based business, and you need to know people within the industry in order to get hired. Many filmmakers have succeeded in the industry without ever going to film school (including directors like Peter Jackson, James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino); but no filmmaker succeeds in this business without connections.

Philadelphia film school reviews will tell you which school they think is best, but what they won’t tell you is whether a particular school can help you make connections to the film industry. And the truth is—most film schools can’t.  As a general rule, traditional film schools train their students in isolated environments, where they can’t actually make connections within the film industry itself. This is why so many film school graduates never break into the industry, and in fact end up taking other “day jobs” just to pay off their student debts.

That being said, there is a way to get a quality film education while still making connections within the film business, and that is to get trained within the film industry itself, to learn how to make movies by actually participating in the process. One way to do this is to enroll in a film school that uses the mentor-apprentice approach. This kind of school rarely makes the review lists, but its great advantage lies in the fact that it trains you by placing you as a film apprentice inside a real Philadelphia film production company. A working film professional will mentor you personally, taking you through the curriculum as you work on actual film projects. You can see why this would be a great way to learn: as you’re learning the ropes, you also have the chance to make industry connections you could never make in most film school classrooms.

Choosing a school is never easy, but the important thing is not to let reviews substitute for your own common sense. Philadelphia film school reviews can give you some helpful information, but they obviously don’t tell the whole story.

For that matter—does it even matter which school is ranked the highest?

Let’s bring a little bit of perspective into this. While some schools admittedly have higher standards than others, music is a vast field with many different career options, and it is impossible for any one music school to prepare every student for any music career they happen to be pursuing. Some schools are good for classical training and the fine arts, some are good about preparing students for contemporary careers, some are good for preparing students for the music business, and so on. This basically means that the information you will get from Houston music school reviews is going to be limited (let alone biased). Just because someone says a certain school is “best,” that does NOT necessarily mean it is best for you. The right school for you will depend largely on your personal career goals.

For example, let’s say you want to be a classical violinist, or an orchestra conductor, or perhaps a full-time music instructor. For these careers, a traditional music degree at a college or conservatory can be beneficial, even necessary. Since most school reviews are based on academic standards, in cases like these, Houston music school reviews would probably matter most to you if you’re pursuing a career in the fine arts or music education.

On the other hand, if your goal is to be a recording artist, a music producer, or an audio engineer, formal education is far less mandatory for you, and a highly ranked music school is less likely to have what you need. For you, music school reviews might be basically irrelevant. In cases like these, you need to either look for a school that focuses on these careers, or better yet, train in a real recording studio. If you don’t have the contacts to get an in-studio apprenticeship, a school that uses the mentor apprentice approach may be able to get the apprenticeship for you.

The bottom line is that you should use some common sense when choosing a Houston music school, and not enroll in one just because someone reviewed it highly. You need to know whether the school can truly help you launch your particular career, not just where it appears on a list of Houston music school reviews.

However, there is one critical question you won’t find answered in most of these reviews—and that is: does the film school help you connect to the film industry?

Why is this question so critical? Because no matter how good a film school claims to be—or how good other people claim it to be—without film industry connections, you will find it difficult to get a job after you graduate.

The thing is, with many other professions, earning a degree from a prestigious college or university actually says something about how qualified you are. For example, a new lawyer who graduates from Harvard Law School will be held in higher regard that someone with a law degree from a virtually unknown college in a remote part of the country. In cases like these, school rankings matter a lot more.

But the film industry simply doesn’t work this way. In film, nobody really is concerned about what film school you attended.  The people doing the hiring will want to know two things: who recommends you (connections) and what you’ve worked on (experience). This is why Florida film school reviews won’t really tell you what you need to know. It doesn’t matter how highly ranked your film school is—if it doesn’t connect you to the film industry, it is probably not worth the money. (In fact, a lot of successful film professionals never attended film school at all!)

Now, just to be clear—you need an education in film.  It’s just that there are many ways to get that education, not all of which include going to a high-profile film school. If you want to learn filmmaking in Florida, for example, one of the best places to learn it is from inside an actual film production company. And one way to get your foot in the door is to enroll in a film school that uses the mentor-apprentice approach.

This kind of film school doesn’t always appear on school review lists, but it is highly effective because it places you as a film apprentice in a real production company, learning the ropes directly from the professionals. There is no better way to get educated in film, because you get the experience and the connections you need while you are learning.

As a new filmmaker, your goal should be to launch a successful career, not to earn a degree from a highly ranked school. Florida film school reviews won’t tell you everything you need to know, so do your own homework to decide which Florida film school is best for you.

However, it is possible to use these reviews to your advantage, as long as you have a balanced approach to it. Here are just a few tips to help you navigate when you’re looking at these reviews.

THROW OUT EXCESSIVELY POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE REVIEWS

In other words, if someone is offering an extreme opinion on a school in one direction or the other, don’t take it too seriously. The reason is that in many cases extreme opinions have an ulterior motive attached to them, one that probably has nothing to do with the quality of the school itself. The Internet is notorious as a place where anyone can publish a vicious verbal attack without a good reason. Also, it is not uncommon for employees of a company to pose as customers and publish excessively positive reviews. If someone offers an intelligent critique of a school without being excessive, this is a more credible review.

LOOK BEYOND THE REVIEW

At the end of the day, a review is simply someone’s opinion. If a particular audio engineering interests you, don’t rely solely on San Francisco audio engineering school reviews to form your own opinion; dig deeper, and do a little research of your own.

DON’T LET A REVIEW REPLACE YOUR COMMON SENSE

Don’t assume that a highly ranked audio school is automatically right for you. In your research, you may come across a school that doesn’t appear on anyone’s list, but which might be ideal to your particular needs.

ONE OTHER THING…

One thing the reviews and published rankings may not tell you is whether the audio engineering school you’re looking at is actually connected to the music industry. This is a critical point, because without industry connections, you’ll find it difficult to land a job no matter how highly reviewed your audio school is. Look for a school that offers the chance to make solid industry connections, as well as the chance to gain some real work experience. One way to do this is to enroll in a school that uses the mentor-apprentice approach, allowing you to complete your entire curriculum from inside a real San Francisco recording studio. This type of school doesn’t always appear on school ranking lists, but is extremely effective in helping you connect to the music industry, making it easier to get a job afterward.

School reviews can help inform you, but make sure you keep them in proper perspective. San Francisco audio engineering school reviews should help your research, but should not be the only factor.