Full Sail – A factory for professional talent
I spent the majority of last week in Orlando evaluating 2 different Bachelor of Science degree program offerings from an interesting school named Full Sail. At present, Full Sail has degrees in Computer Animation, Digital Media, Entertainment Business, Film, Game Design, Recording Arts, and Show Production & Touring. I was invited to evaluate the new degree pertaining to Web Engineering, but also participated in the Digital Arts and Design curriculum evaluation as well.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by and entirely impressed with Full Sail. They are working hard to create a unique, energetic environment that supports creativity and encourages participation. The staff, equipment, and curriculum are personalized and professional, with a substantial amount of focus placed on independent development and self-determination. The school has a very distinct mandate, graduating professionals who are capable of hitting the ground running and positively influencing whatever company has the wherewithall to offer them industry positions. Perhaps most impressive is their job placement rate, which amazingly is above 80%!
Full Sail is definitely a viable option for someone looking to learn cutting edge, well rounded skills for today’s media industry … and no, I was not paid to say any of this 
November 21, 2006 - 10:21 pm
Caleb,
There was a time when prep school landed you in college to earn the supremely nebulous BA. Technical schools produced mechanics and plummers – practical professionals whose skill sets quaranteed work but not necessarily big bucks. It’s all changing. Today’s “vocational” schools produce tomorrow’s cutting edge animators, designers, etc. – specialized professionals who exist at the forefront of the media landscape. While I remain proud of my shmanzy BA, that 80% placement rate is indeed tempting. It will be interesting to see whether the western canon of education will evolve or disintegrate altogether.
December 15, 2007 - 8:41 am
Don’t go there!! they will wine and dine you until thee is a problem. the other big issue is there high priced schooling does not have transferable credits!! Got to ARTI in orlando!!! Much beter and a real placement rate not inflated like Full Sail
December 15, 2007 - 8:43 am
sorry for the mis-spellings no glasses today. Full Sail does a wonderful PR job and it ends there. ARTi has better equipment and smaller class sizes. Full sail packs you in like cattle. Stay away!! I went there and got screwed out of 20K in the first two months!!!!
December 27, 2007 - 4:45 pm
Don’t Do It, That 80% placement rate is an illusion in their little minds
December 28, 2007 - 12:19 pm
I called Full Sail and talked with an admission specialist to get answers to the following questions? What is the Grad rate and what is the placement rate for 1, 2, 5 and 10 years.
The grad rate is about 88%. The placement rate is 75%. What they don’t tell you is – is the 75% only the current grad class or the past 2 yrs or past 3 yrs.? In other words, if a grad class has 100 students, only about 90 will graduate. Of that 90, only 68 will get jobs in their chosen profession. This is the best case scenario. Over two years, only about 83 students will be placed out of 200.
January 14, 2008 - 11:26 pm
A bit of advice those who DONT know such as MYSELF go to many resources…including WIKI which by ROLLING STONE review in 2005 “highly recommend” the school on their production house only behind NYU and 1 other. To be 3 on that list is pretty f’n good.
But hey thats just an opinion.
February 27, 2008 - 8:49 pm
As a current student at Full Sail my opinion might sound biased to some, though I am not here trying to convince anyone. Im only here to give my two cents of the experience i’ve had so far.
“Don’t go there!! they will wine and dine you until thee is a problem.”
Wine and dine you? From the moment I heard of the school to now, it has been made very clear to me and other students that their schedule tries to reflect each industries (Film, Recording Arts, Show Production…) real life work schedule as much as possible.
“there high priced schooling does not have transferable credits!!”
True many classes do not have transferable credits, some classes you are required to take regardless of any previous schooling you might have, and many classes you are given the opportunity to test out. I can only speak for the Film degree, but there are several classes that are eligible for credit transfer. I HATE algebra, and there’s no way i’ll take it again, I have fulfilled all my math requirements at a community college in my home town and I am in the process of transferring those credits to Full Sail at this very moment. But anyone in their right mind would/should know this before filling out the enrollment application. As for the “high priced schooling” well if you think its too expensive for you then don’t go there, no one is forcing you to enroll at Full Sail.
