Colleges for Lighting Design

Those are two very different things. PRG won't give a rats butt about your degree. Being an LD a degree gets you your first assistanship... and usually a masters is required.

IF you have to take out loans, you should seriously think about not going to school. If you already have an in that might actually be a halfway decent chance of making it without the debt.

Yeah, I figured PRG would be a tough one...


I originally didn't plan to go to get a degree on lighting just because a lot of people I have talked to say its useless and usually people look more at your work, which I do believe is pretty true. Just because you have a degree doesn't mean your lighting is amazing.

My boss at the rental shop dropped out during his first year because of how expensive it was getting and then he realized how much in loans he'd be paying off for four years of college... He is still paying off loans from 2 years ago.


I totally wouldn't be stressing college so much if my mom wasn't forcing me to go to college, and in my opinion if I am going to have to spend my money as well, then I'm going somewhere worth it but somewhere that's not going to have my mom and I in debt from loans.
 
I really have to agree with Footer on this in every way. I am very pro education but again if I was your parent I would not let you go somewhere that cost you 55k a year. Even if I was paying for it.

There are people who come out of school with with $140,000 + in student loans, they are called Medical Doctors, they should not be called stagehands.

I urge you to look into other universities and alternative education options like I had mentioned before. This industry has changed a lot and a 4 year degree isn't the only way to get your education on.

I would also stress if you go the undergrad route, DOUBLE MAJOR, get a double major is business, education, electrical engineering, something you can use when your body gives out and you can't smash in a show. This industry really wears on the human body, your a youngster and all the young stage hands I have worked with feel invincible working on calls with a monster energy drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other but it will happen if you keep going at it, your body will give out. By 30 you will feel it even if you put every effort in to work without straining your body and take every safety precaution including staying away from cigarettes and energy drinks.
 
I totally wouldn't be stressing college so much if my mom wasn't forcing me to go to college, and in my opinion if I am going to have to spend my money as well, then I'm going somewhere worth it but somewhere that's not going to have my mom and I in debt from loans.

IF your mom is going to pay for school completely and she wants you to do it... go for it. Enjoy it. Have fun. Learn a lot. Thank your lucky stars. If your mom wants you to go to school AND you are going to get stuck with student loans more then about 15-20k the tell her to take a hike. This is your first time to do that in your adult life. It won't be your last. My mom REALLY wants me to have a kid. I don't want one and can't afford one so I don't have one. I didn't look at my student loans when I was in school. I left with about 20k and just got them paid off. My wife did not have a clue either. She also ended up with what she though was a scholarship from her church that turned out to be a loan. Really watch this stuff.

Otherwise, find out what your mother is willing to pay. It kind of concerns me the "you'll be in charge of books thing". Text books for theatre majors are REALLY cheap. After sophomore year I just stopped buying them with the exception of theatre history. If she is not willing to pay for books that really puts up a red flag. Don't make your parents do anything you don't want to do or that will have lasting affects on your life. Talk to her, figure out how much you have to work with, and start your search there. Apply everywhere you want. Do FASFA. Then, sit down after you have letters from the schools that want you and what they are offering in aid and figure out what you can afford. I'm not anti education, I'm anti more debt then you can pay off.

Right now I'm just starting the house hunt. Scraping together a down payment is not easy... kind of wish I could have started saving at 22 instead of now.
 
I wouldn't count on a smaller theatre giving you benefits if you ended up at one. Maybe you'll get lucky but lots of places just can't.

Another idea is if you're being forced into college, or rather you wouldn't stress but mom wants it to happen, maybe look for a degree outside of theatre. I usually tell people unless you're sure you won't be happy doing anything else, get a different degree because you can always come back to theatre. You could keep freelancing or doing side work while getting a degree that could help pay bills or make you more marketable. Unless you're 100% determined you have to major in theatre.


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Well, I may not be much help but I'm attending Colorado Mesa University for lighting design

I live in-state but it's somewhat irrelevant because I'm on a big fat academic scholarship. On the whole it isn't a bad school simply on the basis of price.

On the other hand, the technical theatre program isn't fantastic. We have about 15 students in our entire major, which gives one lots of opportunity to work and design but it also means classes get cancelled fairly frequently and we have a very small staff of professors.

So, if you're willing to really work for yourself to ensure you learn what you need to know you can do alright here, and if everything works out I'm going to get out with a major, a minor, and a welding certificate and not a single student loan.

So if you've got a decent ACT score and good grades I say keep the option on the table. The other DT majors and myself love new technicians because it means our program growing and classes not getting cancelled.

So, money-wise I'm just paying room and board (not cheap, but move off campus sophomore year and you're golden) plus books and whatever I need for classes. Doesn't get much better than that for a degree.
 
Such a small world. I received an Associates in Theater from Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University). I moved to Arizona to get my degree in archaeology (really doesn't pay the bills) and then ended up with a career as a stagehand. Don't discredit small schools. The piece of paper at the end rarely matters who signed it, just that the right letters are on it. The biggest challenge is getting real world experience (summer internships).

My success came from hard work, not my college education (though some employers required a BA, so that helped I guess). However, by going to the larger state university, I had more opportunities (being in the city) to work with more people. So, if you are going to school in a less populated city, consider making a move right out of school. If you have friends or relatives in a larger metro area, you could maybe bunk with them while finding work. You may also make connections while working summer stock or internships that could help you in a move.
 
After sophomore year I just stopped buying them with the exception of theatre history.

