Anonymous:

I am a student in the Digital Art and Design program at Full Sail in my seventh month.
As far as the actual education goes, most of the classes have been very good. I’ve learned a lot, and gained a lot of new skills.
That said, the administration at Full Sail is TERRIBLE. The left hand never knows what the right hand is doing. Any minor issue you may have will require you to deal with at least half a dozen different departments, none of whom will ever tell you the same thing twice. Simple matters become long drawn out ordeals the second you ask anyone in administration for help.
It has been said in this thread, by several people (including a former Full Sail instructor) that the teachers are mostly Full Sail Grads who couldn’t find a job in the industry. That part is true. But I wouldn’t let it sway your opinion of the school. Sorry to any teachers reading this, but the truth is that the VAST MAJORITY of ALL teachers who are teaching anything like digital art, web development, film etc… could be making far more money if they were out there in the industry as oppose to teaching. That’s not something you escape by choosing not to go to full sail.
The course directors, for the most part, have been very helpful and knowledgeable. They have been approachable when I needed help and have pointed me to plenty of additional resources I otherwise would not have known about.
The lab instructors on the other hand, have (with few exceptions) been fairly useless. Frequently the lab instructors I’ve had have been in their first month of that class and have known next to nothing about the curriculum. Often they have instructed us to do things “because that’s how it’s done in the industry” of which they have no experience in. They often are too busy jaw jacking with each other or playing on Facebook to get out of their chairs and walk around and look at the students’ work.
All that said, I’m not sure I would choose to go to school anywhere else. The equipment is (for the most part) far more current than at many schools, the curriculum is relevant and helpful, and MOST of the actual course directors are very good at teaching.
And just so you know, I currently have a 4.0 and have multiple course director’s awards. I’m not one those guys who isn’t putting the effort in to make the education effective… though Full Sail does seem to have a LOT of them. I guess their money spends just like anybody else’s

Do I need to know how to draw to be accepted on Full Sail’s Digital Arts & Design Programme? I really want to do this course though and I am willing to take art classes before September. Please reply if you can. Thank you very much!

I want to give my opinion on it durring my research. I will try not to be biased as I have not attended or visted the school due to my location. I will give my opinion based entirly on my experience talking to the admissions department, reading reviews on the internet, and personal sources.

From what I have read Fullsail seems like a great school that has many faults. Sounds to me like any collage in the world. People say its to expensive or they lie to you or the teachers are bad. Well every school has that. I cant find a single school that doesnt have those issues.

Does it cost to much? Well that depends entirly on how you see education. If you think your going to spend ALOT of money and come out of collage with a great job that will pay off then of course you will think it was a waste of money. The most you can expect out of any collage no matter what the cost is maybe getting an entry level job out of it and hopefully its in your chosen career. They dont promise you that you will get a good job after completing it. They can say you have a good job at getting a job out of it. Thats true you can if YOU put in the effort. You should only spend the amount of money in school that you feel will help you in the future. If you plan to go to Fullsail and pay the $70,000 hoping that you wont have any struggles in life or that the instructors will teach you everything you need to know then DONT go. You will simply waste your money. To get a good job you need to work hard on your OWN and expect to struggle. You pay all that money not to get everything handed to you but to have the reasources in front of you to go out and learn it YOURSELF. The teachers are there to HELP you on the things you CANT teach yourself. They are instuctors. This isnt highschool anymore. The more money you pay the harder you should work to make it worthwile.

Does the school lie to you? That also depends on what you consider lieing. I would say they dont. The admissions person I have has answered any question I have. If you dont ask the right questions dont expect to get good answers. By law they cant lie to you. They can tell you part of the truth or even make the bad sound good. They are allowed to do that. Everyone does that. Its part of life so only blame yourself if you believe they lied to you. Find the right questions and outsmart them into giving you better answers. If you not satisfied then ask those questions online and hope you get both sides of the story so that you can decide if its worth it to you.

Are the teachers bad? Again from what ive read NO they are not. They are there to teach you the basics and help you when you need it. If your finding out that you are not asking ALOT of questions then your simply not trying to learn. If you want to learn its up to YOU. Go beyond what they teach you. go online and order some books in your field recomended by people who are currently working in the field. If there is a company you want to work for then call them. Talk your way around until you get to a leader of some type. Ask them questions you have. Tell them who you are and what makes you want to do that career. Make them like you. Ask them to visit the school and keep asking them about it. Even they like extra money and if they contact the school saying they want to visit a few classes and talk then the school will pay them. If you get them to come talk to them one on one. Make your own contacts. If your willing to be rejected from time to time then you can make some really good contacts rather fast. Go get coffie with them or lunch or whatever. Make it your job to succeed NOT the schools. You will learn more on your own then you could ever learn in any school. The school teaches you the bases and gives you resources and help. You make your success not the school.

I currently have a friend who attends Fullsail. They love it. They dont love it because of the teachers or the price it cost but because they love what they want to do. She has more contacts with big names then almost all of the teachers in the school. She isnt even close to being done and she already has Bioware and Lucas Arts producers watching her progress and teaching her themselves. She has been to a Bioware Studio to meet real people in the making of a game called Star Wars The Old Republic. They already want her on the team so she may even leave school a year early to jump right into the big names. So doing things beyond whats expected will get you far.

Thanks,
Postman22

If you were asked to leave due to academic reasons and put on probation and then charged the remainder of your education can you please contact me?

If you were not satisfied with your experience in the Performing Arts Program please contact me.

If you got robbed etc or had terrible experiences with the housing that FULL SAIL suggested I would also like to hear from you.

If your phone calls to professors or administration went unanswered please contact me.
If you retained copies of the emails you sent that were unanswered please contact me.
If you are the parents of a student who attended FULL SAIL and you are unhappy with the program please contact me.
I would greatly appreciate any information you can provide.

Please spare some honest advice.

As far as the actual education goes, most of the classes have been very good. I’ve learned a lot, and gained a lot of new skills.

That said, the administration at Full Sail is TERRIBLE. The left hand never knows what the right hand is doing. Any minor issue you may have will require you to deal with at least half a dozen different departments, none of whom will ever tell you the same thing twice. Simple matters become long drawn out ordeals the second you ask anyone in administration for help.

It has been said in this thread, by several people (including a former Full Sail instructor) that the teachers are mostly Full Sail Grads who couldn’t find a job in the industry. That part is true. But I wouldn’t let it sway your opinion of the school. Sorry to any teachers reading this, but the truth is that the VAST MAJORITY of ALL teachers who are teaching anything like digital art, web development, film etc… could be making far more money if they were out there in the industry as oppose to teaching. That’s not something you escape by choosing not to go to full sail.

The course directors, for the most part, have been very helpful and knowledgeable. They have been approachable when I needed help and have pointed me to plenty of additional resources I otherwise would not have known about.

The lab instructors on the other hand, have (with few exceptions) been fairly useless. Frequently the lab instructors I’ve had have been in their first month of that class and have known next to nothing about the curriculum. Often they have instructed us to do things “because that’s how it’s done in the industry” of which they have no experience in. They often are too busy jaw jacking with each other or playing on Facebook to get out of their chairs and walk around and look at the students’ work.

All that said, I’m not sure I would choose to go to school anywhere else. The equipment is (for the most part) far more current than at many schools, the curriculum is relevant and helpful, and MOST of the actual course directors are very good at teaching.

And just so you know, I currently have a 4.0 and have multiple course director’s awards. I’m not one those guys who isn’t putting the effort in to make the education effective… though Full Sail does seem to have a LOT of them. I guess their money spends just like anybody else’s