when I ran out of money 30 years ago at the tender age of 22, I dropped out of an MFA film production program at NYU. I just didn't seem as though going deeper into debt during a recession (crap, that sounds familiar doesn't it?) was a good move. the problem with the film production program was you had to fund all your film work (stock, equipment rentals, processing, etc.) plus your tuition, room, board, etc. third-year students turned into fifth year students and it wasn't uncommon for people to spend $50,000 on a thesis film -- a lot of scratch in the early 80's. if you had a rich uncle or were really good at raising capital elsewhere, it was viable. if you lacked money (and self-confidence) it was disaster waiting to happen. and, then, unless you were a rare combination of talent, kutzpah and connections like Spike Lee was then, you still had to start in some menial, possibly unpaid job (mine was as an unpaid, but credited apprentice editor gig on the Fred "The Hammer" Williamson blaxploitation pic "One Down, Two to Go").
My regrets are few, though who knows what might have been.
Don't let me rain on your parade. I think the BFA program at NYU probably produced more grads who got real jobs in the industry than the grad school did. Not sure why that was or if it's changed since then.
I'd think a good BFA program in photography would be radically different. For one thing, you don't have so much to worry about so far as coming up with gazillions of dollars for equipment and supplies (even if you shoot film, it's not going by at 24 frames per second). For another, it doesn't really require fund raising skills to turn out good work (assuming you can come up with tuition). For another, it's not a collaborative art where who you hook up with is going to determine how well you can do. So, don't let my experience be a guide.
the upside: I met my wife there (in the dark in an editing class) and we've been married 27 years now.