It took me a few terms of wasting money on books before my rule became "never buy a new textbook until the day you are going to actually use it". I did sometimes purchase used textbooks in advance that I was fairly certain I was going to need - school bookstores seem to be very risk adverse and only purchase used books that they know they will sell, but keep a ample supply of new books because the textbook publishers are willing to accept returns of unsold new books. Sometimes the professor doesn't fill out the form in a timely manner or the course that needs the book won't be offered next term, so the bookstore doesen't buy the used books back from the students (or offers them just what the bookstore can get reselling it wholesale). Textbook publishers also love to come out with new edditions of the same book which will cause the bookstore not to purchase the old eddition used (unless the professor is smart enought to specifically list the old eddition as acceptable when filling out the bookstore's forms) - books with problem sets (math, physics, engineering, ect.) are the worst because the new eddition is guarenteed to have a different set of problems and the teachers often assign textbook problems as homework.

Sometimes textbooks are availble in the school's library (usually limited to use in the library for an hour or two at a time) - if you don't need the book for much this can save you money. You can a site like http://screwthebookstores.com/ to cut out the bookstore's markup on used books (bookstores often buy back books for less than 50% of the retail price for the new book then sell used books for about 75% of the new book price - and sometimes the student selling the book can give you tips on being successful in the course).
 
It took me a few terms of wasting money on books before my rule became "never buy a new textbook until the day you are going to actually use it". I did sometimes purchase used textbooks in advance that I was fairly certain I was going to need - school bookstores seem to be very risk adverse and only purchase used books that they know they will sell, but keep a ample supply of new books because the textbook publishers are willing to accept returns of unsold new books. Sometimes the professor doesn't fill out the form in a timely manner or the course that needs the book won't be offered next term, so the bookstore doesen't buy the used books back from the students (or offers them just what the bookstore can get reselling it wholesale). Textbook publishers also love to come out with new edditions of the same book which will cause the bookstore not to purchase the old eddition used (unless the professor is smart enought to specifically list the old eddition as acceptable when filling out the bookstore's forms) - books with problem sets (math, physics, engineering, ect.) are the worst because the new eddition is guarenteed to have a different set of problems and the teachers often assign textbook problems as homework.

Sometimes textbooks are availble in the school's library (usually limited to use in the library for an hour or two at a time) - if you don't need the book for much this can save you money. You can a site like http://screwthebookstores.com/ to cut out the bookstore's markup on used books (bookstores often buy back books for less than 50% of the retail price for the new book then sell used books for about 75% of the new book price - and sometimes the student selling the book can give you tips on being successful in the course).

And with that too many of the text books you will need to get in theatre classes are literature. I was the king of inter-library loaning that stuff for the whole semester if needed. Your freshman year everyone marches to the book store and buys everything. After that, you'll never do it again.
 
And with that too many of the text books you will need to get in theatre classes are literature. I was the king of inter-library loaning that stuff for the whole semester if needed. Your freshman year everyone marches to the book store and buys everything. After that, you'll never do it again.
Yes, literature is often easy to find at libraries (be sure to check the public library as well as your school's) and used book stores. I see no reason to pay school bookstore prices for any literature. If your literature reading is in some textbook publisher's "anthology" you can probably find the individual works on their own or in smaller collections at libraries to save not only money but the hassle of carring arround that large tome. If the teacher assigns pages, look up the passages in the "required" book (annother student's, a library reserve copy, or even at the bookstore) so you know that you're reading the right section in the volume you've obtained.
 
Well here's the good news. My mom and I talked a bit earlier about expenses for college and she said that shes paying for EVERYTHING. Yes you read correctly, EVERYTHING, tuition, room, meal plan, and books.

I'm not so worried about the books, I looked at UNCSA's book a few months ago and almost all of the classes use the same text book the whole 4 years because the text books are like 4 books in one that your buying... priced out for all 4 years of books it came to almost 2k.
 
Well here's the good news. My mom and I talked a bit earlier about expenses for college and she said that shes paying for EVERYTHING. Yes you read correctly, EVERYTHING, tuition, room, meal plan, and books.

I'm not so worried about the books, I looked at UNCSA's book a few months ago and almost all of the classes use the same text book the whole 4 years because the text books are like 4 books in one that your buying... priced out for all 4 years of books it came to almost 2k.
Most classes I either didn't buy the book, copied the pages I needed, bought a old edition for $5 off amazon, bought the international edition off ebay or some combination thereof. Generally for the $200+ books, I'd buy the $5 old edition off amazon and if I had to buy the new edition later on oh well on the $5. I did that several times and only had to buy the new one once so that gamble paid off at my school. For classes like math and science, definately look at international editions. Most aren't printed on as nice paper and may not be in color, but they are paperback (big bonus to me on carrying around) but they're usually 50% or less the cost of buying the used book. I picked up international editions of $200 text books for $30. Theres also an "india" version of some text books which is a step below the international ones you can find on ebay. Its black and white and printed on cheap paper. If you are really penny pinching look for that.
 
Most math classes are doing an online homework thing anyway so the text book isn't nearly as important as it used to be. Now you have to buy a license to the website for $30 but no longer are the giant text books needed. At least that's the way it was 4 years ago.
 
"My mom and I talked a bit earlier about expenses for college and she said that shes paying for EVERYTHING."

"If you are really penny pinching look for that."

With all due respect, certainly the non sequitur of the day.
 

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