I've said it before on this
page, but I see Full Sail is an
amplifier. If you're a good technician (first lesson stop staying techie) and you belong in the
theatre doing great things, then FS will give you the hands on experience to really be a great employee. On the other
hand if you have an over inflated ego going in and you're already a pain for the rest of the backstage crew, then once you graduate you're going to be that guy that everyone dislikes and makes a bad name for both FS and the crew in general.
I thought it was well worth it. But it's all about you having the ambition. If you don't have the drive and the spark it's easy to come out of there with a degree. But still no way to get a job. If you go in with the drive and you use it to your advantage your opportunities are endless. Most of the ones I've heard ragging on the school went to some other program at another school and a lot of full sail students can run circles around them. However every school has their bad apples. So I'm sure there's people from other schools who can run circles around full sail kids.
Interesting I think we just had a person who is mostly pro Full Sail and one who is mostly anti Full Sail both essentially identify the same problem. As an institution Full Sail seems to be focused on getting your money in and making sure you get out the door with a degree. Traditional educational institutions are less focused on the input and output of the program and are more focused on the educational journey in the middle. As a result perhaps Full Sail doesn't change you and mold you as much as a traditional program would... this could be good or bad.
Opinions on Full Sail are definitely wide and extreme. Is Bishop just pointed out, there are many around the industry who immediately put Full Sail grads at the bottom of their list. On the other
hand there are some who look at it favorably. Personally I advise students to pursue a traditional education. I encourage students to take as
broad of a education as possible their first two years of college. Take some art history, business classes, computer science, history... these will make you a much more rounded person and help you in many ways later in tech theater. Then in years three and four focus hard on tech.
Another
point to consider. Let's say 20% of the people out there immediately toss applications from Full Sail grads. That means 1 in 5 jobs you do not have any chance at getting. But the person who went to the state school down the
road and paid half of what you did for their education, does have a shot at. By the time you turn 30, no one will care where you went to school. They will only want to know what you've been doing for the last 5 years. If you think Full Sail puts you in the best position to be successful over those 5 years then go for it. After that it's all in who you know and who you impress with your skills on the job.
Regardless of where you go, do not end up with $60k of debt in student loans and think you are going to get a $60k a year job and have that paid off in no time. You won't. In all likelihood, You will spend the first 5 years after college trying to piece together a living working at multiple venues making a hundred bucks a gig. Sometimes you'll be busy for a month straight, other times you'll go weeks without work. If you are good and lucky, eventually you will catch on and turn that into a regular gig. I have a friend who has a really awesome expensive theater degree that he has never been able to use. He got so far in debt he couldn't afford to work the low pay in theater and pay his loans back. So he works in an office. Now a decade later he's paid the loans but no one is going to hire you when you haven't done any tech in 10 years. So he's still stuck at his
desk job.
But before any of this advice, be sure you have read "
Getting a job in the industry".