“ARTi has better equipment and smaller class sizes.”
I have absolutely no clue as to the equipment used at ARTi, but if ARTi does have better equipment I can’t imagine it being much better than the equipment at Full Sail. Once again, I can only speak for the Film degree, but the equipment that Full Sail uses rivals that of many Hollywood studios. As for class size true they do have rather large class sizes, but for example many if not most classes have anywhere from 20 to 60 students give or take, but the students are divided into smaller groups of about 6-10 depending on class size with each group having its own teacher, or as its known here at Full Sail a “Lab Specialist”
“The grad rate is about 88%. The placement rate is 75%. What they don’t tell you is – is the 75% only the current grad class or the past 2 yrs or past 3 yrs.? In other words, if a grad class has 100 students, only about 90 will graduate. Of that 90, only 68 will get jobs in their chosen profession. This is the best case scenario. Over two years, only about 83 students will be placed out of 200.”
“The grad rate is about 88%,” “a grad class has 100 students, only about 90 will graduate.” huh? the last time I checked 88% of 100 is 88, not 90.
According to the numbers you claimed to have gotten from a Full Sail admission specialist in a class of 100, 88 will graduate, and 75% percent of that 88, will get a job in their chosen profession which is 66. So in a class of 200, 176 will graduate, and 132 students will graduate AND get a job in their chosen profession. But according to you “only about 83 students will be placed out of 200.”
March 10, 2008 - 6:31 pm
yeah Jean Choiniere that was an awesome response to everything. FILM!
June 10, 2008 - 10:15 pm
Does anyone know anything about the Master Degree Programs? Thanks!
June 18, 2008 - 3:48 pm
It’s interesting, the different personalities of people who reply to posts like these. I’m a Full Sail student too, and yeah it’s on the expensive side, but the learning quality is good. If you’re willing to learn, then you’ll get what you deserve out of it.
Anyway, ARTI is an Audio school. What about digital media, web, show pro, film, and the business degrees? If you didn’t make it through Full Sail then don’t take it out on the school. Even though it’s not right for you, don’t discourage others to look into it.
August 4, 2008 - 12:58 am
I’m currently a Full Sail student going for Game Development myself. To respond to the comment about how Full Sail is expensive, in my opinion you can’t put a price on your education. I have personally found Full Sail’s class sizes rather small compared to most conventional Universities.
On another note the quality of schooling you get here is absolutely amazing.
In regards to the transferable credits issue, the general education classes you take here are transferable. The others are not however, and with good reason. The amount of stuff they teach you in these classes is staggering compared to other schools.
Coming to Full Sail was easily the best choice I have ever made. I highly recommend it to anyone who is truely serious about pursuing their dreams.
August 7, 2008 - 8:21 pm
I am considering Full sail. What about the housing situation. Are you able to get adequate housing and since I am from out of state, I am wondering if the housing is scattered or close to each other?
August 23, 2008 - 6:00 am
I am also currently a Full Sail student in the Film degree program. I can’t complain about my experience here. I believe that you get out of Full Sail what you put in to it. Another issue is that Full Sail should not be responsible for ADULTS that are failing classes. The housing situation is pretty good if you ask me. If you drive further out you can find cheaper housing but there are a few good housing options close by. Especially if you have roommates.
