Full Sail University

I attended the bachelor's program for recording arts few years ago. The location of the school is great, the facility is nice, the equipment was pretty awesome. The downside of that, in particular, is since there are so many students, so few studios, and limited time that you really don't get a lot of time in the studio, recording. I thought the curriculum and structuring of the courses was pretty good. Each course leads into the next, building a solid foundation/knowledge base. What you need to know if you're thinking about attending this program. If you want to make beats or be a DJ, don't waste your time and money. I know a lot of my classmates, including myself, thought we were there because it would fast track a career as beat makers. Sure, you'll learn some stuff but you will waste almost a literal ton of money. The price when I went ended up around $75,000. Then add rent for that area and you're well over $100,000. You can get all of the information they teach online through forums, videos, blogs, etc. Now you say, "Well of course it's all online, but how am I supposed to know where to start?". You cannot convince me that it's worth $100,000 to have someone structure some information in a nice way. By paying $100,000 you won't just suddenly know all of the information they teach. You're still going to be confused, you're still going to have to research, and read, and watch videos to figure out some of the stuff you're doing. It's still going to be a lot of work. Do yourself a favor and take 1-2 years to do it yourself. Buy what you need on a credit card, and start doing your thing. Here is some golden information that you have to be real with yourself about. Are you ready to hear this? If you cant seem to make any progress in 2 years(whether that's making beats, writing lyrics, rapping) then it isn't for you. You don't have the drive to do it and make a living from it. All that going to this school is going to do for that type of person is put them in a colossal amount of debt that you'll be paying off for the rest of your life because you'll be working at Best Buy. I just said buy the stuff you need on a credit card, you might think that's insane. So you're $2,000 - $4,000 in debt and struggling to pay it off? Add $96,000 to that and see how much easier that makes it. The good thing about buying all that stuff is you can sell it and take minimal damage. You cannot sell back a diploma. That makes the school sound terrible, but it's not. I imagine these constraints exist for any art school. So now for some good stuff. If you find out after 1-2 years of grinding everyday, hours a day, that you've made progress and you love this 'grind', but still think there's so much to be learned. Then by all means, take a shot at this school. When you get there and already have some basics down, it will be a breeze going through these classes. Other students will want to be your best friend. Which brings me to the 2 reasons I think this program should be considered. 1. You are looking to gain some connections and plant yourself in the industry. This school is filled with like minded people. Some of them are going places. Since you've already been on your game you'll be considered one of these people. People will look to you for help or guidance, and it will be incredibly easy to connect with peers and teachers. 2. All of the prior information was in the eyes of someone looking to go into this program with hopes of making beats, DJ'ing, or becoming an artist. If you genuinely want to: a) record(bands, singers, etc) b) mix and/or master tracks c) field record d) post-production e) house audio(running sound for live events)(this is not DJ'ing) f) sound for games(if you really want to do this, and be good, it will require more than this degree) If you have a passion for these things, then this program is great for you. You'll be intrigued throughout almost every course. If you try, you will gain great connections and build a valuable portfolio. By the end of your studies, and even after, you can utilize the placement/student success/job help building(there's a name for it that I've forgotten. But they have dedicated staff with connections that will help you find a place to work). Sorry this is so long, I was browsing this site looking for some information on a school I'm applying to and couldn't help but write a little something in hopes of helping someone avoid a mistake I made. My background and why this is a credible review. I attended from 2012-2014. I picked this school and program for 3 reasons. 1. Florida is a place I wanted to be. 2. I was convinced at the time that I needed to go to college if I wanted to do anything with my life. 3. I was/am into music and was starting to produce myself, I thought this would help me make a living doing something I enjoy. Throughout that time I met some great people, and some very snobby 'artists'. I learned a ton of stuff, honestly mostly from a friend I met there who was generous enough to help me out. I spent a ton of time in my room producing/learning while others wasted time outside of class playing video games and wasting time in other various ways. And near the end I found that even I wasn't anywhere near ready to tackle the real world with this fancy piece of paper(my diploma). *Side Note: most people, surprisingly, don't understand that when you finish school you have 6 months to really get your s*** together before loan payments come in, and they will come in hard with this price tag. I took a few months to grind even harder. The point came when I had to come to terms with the statement I made previously in this post. Spending all of that time just working made it barely enjoyable, this isn't for me, this is a hobby for me. A $100,000 hobby. So I had to move back home and live with my parents. Just like many, if not all, of my like-minded classmates. I took a year to find out what I really wanted to do then with my life, during that time I had to work so much(to make loan payments) that I didn't even have time to spend on my $100,000 hobby. Went to a tech school and graduated in 2 years, luckily loan payments are put on hold if you're in school. Here is the kicker, I spent less than $10,000 doing that and can actually sustain living on my own. Conclusion: Go to this school/program for the right reasons as I have mentioned above. If you're doing that it will probably be worth it for you. Don't make the mistake myself and many others have made. If you find yourself in a position similar to mine, take my advice! If you find yourself in a position similar to mines and you're thinking the stuff I said was wrong, at least consider that you may be trying to fool yourself.

