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Ok, as some of you may already know, I work at SAE now as a supervisor/teacher.
Before that I already graduated in a local school teaching audiovisual techniques. It was mainly connected to the broadcast and cinema work, not really with music. As I felt I wanted a complete package, I decided to attend SAE too, in Belgium, my country. I enrolled in their Audio Engineer course, full time.
I graduated last year, and they thought my grades were pretty good, so much they offered me a job there. Pretty awkward feeling to take exams off (or even teach) people you studied with some weeks before 
So, I have the luxury (curse) to be able to see both sides of the coin.
For one thing, yes, I agree, lots of ignorant people come to SAE. And I gotta agree too, not every SAE will react the same to those people. If the money counts, they'll probably say : "Sure, come on in, you'll learn everything you want, and be successful in your career". Personally, I can say at "my" SAE, you're not getting enrolled unless you have a very long discussion with either of us, to see if the drive is really there.
You cannot imagine how much peole come to us with the reason : "yeah I saw this dude on tv, behind a large console, producing (...) hiphop, then he drove of with a big Mercedes with lot's of chicks in it..." Certainly that isn't a good reason to become sound engineer.
Even with people that claim, they want to make their own music, so they want to learn sound engineering to make better tracks of their own, that's not the best reason either. It might be better to take the Electronic Music Producer course for them. Cheaper, and they won't get desillusioned.
They got to understand that :
1) sound engineering has a lot of aspects, it's not only about music
2) it requires a lot of (active) work to get somewhere
3) the chance one of them will become a rich succesful engineer is very slim, even if they work hard for it. A lot of dedication is needed, a lot of ass kissing, and a lot of luck too. That's the business... I'd even say more, be prepared to live in the shadow of other people. One of my teachers once stated about movies : "when people saw a great movie, and they come out of the cinema, you often hear them say "great scenario, great images and lighting, nice suspense...", but rarely if the sound was good. Most of the time when people talk to about the sound, it's that something was wrong or annoyed them. I think that statement can't be more true, even in music. When a great album is released, the composition is praised, the musicians skills etc... But don't forget a big deal of the sound was shaped by the engineers.
4) it's only honest to say that the certification you get won't be a guarantee to getting work in the business. At most it's a personal proof you're not too shabby at what you're doing. But in the business, they won't hire you because you're waving a paper that says you graduated with 95% at SAE, they'll hire you because you've proven your skills to them someway...
Even when people get accepted in the school, we see pretty quickly which kids are there because either their parents pay for them or they don't know what else they want to do in life. Obviously we could say, sure let the money flow, but what's the use. At the end, they won't probably get there anyway, and they're only getting in the way of people who really want to work.
Personally, I can't understand if you pay shitloads of money for your education, how you can stay there without your maximum interest.
Sometimes we see students only doing recordings or mixes because it's one of the compulsory ones, and for the rest we don't see them.
We're in a business where practice is the most important thing to improve your skills. If are lucky enough to go to a school that gives you the infrastructure (wether it is SAE or another one), well use it.
When I was a student, I can't remember how much time I spent in the studios (working ). Basically, if something was free, I was there.
They seriously advise you not to have jobs beside the course if you are a full time student, due to lack of time. Yet, I managed to do plenty of jobs on the side (live, broadcast, on location recording, etc... Heck, what can I say, the nights were still free The only thing I had to drop a bit was dj'ing, which is a shame. Maybe one day I'll pick it up again), and have no regret of doing, on the contrary. And that's the thing I expect from people that really want to succeed too.
About the theory courses, I'm sorry it was such a bad experience for you Freak. I can't say at "my" SAE the courses are 100% complete, but the essentials are there (no mic or mic placement theory wtf, that's inadmissible). Seriously for the price you paid, you could expect to at least have the essentials, otherwise I'd say it out loud. If they wouldn't listen, I'll take it to a higher level.
I wasn't happy about some aspects of the course, and I went to the coordinators and manager to discuss about it. Luckily those people here are willing to take criticism and learn from it. Things are slowly evolving, but they are evolving (in the right direction might I add). That's partly why I accepted to teach too, because I know I have some solid knowledge in area's that weren't completely explained there. And people that know me, also know that I like to share that knowledge.
But if I look back at what is teached at SAE, I can say, for myself, it's a pretty complete package. Although I must say that if you're already pretty much experienced in the business (like I was when I entered SAE) there are some parts that can seem "noobish". The courses start from the very basics of sound (although I wonder what you're doing at a +8000$ course if you've never seen a record button in your life before).
But in short, I gotta agree fully with binkun here.
Know what you are getting yourself into. The term is sound/audio engineer. Not music or dj artist. You must have a deep passion for sound in general, and most importantly be prepared to work a lot. A lot lot. And sometimes for peanuts. Also be prepared to face that because you graduated in a sound engineering school that you'll make it in the business. I'd mostly say such schools, if they're doing their work right, prepare you for a life of work, work and yet again work. And mostly not to strive for money and success (which is nice if you get it anyway of course), but for quality and self fulfillment. Because at the end of the day, if you can say : "today I worked on a project, I'm very happy about what I did, and most important my client is very happy about what I did", that is an excellent feeling, and what drives you to continue in what you are doing.
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