August 26, 2008 - 12:33 pm
I graduated Full Sail with a Recording Arts degree in 2003. I held a 3.0 GPA. I am now in debt with all the interest for $80K. Bank One never tells you that your loans will be sold off to be serviced by Sallie Mae and AES. I was never told that my loan interest rates would change other than if I was late. Record all phone calls is all I can say. There are better ways and places to obtain a degree. They had over 300 in my graduating class, that was ‘03. I can only imagine what it is now. Just do your own research, I would look at a 4 year program like Middle Tennessee State
October 2, 2008 - 5:44 am
I am 17 years old and i have dreamnt of Full Sail for many years now in the wish to complete my dream as a video game programmer i have been discoriged alot by other people about this school and i know that the classes for the classes i plan to go for Game Development and Game Design it will be hard with long hours of C++ but i am so hard headed on Full Sail i cant afford it but i am joining the coast guard to pay for it i know they wont pay it in full but i have to try i was just wundering if anyone can tell me more about the classes i wish to take to give me a better chance to understand what i am getting into and also my girlfriend is going to that school with me but for Game Art can anyone tell me about those classes as well and sorry for the spelling it was never my best subject thank you for your help
December 20, 2008 - 2:58 pm
It’s really annoying to see these quips regarding Full Sail as deceptive or misleading. If you put down $70,000 (I’m currently in my 3rd month for Game Art) to go to a school, why would you be foolish enough to believe everything they tell you on the tour. EVERY college tells you how great it is to attend their school. They rarely mention the incredible difficulty. Yes, Full Sail is beyond difficult. Having labs from 1 am to 5 am and then waking up at 12 pm to attend lecture until 5 pm and then going to open lab to work on your projects until 11 pm is difficult. But if you’re trying to get into the entertainment business, Full Sail is the ultimate boot camp. Everyone in the industry knows this, hence the high placement rate. It’s the most difficult entertainment school in America. The people that complain are the folks that didn’t do any research or thought that it would somehow be fun or easy to make video games/film, etc in an accelerated and elite college. Stop talking shit about Full Sail. It has its problems, as does any university, but quit the complaints that you were ‘tricked’ by their PR blitz. If you spend over $500 (let alone $70,000) DO RESEARCH. If you’re the type to watch a commercial and then blindly buy the product, you’re an idiot and Full Sail will eat you alive.
Also, comparing ARTi to Full Sail is insane. That’s like comparing Harvard to a community college. Lawlz.
January 6, 2009 - 12:15 pm
My 17 year old son is considering Full Sail for 2010. As someone programmed to only trust accredited liberal arts schools, this makes me a bit nervous. Any information would be appreciated.
January 9, 2009 - 2:02 pm
i am really thinking about attending full sail’s recording arts degree. does anyone have any infomation pretaing to why or why i should not attend the RECORDING ARTS at FULL SAIL.
February 11, 2009 - 6:23 pm
Im about to start the recording arts program.. can anyone tell me that went and did this program what would be best for you to no before starting in that program?
Thanks
February 21, 2009 - 8:57 pm
DON’T GO TO FULL SAIL. I graduated from full sail in ‘03. The first thing I noticed while attending that I thought was weird was that I was paying 28,000 for this school and they don’t have real textbooks. They were all paperback and just copies of pages barely bound together with a binder (with a plastic cover-like a freakin’ book report). I thought that was so not right. Then, I noticed that my teachers (most all of them) had graduated from Full Sail, so why were they teaching here and not working in the industry somewhere? That was weird too. Then, I noticed that it wasn’t until the 2nd to the last month that I actually got to record something. Then, after I graduated and couldn’t get a job because the market was so saturated with full sail grads because they were turning out 300 grads EVERY MONTH into the orlando area; I realized then, that everything I just learned at Full Sail and paid 28,000 for is all in MANUALS at your local bookstore or guitar center. Then, the worst of it is I am now in my mid thirties with two small children, married with a house, etc. and am STILL paying off these stupid loans. I do have a home recording studio and I write in my minimal spare time as a hobby, but it certainly was not worth 28k. I feel I got taken for a fool. BIG TIME. Please, just read some manuals or volunteer to do sound at a local church, etc. you would learn just as much as going to full sail for a lot less money and headache. GEES FOOL SAIL. Now, I know why they call it that.
March 29, 2009 - 12:15 am
Sounds like you never even left the orlando area when you graduated. A lot of those full sail grads that became lab instructors also never left the orlando area.
You have to go find jobs, jobs don’t come find you
July 13, 2009 - 2:09 pm
Anyone know of any schools that offer the same types of programs that Fullsail does? I’m looking for something specifically towards show production and touring.
