My time at LMA was full of ups and downs but mainly downs I'm afraid.
I studied BTEC Level 3 film and TV. First year was decent (getting use to the college equipment etc) but tutor wise at times he didn't have a clue. He'd supposed to have studied at uni but I seemed to have a stronger knowledge of films than he did which was pretty embarrassing. The course work was ok and during the year I actually enjoyed making things. The equipment wasn't the best though and the fact that the acting students got priority over cameras was irritating. The Apple Mac computers would often crash while the studio was in good need of central heating for the winter.
Not passing maths was an instant regret when I started at LMA. First 'maths lesson' (if you can call it that) I was greeted by a spotty uni student who turned out to be my so called tutor. The head of maths and English basically threw me into the maths exams in November when I wasn't ready. I failed and he blamed me and my class for failing when he was the one who hired an unqualified tutor. I'd waste 3 hours every Tuesday doing nothing but look at maths worksheets he sent us via email. He'd never mark or check our work. One time he came in with a takeaway pizza,put his feet up on the desk and said do whatever you want! Luckily he wasn't my tutor for second year but it was still a complete farce.
Second year was a nightmare. We had by far one of the most unpleasant tutors I'd had in my whole life. He was constantly moaning and groaning about one thing or the other. Like my first year tutor he literally didn't teach. We'd watch boring videos and copy notes or listen to him waffle on for a good hour or so. When we did the animation unit he didn't know how to use any of the animation software which was really stressful as we had to learn it off our own backs.
He would rant on about how deadlines were important yet he always made us miss deadlines by making us do meaningless tasks such as filming seagulls and the sky, watching Ratatouille and standing around in the pouring rain to film pointless objects. He'd bang on about timing is important yet waste our time by putting on a 20 minute or so Ted talks video about feminism or a topic which is completely unrelated to the course. He'd make us do group filming tasks which were a waste of time because nobody wanted the outcast in the group (me) and others felt they were imperior to those who were different. Filming tasks felt more like a chore than a fun job to do.
The college at a whole seems to be more interested in money. As soon as I started second year they started ramming their BA Hons course down our throats. Persuading and manipulating people to go to the BA, using personal struggles against you. I had applied to the BA due to the constant pressure from staff and the overwhelming stress I was suffering from. I needn't worry about the BA now as the college had meddled with my UCAS application. I had accepted my offer and everything was looking good until my password stopped working and I got an email telling me to confirm my place when I already had. I tried changing my password which didn't work. Then the deadline hit and it said my place was withdrawn. The college had gone behind my back and withdrawn my application to their uni education. They also did this to another student in my class and to another who had applied for a different uni (luckily they managed to get the place after all).
Maths in second year was better because at least we had actual school tutors. The lessons were a bit dire but at least we were getting taught. Lessons were shorter but spread across two days.
I could go on even more but I think I've shown you the true colours of the college. I recommend thinking twice about going here unless you want to waste days and hours doing useless tasks which won't help you get a career in the industry. If you're thinking about going to the BA avoid the lies they'll feed you. It's not cheaper than other universities and there's no guarantee you'll get an industry job. read more
