leo_burgess

<p>Hi John,<br>

I was accepted to Hallmark but was unable to attend due to personal reasons. I ended up doing the part-time program a CDIA which has a very similar program for less than half the money (there is a full-time prgram also). There are also a few people at CDIA that attended or/and worked at Hallmark. I believe that you don;t leave Hallmark with your equipment (camera) anymore which is something to consider after dropping close to $60k.</p>

<p>". CDIA has a number of different educational programs... film making, digital animation, graphic arts... in addition to photography. This means the school's <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/#" target="_blank">resources</a> are spread out amongst those disciplines... It is not dedicated soley to photography. The program teaches you only digital photography strictly using DSLRs. You will not learn film, medium or large format photography. CDIA is a 9 month program that is pretty much part-time attendance. You do not attend classes all day, 5 days a week like you do at Hallmark."<br>

Kevin,<br>

I have to rebut you on a couple things here:<br>

The resources are specific for each discipline i.e. you won;t have a sound person teaching photography so I am not sure what the point was there. <br>

Yes, it is digital only, which is smart as the industry is basically headed that direction and most clients want digital files. Persoanlly, I had no desire to do film at this point. Take the film part out of Hallmark andf the course would be the same length or shorter than CDIA.<br>

As far as<em> </em>know, F/T students are there all day 5 days a week, so I am not sure how you are getting that FT runs like PT. PT is two nights (3 hours) a week plus every other Saturday (8 hours).<br>

TO leave Hallmark and have to go drop another $6k+ to buy your equioment again seems senseless to me.</p>

<p>Hi Lis,<br />If you are in Massachusetts and looking to stay here (I am in MA), check out <a href="http://www.cdiabu.com/photography.php">CDIA</a>. They have a F/T (9 months) or P/T program (18 months). No, the campus is not as pretty as Hallmark's although you will spend half the money <strong>but not</strong> get half the education. You do get to keep your equipment in the end. I am graduating in September (doing P/T program) but have already done several pay gigs and had photos published. There are lots of options .. get your money's worth. Good luck in your search.<br />Leo</p>

All schools are in the business of making money and CDIA is less expensive than many. I was getting called by several schools very often, even after I told them I chose another school (CDIA). I am currently a student (p/t student with a BU ID). I can tell you that all of the teachers I have had are working professionals, most with many years (15+years) in the profession. Also, there are several teachers and faculty have worked for or learned some of their skills at other photog schools. So, hopefully you are at CDIA and maybe we will cross paths.

Well, I should have been at Hallmark today. Everything was in place finance wise and I would have been able to collect unemployment while attending. The failure point came with the support of my wife waning the closer it came time to start. So, I guess I will be "working" again and trying to improve my skills and new equipment on my own. I wish all that are able to attend the best of luck.

Hi Matt,

I have just enrolled recently and also looking into the finance portion and possiblity of

getting a room a few nights a week (I will be communiting mostly). I don't think you will have

an issue but once you are enrolled, they will be better able to help you with that. My wife

seems to be losing her enthusiasm for me going already. She was initially very excited about

me going but now I will have to play it by ear. 8(

Mine was not very professional and I had to write mine while I was there. Just say why it is

important to you and why you think you will be successful. I think mine was only about 4 or

5 sentences long. I am on the fence a little between Hallmark and CDIA (partially due to $).

If anyone has an opinion, by all mean post something. I am actually sending enrollment

forms to both and see what happens.

The Mamiya site appears to be up to date. The camera he is referring to is the ZD 645AFD II, not to be confused with the older ZD or the older 645 series - http://mamiya.com/cameras.asp?id=1&id2=2281

I too have just been accepted. Now I have to figure out the money part and how I will help my wife with family obligations and my daughter with school when needed. Seems like I will have a lot of things to juggle. Anyone know what the rejection rate is for Hallmark?

Thanks for the feedback, Wayne, Floyd and Jason. For me, the key is to get through it (sure I can) and get to work ASAP, whether for myself or for someone.

Thankfully, my wife is very supportive of this. I don't know if she will remain as supportive once school is in full swing (assuming acceptance and enrollment) and I am not available to do things (cut lawn, grocery shop, take daughter to doctor, etc.). Sometimes I am torn about making the jump to do something I think I will love or just stay in IS/IT to die from unhealthy stress, prematurely. Sounds like a no brainer.

I have had my interview this week and was recommended (yay). I had one letter of recommendation sent in already and need to get my other sent in. Assuming I get accepted and can somehow get the funds, I will be one of the older students (40s). Is there anyone here that has gone through the program that has a wife, child and mortgage? How did you do it?