August 24, 2009 - 12:05 pm
I went to fullsail and graduated last december. i would not recomend the school to anyone. The “Teachers” or course directors as they are known there, are useless. all of them either went to Fullsail or UCF and never made it in the industry. Sure there are some teachers that are good at what they do…BUT theyre never on campus because theyre off making more money on real film jobs.
One thing that really upset me about the school is that once i got into my last month and took Producing class the teachers told us that you didnt need a degree to do film…they told me that i have the same chance of getting a job as a kid w/o any degree at all.
what they dont tell you is that even with a BA in Film youre still only qualified for entry positions i.e. Production Assistant
so i spent $70,000 to get a chance for a job that pays $100 a day
September 15, 2009 - 5:52 pm
To Lisa,
My 17 year old is also considering Full Sail in 2010, as a Digital Design major. My son and I went on a “behind the scenes tour” earlier this year (2009), and he (and I) loved it. He is going to Full Sail starting in September of 2010.
I understand your concerns,”….. As someone programmed to only trust accredited liberal arts schools”. I have the same concerns as well, as a matter of fact, I teach full time at an accredited Liberal Arts university in Connecticut! You need to take the leap of faith for Full Sail. Their approach to achieving a 4 year degree in 22 or 23 months is outstanding, “forward” thinking on their part. As a college professor myself, I see soooooo much wasted, down time for the students. Do they really need 5 months off in the summer?? My wife and I realize that we won’t see much of our son while he is at Full Sail (very little down time), but the sooner he is in the work force the better.
For all of you Full Sail bashers, understand something……this school is not for the lazy, faint of heart student. As the president of the school said in a meet and greet session, “….if you are coming to Full Sail with a can of beer in your hand, don’t bother coming.” Translated……….if you go to Full Sail with the intent of working your butt off, you will complete a 4 year degree in half the time. But it is WORK, something that most of todays youth wants no part of.
September 24, 2009 - 3:31 pm
I graduated from the Recording Arts program at Full Sail in August and have already had many job offers. I decided to further my education by going on to the Music Business BA degree, so I didn’t take any of the jobs, but they are waiting for me once I graduate. For those of you considering Full Sail, don’t be discouraged by what others say… it’s a wonderful school. Sure, it’s hard, but the only people who rag on it are the ones who probably struggled and barely graduated and aren’t even trying to find jobs because they are staying here in Orlando after graduation. Of COURSE you’re not going to find a freaking job here… a lot of FS grads stay here and wonder why they can’t get jobs, but it’s bc FS pumps out hundreds of grads every MONTH who are looking for jobs here. YOU HAVE TO MOVE. Fill out applications, schedule interviews, DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO. Career Development can only help you so much–you have to take responsibility and stop blaming the school for your lack of a job. Stop being lazy and go find one. It’s not that hard.
For those of you considering, I strongly recommend it. It’s a great school and as far as the course directors (teachers) go, I can’t speak for the film program, but as far as Recording Arts, I can honestly say that none of them are just “stuck” teaching here because “they couldn’t make it in the industry.” (Check your sources first before you start pointing fingers, lazy grads. Make sure your hands are clean.)
All of my previous RA teachers are only teaching at FS bc they are retired from the industry and are QUITE comfortable financially to where they dont HAVE to have a major industry job anymore. If you’re a disgruntled film grad, I’m sorry, but don’t rank on the entire school just because your program wasn’t up to par when you went through. A lot of things have changed. Do your research.
October 11, 2009 - 4:29 pm
Did anyone attend this school without someone else’s financial help? Please contact me at serendipitous33@rocketmail.com
I am trying to discuss with a friend how one can do anything they put their mind to, no matter what the cost…thank you!
October 28, 2009 - 9:59 am
Annie, im only speakin about the film program not recording arts (in my opinion recording arts is the only program that fullsail does right) im sure most of your teachers were in the industry and were successfull at it. but as far as film goes the teachers tell you about their expirience in the industry…and every one of them said if they got the call theyd leave fullsail. again this is only the film program. almost all of the film teachers come from UCF film so your not really geting diverse information when it comes to film.
ex. when i was in the 16mm class i had to show my new TA how to properly load film because he had no expirience with it. he graduated from Valencia and i was “teaching” him in a class that cost me $5000. does that seem right?
