Full Sail vs A University

[Shawncfer]

So Ive been talking to a bunch of people who said they've graduated from full sail university in Floirda which im pretty sure (atleast I hope) many of you know what Full Sail is.

Well I love doing the lighting and sound and all, but I still am not positive its what I want to do. So my fear going in is that if I go to full sail and change my mind, then I wont be able to. Other then that I think its a great college.

But if I go to a regular University and major in Technical Theatre, will I still learn the same things go as far as lighting and sound?

I appreciate the help and your opinions.

 

[Peyton]

So far what I have heard concerning Full Sail is that it is A: a scam, and B: a great place to learn how to use a really wide array of equipment that other schools don't have the access to.
From what I have seen, it is both of those. They have impressive equipment, but the tuition is around $70,000. There are strong opinions running both ways, so I'd advise you to read up and make an educated decision.
After some closer inspection, I decided that it really isn't where I want to go to school, being that it's in Florida, and has no admission requirements. These may sound like really cool things, but I am from the Northwest so I am used to cold, wet, and dark with Florida being none of those, and the no admission requirements probably let in a lot of people that are not determined to do well in class, regardless of the subject.
Thats my 2 cents.

 

[Footer]

Do a search for fullsail. It has been beat to death many times. The "University" thing is very new to the school. We also have some members who attend and have attended the school.

 

[myheadelectric]

Some food for thought.

1. You can "learn" how to run all the sophisticated audio gear in the world, but no school can give you an "ear" for sound. You can learn color theory and programming syntax, but no school will give you an "eye" for creative lighting.
These things can be learned, but not really in a class room.

2. Pick one. Audio or Lighting. Nobody really makes a successful career out of both, although I suspect there are many that will argue that, it will depend on what you consider to be successful.

3. Don't think spending ten's of thousands of dollars will mean when you graduate your going to get a job as a lighting programmer or mixing FOH (or monitors). Your going to have to work your way up, alongside people who opted to spend the same 2 to 4 years you spent in school working thru the local union hall or in a rental shop (getting paid to learn, not the other way around).

While Full Sail may have a wonderful video and graphics department, I have know too many people who have graduated and then started working as stagehands and in rental shops after spending 10's of thousands of dollars.

If you want to be a lighting designer, go to a real college- at least you'll get to work on several real productions each year and you'll be learning the nuts and bolts as well as the production...
If you want to be a production electrician, go to your local IA union and sign up to be on the call list, or find a stagehand labor company and get on their list (try the union first). Ditto for a career in audio... learn the trade from the ground up, it will take years. I don't care how smart you are or how technically proficient you are, if you can't run a crew or can't deal with the stress of getting a show in, up and working in a short amount of time with an inexperienced crew in a venue that wasn't designed to hold hang trusses and lighting or PA clusters, then all that knowledge won't mean squat when the show isn't ready on time... and nobody remembers the gig's you did a great job on, but everyone will remember the one that bit the dust.
Of course their are exceptions...

 

[Footer]

If you want to be a production electrician, go to your local IA union and sign up to be on the call list, or find a stagehand labor company and get on their list (try the union first).

I have said this before, I am will say it again. If you want to do theatre, you almost have to have a degree. Nearly everyone who works in theatre has a degree and wants to hire people with degrees. In the music/corporate/ballroom world, its the exact opposite. Very few LORT houses will hire someone without a degree to head a department.

 

[ruinexplorer]

Another difference often overlooked is that a university will require a well rounded education. As most people have said, the college experience will offer you the tools that you need to do the job, but most jobs will require experience (big difference from educational to corporate or non-profit theater). Some of the benefits to going to a college rather than any trade school is the education you will receive outside of your focus. As said, you can learn the equipment, but it takes something else to get an eye for design or an ear for sound. I doubt that Full Sail offers art history or music classes that could help you in those realms.

The other thing that you will learn in a college setting, over other technical schools or on the job training, is skills necessary to be a better employee. In college, you will often be required to take speach courses as well as technical writing which will enhance your communication skills. You often will also be required to take governmental courses which will help you to become a better citizen (I really wish more people would do their research before going to vote).

The downside of going to college is that you will probably not be working with top of the line equipment, nor be taught by individuals who have recently been working in the field. The upside is that you should have plenty of opportunities to experiment in the field, especially since you won't always be working with top of the line gear. Keep in mind that private schools such as Full Sail are more likely to have the flexibility to keep their program on par with current technology because they don't have to get red tape approval to make changes. On the other hand, they are profit driven and don't care what you actually learn.

I also recommend that you continue to live with your parents while going to school (dorm life exepted) so that you keep your options open. There's nothing like having to turn down opportunities because you are tied to a lease or some other housing arrangement. Also, it's good to not bury yourself in too much debt to begin with since you will be paying off student loans (most likely) and need to save your money for internships/summer stock, or other opportunities and starting wages in this industry aren't very good.

