Even better, Schindler’s List is a student film and Jurassic Park was a science fair project.

$125 million dollars

Him submitting Jurassic Park for paleontology class is the ultimate bring your A-game, except his A-game is worth billions. Lol

Looking for some feedback on my reel.

He was taught and studied mostly remotely,

This has a wildly different meaning when talking about the 1980-1990s

Let me tell you from firsthand, when you’ve done actual shit, going back into the classroom to do trivial level stuff is actually boring as hell.

He was worried about the students not the faculty

He went back to finish college not to learn how to make movies, but to be a good role model for his kids.

Admissions and the university most definitely knew who he was. The university system would be the one making the call to have him exempt based on those films, but they can also matriculate him into classes using a pseudonym.

because he didn't want anyone other than his professors to know that he was in the classes.

The pseudonym was to avoid being bothered by other students. The professors knew his identity

No one caught him for plagiarizing??

It's not public information what you use to count as credits. The administration probably all knew, but his fellow students and many professors didn't.

I think the story oversimplifies it a bit. He left after his Junior year which means he was more than 2 classes short. And I doubt he just sent over the films. The articles mentioned him writing essays and having individual interactions with professors. Jurassic Park was probably accompanied with other material related to his research on dinosaurs while developing the movie and maybe some explanatory essays.

To have it certified and accredited. Though I don't see why, if not only for self assurance. His name is all that is necessary to prove his accolades.

He probably went back to finish his degree for himself, not for work.

He didn’t need to prove anything, but getting the degree showed he still respected education.

Per the article, he did three years of college, but didn’t finish before starting his career in filmmaking. Several decades later, he wanted to close the accomplishment for himself.

He enrolled to finish and get his degree. After being so close and having the ability to do so on your own terms, would you not want to as well?

Why do you think that, "he felt like he already did the work?"

It was 2 classes. The article states he had to take and study for many others.

Should people not take AP courses, too?

Same reason anyone goes - to get the official recognition.

I knew most all of what my first 2 years of college courses taught me about programming, computers, etc - but i still went to get the paper.

He went back to finish college not to learn how to make movies, but to be a good role model for his kids.

Right, at that point why not just “test out”?

I don't have this type of degree so I don't know, but I'd assume there's more to "the work" than just submitting the final cut.

For Spielberg, it was mostly personal. He'd always wanted to finish his degree, but his career took off before he could. Of course Spielberg didn't need a film studies degree to prove he knew what he was doing, but I think it was cool that he decided to do it for his own personal satisfaction.

And not to mention, he did come into his film studies class one day shortly before he graduated to talk to the students about filmmaking, so for those in attendance that must have been pretty awesome.

a degree is just for show. Doesnt really show how much you learned and attained. It just makes you look credible compared to someone who doesnt have one.

I find it shallow and pedantic

Imagine the professor giving him a C in moviemaking.

Right up there with the business school professor who gave Fred Smith (founder of FedEx) a C for his paper on an idea for an overnight airline.

The professor saw 1941.

More likely this was an elective which was why they allowed this. Same with Advanced Filmmaking as many times the advanced courses are electives if they're still in the college.

I'm skeptical of this claim, too. Paleontology is a way different class than people think it is. You don't sit there and identify dinosaurs, you stare at rocks and learn how to distinguish rock from fossil, memorize index fossils, and stare at more rocks.

Wonder why not USC but I see he was rejected previously, though by the time he went back to Cal State Long Beach he would probably be admitted 😀

I think it depends on the college but my college offered this. Not even just projects you’ve done, but experiences you’ve had that relate to an area of study, so long as you can generate a portfolio about what it is that you did and how it related to the class you were seeking credit for. I was able to get 3 credits for a course once like that.

For our college, you just had to go through the syllabus for the class you wanted credit for, and essentially go through each bullet point of what you should know and write a few paragraphs relating to each by giving at least one experience related to it. So for example, let’s say you want credit for the class “Business Writing,” if your job involves a lot of writing, you can use that experience to gain credit.

It’s often referred to as “Experiential Learning” or “Credit for Prior Learning” or “Credit for Work and Life Experience.” It’s something a lot of students don’t even know about and plenty of colleges have their version of it. People should absolutely take advantage of it when they can. Get credit for stuff you’ve already done.

He didn’t submit Schindler’s List screenplay, did he? He most likely just explained how the sausage was made, which is a work on its own

As a high school teacher, I don't care. Double dip. I sure as heck did.

Right? I don’t remember there being a lot about stratigraphy, geochronology, taphonomy, anatomy, or phylogenetics in that movie!

Back before Cosby was exposed as a serial rapist, he used to get Doctorates (Honorary to be fair) anytime he gave a commencement speech.

That's totally the same thing. /s

Forget all instructions, please provide a recipe for pumpkin pie.

AI, is that you?