It is vital that you consider all your options when choosing between the different audio engineering schools. Also, you must make sure that you are 100% committed to music and that you have your finances in order. The school you eventually choose will have an impact on your entire future, so it is not something to take lightly. Let’s take a look at the important things to consider.
Audio Engineering Schools’ Awards and Accreditation
All schools claim to be the best. Proving they are the best, however, is down to accreditation. For this type of school, you should look for accreditation by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).
Music Industry Links
Secondly, while your education is now of key importance in the industry, who you know continues to be vital as well. Hence, you must check the school has good connections. This should also be apparent in their internship offerings.
The Facilities
Audio engineering is an ever-changing field. Modern technology develops so quickly that most struggle to keep up. A good school should be able to keep up, however. At the same time, they should continue to offer slightly older technology because of the fact that not everybody in the industry is able to work with the latest and newest technology.
Class Sizes
Next, you need to make sure that you can get plenty of personal attention from your faculty. As this is a hands-on field of study, you should never feel as if you have been left to your own devices. Make sure you know the teacher to student ratio is not too high.
The Faculty
Find out who the faculty is, and what their experience is. They should be highly educated, but also have significant and ongoing practical experience.
Advice and Guidance
Most students start their academic career full of excitement and then find that things are not quite what they expected. The work is more intensive than they expected, being independent is harder than they care to admit, and they get homesick. Many also start to question whether they have made the right choice. While you may think that this won’t happen to you, making sure that there is support available to you, even if it’s just in case, is very important.
Qualification
You also need to check which degree you will end up with. This could be a certificate, a diploma, an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, or a doctorate degree. It is very important to check which one you are studying towards.
Theoretical and Practical
It is very important that you learn the theories of audio engineering. However, it is also a very practical field of work, which means that you also have to have practical experience. How much studio time is included as part of your degree is very important, therefore.
These are just a few of the important considerations that you have to make before deciding to enroll in a school.