A question for anyone that has finished school?

I'm going to try and find this video I watched that I think you'll probably find very helpful. I'll edit innabit. :)

Right, found a transcript of it, you'll see a question about how helpful film school was for directors, when you scroll down a bit http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/alexander-pa...

The entire interview is a bit long but it's very insightful (especially the things Steve McQueen says), here's a link: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/video-award...

To answer your MQ, before I graduated I straightaway started applying to universities. I don't regret it one bit because I've known what I wanted to major in since Year 6 and I know the degree takes many years to complete so I didn't want to waste any time there. Also the subject is very academic and dense (it wouldn't help/can't be learned by travelling abroad or taking a gap year). I look back on that year as a very stressful one, and even though I had known what I wanted to do, there's just so many universities to choose from and deadlines to meet, plus at the time I was an exchange student in New Zealand and the universities I was looking at were all abroad so accommodation, living expenses had to be looked at as well. My parents were really supportive and helpful though and it really, really helped that my dad had already so much knowledge in the field (he's a pilot for emirates). I bypassed many "could be disasters" this way... If I could give you any advice it'd be: be super prepared, have a file or something of all your important documents, personal statements- all of that. And for you, (like the directors mentioned in the interview), take a step-back and assess if film school will equip with the tools you need. I don't know what aspect of film production you want to be a part of, but if it's editing or something technical then yeah go for it. I remember seeing another (same THR awards season roundtable interview) and it was Nicole Kidman mentioning how directors have a certain way of looking at things, it's to an extent not something that can be taught you gotta explore, analyze people a lot. They look at the world very differently. Taking all that into consideration would probably help you out if gap year, travelling, picking up a hobby is good for you or not. :)

BQ: 21 years old. :)

I finished school in 2002 when I was 16 and went straight to college until 2004 and studied for a Diploma. After that, I started working full time (and now have a pretty decent job). By the time I finished college I was 19 and couldn't stand the idea of more education. I wanted to earn money, move out and get a car, go on holidays etc.

Nope I don't regret anything. I always believe that if you really want to do something, you'll do it. And so you can't look back and think 'I wish I'd done this...' - because if you'd really wanted to, you would have done anyway! I do look back and think that maybe I'd have done things slightly differently but who the hell knows what they want to do with their life when they're only 16? And I didn't go to university, but over the last two years I have studied with the Open University (part time learning) and completed courses in Health & Social Care and Beginner's Italian - so it's never too late anyway!

My advice to anyone would be, be prepared to work hard for what you want. If you want to achieve, you have to put the effort in. And the most important thing for me to be, is being happy.

BQ: 26

I graduated last year.

In the time between graduating and now, I've traveled around Europe, done some art stuff and now I've just started a bachelor of social science at university.

I chose not to take a gap year because [I know myself], I know it would have been difficult for me to get back into it all [study] after a long time, besides it was a good time to go to uni for me, I'd been offered a scholarship which I might not have been offered again.

So far, I've looked back with happiness, I'm so glad to have left school. And I would definitely recommend traveling, you'll be so so surprised at how it widens your perspective of the world. Once you travel to another country/countries and spend some time there, you'll return to your own country with a lot of new ideas and views.

At first, once you've left school, it's great but at the same time it all kind of feels like jumping off a cliff...in the dark. The trick is to not let yourself "drift"...just do ANYTHING as opposed to nothing, even if you don't know where it's going to lead. Doing anything is better than doing nothing.

BQ: 18.

I went to University. It was hard, but definitely worth it in the long run because it has employment prospects. I want to work in film and I'm working on that soon.

Whatever you do, do NOT take a film course. They're expensive, usually don't have the best quality of education and have no employment prospects whatsoever. If you wanna work in film, just start making movies and enter them into festivals. Study something that you can actually get a job in based on actual tertiary education attendance for security and then worry about film later.

If you want more reliable proof of this, look at case studies of some of the biggest directors (Tarantino, Spielberg, Anderson etc). Not one of them attended a film course.

BQ: I'd rather not say. Still young.

After I got out of high school I went straight to work and stayed that way, I wish I took a break and traveled, I do regret not relaxing for a period of time. film school sounds great for you. You are so smart when it comes to films. What you do is up to you if you need a break then take one it could be a short one, but film school sounds like fun.

BQ Not a teenager anymore ok I am not in my 20's either lol

((Maddie))

Hey!

I went straight into college to do my a levels. I sort of wish i had taken a break because of personal issues, i got my qualifications (just) but i didn't take it too seriously because stuff that was going on and think if i would have taken that break i would have enjoyed it more and be in a better position now.

BQ: 19

I took a gap year and traveled to Australia (I graduated HS and got my associates a few months after HS). It helped me know that I was taking the right path into school and helped me to grow more before I settled down for more schooling. I highly recommend taking a gap year, either volunteering abroad or backpacking. It's also harder to travel fresh out of university when you have debts needing to be paid off.

BA: 19

I really didn't know what to do. I went to the local college because I knew I could get in easily. I wasn't ready. I had no discipline. I really wish I'd had an alternate opportunity. I wish there was something I could have done for that first year, not just travelling, but something enriching, like a mission team or something.

Graduated from highschool last year

Next week will be by third at university

BQ: 17

Straight to college. I'm a photography major. Living out my dream