Fullsail is privatly owned and is a for-profit buisness. they only care about the buck. if you go to the school you know everyone there talks about it.
November 21, 2009 - 11:21 pm
I just enrolled in the Entertainment Business Bachelors in Science program. Anyone on here know anything about this program? It seems to me to just be like any other business degree, but the electives focus on the entertainment business…
November 24, 2009 - 6:33 am
I’m planning on going to Full Sail University for Digital Art & Design. I will be flying in from Boston to attend, and will be staying with my aunt in the Orlando area so housing and transportation isn’t an issue. I’m just wondering if what I’m paying for will be worth it. I’ve heard really good and really bad things about the film and recording arts departments, but what about the Digital Art & Design? It’s easy to get a job simply because the internet industry is booming, but is Full Sail worth the education?
Money isn’t an issue. ARTi of New England is pulling me in at $93k just for one degree in advertisement. I DO NOT PLAN on staying in FL after I graduate. I plan on going back to Boston immediately and pursuing the online courses for Internet Marketing for a Masters. Will this be worth it? I don’t plan on buying this unless I’m fully aware of what I can get out of it, and I know what precautions to take and what I have to do (i.e. get out of FL after I graduate to look for a job).
December 15, 2009 - 6:14 am
As a former teacher at Full Sail, I believe I can speak with some authority on Full Scam, or Fool Sale, as the staff called it.
All this crap I read on message boards about “the whiners are just students who couldn’t cut it” and “you get out of it what you put into it” is garbage. A bad school is a bad school no matter how dedicated the student and Full Sail is a BAD school. I’ve been to real colleges and Full Sail isn’t one of them.
First of all, they lie upfront when they tell you that they have industry contacts that will help you get a job after you graduate. NO ONE at Full Sail has industry contacts. Let me repeat that, no one at Full Sail has industry contracts. No one working there knows anyone who works in any of the trades they pretend to teach there.
If anyone at Full Sail had contacts, he would use them to get a real job. Anyone who could leave, has left. Almost all the teachers are there because they can’t get a job anywhere else. The ones who remain are long past caring about the students. Only a few new guys care and try to teach students what they need to know and they get burned out pretty quick because they get no support from the corrupt administrators.
Students believe that what they learn at Full Sail will enable them to get a job because that’s what the school tells them. No way. Nothing in the curriculum will prepare you to compete in the industry, especially against guys with real degrees and more experience. It’s totally superficial. No depth of training at all and in-depth training and experience is exactly what you need to get a good job.
Everything at Full Sail is a front to sucker in new students. Full Sail spends a tremendous amount of money and effort on decorating and flashy equipment to create the impression that it is a high-tech, state-of-the-art facility. It’s not. It’s just an illusion. If all that energy was spent on teaching, graduates might be able to compete in the job market.
Many are of the Full Sail teachers are Full Sail grads. (I was one of the exceptions. I went to a real university.) A common joke at Full Sail goes like this:
“What’s the difference between a Full Sail instructor and a Full Sail grad?”
“Three months.”
(The three months between graduation and getting hired.)
The placement program is a joke. They do NOTHING for the graduate. They have NO contacts in the industry. Any industry. IN order to fudge their placement statistics, they do things like this:
“A grad got a job at Blockbuster. Well, that’s a job in the film industry, isn’t it?”
No. That’s a job in retail.
But they list that as a grad getting a job in the film industry. Orlando is full of video stores staffed by Full Sail grads.
Everything at Full Sail is a lie. They tell suckers that Oliver Stone lectured at Full Sail. Wrong! Stone gave a lecture at UCF and, as a courtesy, the dean at UCF extended an invitation to Full Sail students to attend. But they still tell that lie today. I personally heard this lie told by tour guides at the school.
What kind of school has 24 hour a day classes? One of my students told me that he had been scheduled for 28 straight hours of classes. He fell asleep driving home and nearly crashed his car. Does that sound like a good way to study? The administrators don’t care about the students. At all. You could die on campus and they wouldn’t care as long as your check cleared.