About Me: I started the Masters of Fine Arts - Creative writing program at Full Sail University back when it was fairly new in 2011. I made quick progress, but the birth of my first child, followed by divorce and a death in the family led me to have to withdraw for awhile. Now I am back in the program and will hopefully be done in the next few months if I can keep up while also working full time and being a single father. I've been going to college for nearly a decade now of and on, and in that time I think attended about every kind of college a person can. I've done the traditional on campus 4-year school - MT State University, the 2-year off-campus communit college - Univ MT - Helena, a fully online bachelors program - CTU Online, and now the fully online graduate program - Full Sail University. I've also been teaching at a local community college, both in class and online, for the last few years. So, I'd say I have a pretty good idea of how it all compares. The only thing I haven't done is the Ivy league ultr-competative style of college experience because it just never appealed to me. I was accepted to all of the top three, and even west-point, but in the end I wanted a much calmer slower paced college experience personally. About Full Sail University - Call me blunt, but I've loved going to Full Sail University, and only wished I could have tried the on-campus classes at some point. The online learning setup is really well put together, and I'll tell you right now the production quality of their lecturs and course materials is light-years ahead of other online programs i've been in (from both for and non-profit schools). They use video conferencing software and they have the launch box to get you the tech you need, so really it all comes together well. The instructors have been an even mix between good and awesome. Just like every other school I've been too. The one difference here is you'll find a lot of them have some pretty impressive lists of industry specific credits. So thats kind of cool for sure. Again though, it's hard to judge instructors as a category because they can be all over the place. As far as staff support goes, they have been awesome with me. A bit unforgiving because I found myself in the unenviable position of barely making gpa and time limit requirments, but thats on my and my life conflicts and not the school. They have done everything they can to help me, and I'll say that it's been more then any other college has done for me. The one qualifier is I haven't asked for as much help from the others. The major downside of it all is the cost, which is high for sure, and the value of the degree. This is hard to quantify because while more expensive them some places, and offering degree's in fields that can be hard to break into, I can see where this scary. I personally love this school and accept the cost because it was exactly the degree I wanted. I already had my first book deal so I didn't really need a mfa-cw, but I wanted to learn to branch out, to write scripts and game design documents. I don't know if I'm going to work in those fields, but this program is giving me the ability to do so should the opportunity arise. For others, this may not work out at all. You really have to sit down and decide on what your goals are, what your expectations are, and then figure out if this is the right call. Going to school is a big decision, and you can be disappointed in the result anywhere you go. So put some thought into it. Final part, it's intense. The material comes at you ultra fast, and you gotta keep up. I'm having a heck of a time myself, but it's because I'm juggeling so much. If you can set the time aside to do it right though, it's perfect. Just my thoughts. Anyways, I'm real, not paid by the school or this site, and I'm really impressed by Full Sail University. I'm always happy to talk about my experience too, and I hate the anonimity of the internet, so I'm going to put my name and contact info on here. I think my spam filters can handle it. Got questions? Feel free to e-mail me: Zachary Murray zmz.razr@gmail.com