NY Times article on film schools has some important points to make.

[digmedia]

@Violet4 posted this article in another thread, but I wanted it to have a discussion of its own. The article has some very important points for film students:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/education/edlife/film-school-for-profit-or-not.html?_r=0

But the rapidly shifting film school landscape has led to what a business professor might refer to as marketplace confusion. Never have the film school options been so many, and never has there been greater bewilderment about where to go — or whether to go at all.

So true. The options facing an aspiring film school student are almost overwhelming.

it is harder than ever to find a traditional Hollywood job, experts say. Studios, battling declining DVD sales and a topsy-turvy box office, are not buying as many scripts from new writers and have eliminated junior staff positions. They have also cut back on deals with production companies, which often provide entry-level positions. At the same time, the market has been flooded with graduates… As Full Sail publicized in a news release, 11 of its graduates worked on “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” which took in $1.1 billion worldwide last year. But look at the fine print. Three of those workers were production assistants; one was a payroll clerk.

While it may be harder to get a job on a big feature, there are more creative developments going on now than in a long time. Just look at the explosion of TV original programming, commercials, and other videos.

Hollywood employers probably don’t care whether you attended film school at all, particularly when it comes to what is known as “below the line” crew work: sound engineer, film editor, assistant director and so on. What does matter is the last job on a résumé. “Never have I looked at education to hire crew,” said Jawal Nga, an art house producer.

My son says this is absolutely true. NOBODY CARES where you went to school. BUT, that school can provide the connections (via alumni with whom you have worked on student films) that can get you that first couple jobs. You need TALENT, EXPERIENCE (even student experience), and CONNECTIONS (your fellow students).