How much do you think you’d learn or remember with that ridiculous schedule? There’s a reason Full Sail is the only college in the world to use a 24/7 class schedule with no semester breaks. Full Sail crams as many suckers through as quickly as possible to make money. Because Full Sail is all about the money. And the lies.
Make your own movie? That’s what they tell students. Not a chance. The teachers pick the script (not yours) and the director and you get ASSIGNED a job on the crew. Whatever job you get, you don’t get to do it long enough to get good at it. I never met a student who was satisfied with the way the film turned out and it was often the teachers who had screwed it up. And Full Sail provides no continuing education for their staff so every day their knowledge becomes more and more outdated. I hope you like paying for obsolete training!
As for show production, save your money and just get a job at a company that does show-pro and learn for free. Lots of people do.
As an alternative to Full Sail, if you want to make movies, here’s my advice.
Read books on screenwriting.
Write script.
Buy computer.
Buy and install editing program.
Buy camcorder.
Make movie.
Sell movie to distributor.
It’s cheaper than Full Sail, you get to keep the gear, and you get to do what you want.
Don’t fooled by their flashy marketing. For the love of God, do NOT go to Full Sail !!
Sincerely,
Former Full Sail Teacher
December 17, 2009 - 7:34 pm
I am currently enrolled in the Entertainment Business BS program at Full Sail. I have to say that I find it very interesting how many people love the school and how many people hate it. I personally am still on the “loving it” side, but have only been in classes for 4 months.
For those of you considering the school here are my thoughts:
First and foremost, do your research (if you are reading this, then you are likely in the midst). There very well may be another school that is going to cater to your needs better then full sail will be able to.
In this process though, I would recommend talking with people in your field of choice (if you can find one…12 degrees of separation right?) and get their opinion on the school, after all, it will be the people within the industry that will hire you once you graduate, so their opinion matters. DON’T base your entire opinion on the postings online! Every product has a failure rate, and the few consumers that happen to get a “failure” are more likely to complain about the product and their experience then one who has had an amazing experience. I think that car reviews are a good comparison. If I buy a car for $30k that is everything I expected, I am not likely going to be thinking “I have a great car that has given me no problems… I should tell people that I have no problems” while on the contrary if I bought that same car and had constant problems I am likely going to try and “warn people” telling them that “EVERY car made is bad…stay away”. The truth is that I am one of a handful of people that managed to buy a lemon, but there is a much greater majority that had a good experience.
In the case of Full Sail, I don’t think it is a good idea to step into this school (or any school) with the expectation that there will be a guaranteed Return on Investment. NOBODY can promise this!
January 24, 2010 - 12:49 pm
Ok,
So I am taking a chance and posting in this forum, because I am headquartered out of Orlando, and need a students help. We currently run a very successful web business over a few different categories (mainly Consumer Electronics) and we need some Video/Marketing help. We are looking to create a full set of marketing videos, websites, and creative electronics posts, to help market our brand.
If any student is interested in an internship or possible “Future Employment” and has some all around Marketing/Social media/Video production and Creative writing experience, we want to speak to you.
Please see a few of our sites, and let us know if you are interested?
http://www.iPhoneSolarCharger.com and http://www.CommXperts.com
Please contact us at: http://tinyurl.com/yzjrgxg
Thanks – Courtney
February 2, 2010 - 1:02 pm
I was contemplating going to Full Sail. I’ve heard a lot about it-good and bad.
Check this website out. There’s a great blog by a student who goes there now and he’s documenting his experience I think. I checked it out and it fleshed out Full Sail a great deal for me.
February 2, 2010 - 1:03 pm
that website is http://phreshvibes.blogspot.com
February 28, 2010 - 8:02 am
I am the father to a full sail student -the admissions people lied to him/us(i was there)about scholarships and loans covering the total cost of the school and now, after only three months, it looks like he is out and we will have to fight them to clear his account-no one can do anything with only three months of school…my suggestion to anyone who is reading this-go to a legitimate school…we were suckered into this-don’t let it happen to you.