It amazes me how often people act impressed with where I went to school. I don't know if it's because they actually know anything about Columbia College, or if they are just saying what's polite. The fact of the matter is, I always respond the same way.
My go-to reaction is to tell them why I regret going to school for photography. I say I should've gone to networking school! Clearly that doesn't exist, but I really do wish I would've gone to school for the business side, not the artistic side. The fact of the matter is, I was amazed at the technical illiteracy of my fellow classmates. That's not to say there weren't talented students. If anything, it made the students who actually had vision really stand out. I spent entirely too much time on the technical aspects of photography, rather than actually growing as an artist and really honing my art.
I'm not sure if most art schools are like this, but from my impressions, it seems like Columbia is at the least, pretty well regarded.
The moral of the story is, learn how to operate a camera on your own, work with others to critique your own and their work, and for goodness sake, learn a thing or two about business. I'm still learning that kind of stuff now and I've been in the business for 5 years. Don't make my mistakes.