A good place to find out what school you should go to is the want ads like BackstageJobs.com or others like that. When you look at the minimum qualifications for jobs that you'd like to go into after school, that will tell you where your focus should be. You may find plenty who don't require a formal education, but look to the future as well and see what companies may require from you in ten years.

 

[Edrick]

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask me. I'm graduating Full Sail in 3 months with a Bachelors of Science in Film Production. The "University" title is often said to be part of a major payment off to the accreditation board. Our credits will NOT transfer to almost all standard universities. So if you're looking to go for another degree at another school unless it is purely a technical school the other institutes will not accept it. We are nationally accredited and not regionally.

There are NO admissions requirements and pretty much no actual cap on class sizes pretty much do you have some type of paper that you've graduated high school or the equivalent? Do you have a big check book or access to the funds (loans)? If you answered yes to this congratulations you've been "accepted".

For the most part it's a give us your money and we get you out the door within 21 months with a Bachelors degree. No longer do they offer associates degrees.

We learn the technical aspect of the gear not the theory. Give a kid another mixing console other than the ones they learned in class more than likley they wont know how to operate it.

Now this all sounds like bad stuff and what I've listed is the bad aspects. However it goes both ways if you come here with the attitude of you want to succeed the school gives you far more to do so than other institutes do. If you're talented and don't need to be babied (you're mature and can push your self and motivate your self) then it's a great school. I can go into this further in depth however I'm actually on campus right now as I type this. So feel free to ask me specific questions.

 

[SHARYNF]

Get a real college degree. There is a subtle but very important difference between REGIONAL accreditation and National Accreditation. You would probably think that National was better but you would be mistaken. National Accreditation is pretty much useless, the transfer and acceptability of a degree as "legit" is based on REGIONAL accreditation. National was if I recall originally set up more for tech schools

SO while the hands on experience may be great, the value of the piece of paper may not be that high

In today's world most people will have many different careers during their lifetime. Here is where a real regionally accredited degree can be a big help, a lot of employers also don't consider the national accredited degree as a "real degree" and if you want to go back to school, most of the regional accredited schools will not even consider the nationally accredited degree

SO IMHO a degree from a regionally accredited school along with some experience even if it is on outdated equipment, is worth a lot more than the nationally accredited piece of paper

Remember, especially in a technical field, what you learn in school is less about the facts and more about the concepts and HOW TO LEARN. College is more about expanding you ability to think reason, research and learn than simply tech issues that are going to be obsolete in a few years


Here is a link to an interesting discussion

http://www.dperry.com/archives/articles/by_students/is_full_sail_fo/


Sharyn

 

[mbenonis]

Sharyn, what an excellent article. I thought I knew a lot about Full Sail, but I didn't know the half of what I just read.

 

[masterelectrician2112]

Sharyn,
Thank you so much for revealing that article about "fool sale/full scam" to me. I am a sophomore in HS and was seriously considering Full Sail, but after reading almost all of that article, I do not want to attend anymore. Thank you for that post.

 

[wadeace]

I have to disagree completely that full sail is a scam. I am a current student here and can tell you that the education I am receiving here is second to none. I can tell you that my instructors are all in the industry. I have instructors who have mixed for kc and the sunshine band p funk. I have had instructors who have worked for Clair, cirque du solei, universal, Disney, prg, and many other companies’ in the industry. I can tell you that there is a lot of problems with other degree programs giving us a bad name, specifically Recording arts (or as we call them phat beats kids), giving the school and graduates a bad name. However if you look at any show production student you will find that most of the time they are hard working and dedicated individuals, of course I say most of the time because every school is going to have the kids that somehow got in but doesn’t give a rats ass about being there. As far as the tuition goes you pay for an accelerated program that last a year as apposed to two. If you were to add up the amount of money you would spend at a normal college for tuition, plus books, plus lab fees, plus a laptop and software you would be at or sometimes over that 70,000 mark. The fact is everything is included in what you pay. Not to mention the support you get once you graduate. You can audit courses for free, so that a new technology comes out you can come back, train on it and go back into the industry with that knowledge. I will also say that this school is very concert oriented, you are taught and trained on how to implement the equipment for a rock concert or equivalent type show. The school at the moment doesn’t go into much of the theatrical or production side of the industry, however a lot of the concepts are the same, and the context is different.

Also if you have any questions about the show pro program just ask me

 

[Pie4Weebl]

Something worth noting, at my old shop one of the sound guys got out of full sail about a decade ago. He got married and had a kid this year then decided he needed to get "a real job" well a full sail degree can't get him that so he's going back and spending another 4 years in school.

On the other hand, you can go get a real degree and then learn what you need to know about the "how" at your first job and have that BA/BFA experience for later in life when you move up the food chain or want to do something else with your life.

 

[bdkdesigns]

Another thing to note, there is also a great university in the area if Orlando is what attracts you. University of Central Florida is right there in the same area and you get the same benefits of the parks and production houses that are in the area but with the full university education.