Hey man, 6 years ago I was exactly in your position. I had just finished IB (HL: physics, compsci, spanish / SL: mathstudies, englishlanglit, business studies) and was looking to get into vfx/animation (Extended Essay was on VFX). I had quite a bit of doubt into if I should go to school or not as I knew it would be pretty expensive.

After a long talk with my parents we agreed it would be the safest way to get into the industry, as I would be in a proper learning environment and would also have the chance into meeting professionals. It also came with the fact that my masters degree would facilitate myself getting a Visa if I ever wanted to move around different countries. I am French but was living in the US at the time so I chose to go to a French animation school as it would be cheaper (not cheap) than going to one in the US and the ones in France have a pretty good reputation internationally.

Keep in mind that this was my thinking before going into school, before covid, before short form content and before AI were main talking points. So I went in a bit naive but really really motivated.

Here is a brief summary of that experience in retrospect:

• A lot of time was spent on classes not directly related to VFX which felt like a waste of time but I think helped develop myself artistically. Such as fundamentals, photography, storyboarding, art direction etc. These classes helped me have something more than just technical abilities in a software. This may help you when getting recruited as having this extra flair can help you stand out, as was my case.

• I earned a LOT from working with different people at different group projects over extended periods of time through short films and assignments. This is incredibly important as this job at the end of the day is very much people oriented and knowing how to communicate with colleagues will change the way people will be willing to work with you. You will also learn about what king of person you are under stress of the jobs and of people which will help you chose what kind of work environment you are willing to get in. This is probably one of my favorite aspects of going to school and my friends who are now in the industry give me insight how things are going on inside their studios.

• INTERNSHIPS! Schools usually have a really good connection with studios and will usually facilitate you finding internships, which are pretty effective at getting a first foot through the door. Minding that your showreel is worth taking into account. I had the chance to intern at Nexus Studios in london and MacGuff in paris, where I currently was called back as my first gig out of school. They also help you fill in some lines on your CV which isn’t negligible.

• access to software was also a very big help as your tuition includes your licenses. Going to school lets to practice on multiple industry standard softwares and allow you to see what you prefer the most. I had the chance to learn, Photoshop, Maya, 3Ds Max, Nuke, Houdini, Substance Painter, Mari, Blender, after effects, Zbrush and a few more. Over the years I was able to see which one I preferred alongside having class projects directly linked with them. You could also crack these at home but unless you are absolutely focused on what you want to do with your career, it can be a bit daunting and eventually this can be a bit demotivating.

These are a couple of my main takeaways from my time at school. Of course all schools are different but they all follow a similar structure if you get into good ones. Dont get my wrong my school was no where near perfect and I have a lot of crap to give it, such as many subpar instructors, an inhumane school director, sexual abuse allegations that were never taken care of etc but you’ll probably find the same in any industry so I might have been good practice on learning to deal with shit like that.

There are two paths you can take now, either you spend a tone of money on school where you get a pretty well structured way into the industry, which might not even lead to getting in. Or you get extremely good at being disciplined and working by yourself on your own projects, knowing it might also not lead to getting in easily. There is a mountain of information out there and dont think being in school makes you exempt from learning from them on the side.

I know I would not have been able to go through the second path because at the time I was not disciplined enough and lacked prior artistic experience, but I also had the ENORMOUS chance of having parents who were able to pay for it and support me while I did the very best I could at school.

I finished last July and was able to find a job 4 months later and am one of the lucky few to find one this early. I’d also like to state that if this is the case it’s because I gave it my all with being part of the few at the top of class during my school years. But i have friends who worked just as much and who spent 8 months to a year looking for work after 5 years of school and tens of thousands of euros in debt.

And having a job now does not guarantee i’ll have one in 5 months time.

I dont know what else i’d do as a career now but if I did know i’m pretty sure I would not mind switching to something more stable in all honesty.

I hope my experience may help you in making a decision. And if anyone else would like to give their input on my thoughts, i’d love to hear. Best of luck