Full Sail University

[Les]

Here's a question. Will an employer care more about the piece of paper from college or your references from past employers. For instance im planning on using the arena i work at now as a reference (as an asst. production manager)... with employers seeing this... is it even worth getting a degree?

I think the value of going or not is really up to interpretation. You will find 50/50 opinions and it comes down to what is right for you, especially in this field. I can say that [production industry] employers generally care A LOT more about what you've done in the real world than what you've studied or where. Notice that on most job postings they list their experience requirements, and may say they "prefer" a degree but they never REQUIRE a degree while listing experience as being optional.

You either need to have a degree + experience, or lots of good experience. If you have some decent experience, the degree probably won't boost you much unless it is in a very specific (and in-demand) discipline.

 

[gafftaper]

Here's a question. Will an employer care more about the piece of paper from college or your references from past employers. For instance im planning on using the arena i work at now as a reference (as an asst. production manager)... with employers seeing this... is it even worth getting a degree?

Les nailed it pretty well on the head. 5 years of solid work and references and NO ONE will care where you went to school. The problem is having the knowledge to get hired for that first big break without going to school. Age is also a factor. If you are over 25 with no degree but solid references, you will probably be okay. But if you decide to drop out of school at 18 and try to find full time work good luck. You aren't going to break through .

In the end, the less education you have the more hard work and luck you need to get started in this industry.

 

[dsager]

What are people's thoughts about Full Sail University? I've been looking into it and upon looking through the website it seems to offer everything that a lighting designer or techie would ever want in a school. It is quite expensive, however. A degree in show production would cost around $70,000.

Has anyone here attended and/or graduated from Full Sail? If so, what was your experience like? I'm very interested in learning more about it.

Thanks!

There are so many other colleges out there - I would research a few to compare to Full Sail before making a decision. Could I suggest Pace's Set design degree in New York City this program includes lighting design as well as scenery, costumes, sound and media.

 

[LightingGuy89]

As somebody who was in charge of hiring Audio and Lighting technicians in Central Florida, I was very familiar with the reputation of Full Sail. The program is very rushed IMO. You get a little information about a lot of topics in a condensed amount of time. The outcome is truly up to the individual, you get out what you put in definitely applied to the school.