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Accounts from those who experienced Fullsail's Recording Arts Degree Program (RADP)

I heard about FullsailSucks when I was attending. Too bad that site is gone because those who think about attending should be given all the facts prior to doing so. I speak primarily for the Recording Arts, which is by far their most popular program. During the orientation, they walk you through the impressive hallways filled with gold records, etc.,
so it's easy to get sold on the idea... I did.

But let me tell you, from experience, what you need to consider. First, the audio production industry is heavily freelance based... which means that the competition is fierce. More than any other field than I know. It is rare to find someone, or a company, that will take you under their wing. Why should they... that means they are giving up their edge... and since it's all freelance, everyone has their 'thing' on the side... so know one wants to share.

Next, the industry is seriously over-saturated. Fullsail alone pumps out some 200 students per month!!! every month!!!

Finding work is tough. You have to work hard at just landing an internship... i.e. work for free. Several friends of mine went that route and were quickly dismayed after realizing that they were being used. Of course they were.. there is a plentiful supply of new graduates looking to intern. So they get you in for a project, or as long as they can squeeze you, and either send you home or run you til your batteries die out.

The program is excellent, I'll give them that. But if I knew about the industry what I know now, I would not have invested over $30,000 into a field that is the way it is. Now if you are connected, than that is a different story, but most are not.

This is serious... you wanna know how serious, just research the internet and see all the articles and postings on this subject. It's not coincidental. Be wise. Yeah I like music production, but there's more to it than that. Good Luck.

I think you are all just lame for complaining about Full Sail!!

Just kidding. Actually I'm all for trying to inform new Full Sail prospects of the truth that awaits them. Most people I've found to be super supportive of the school are:

- Recent graduates who haven't been in the field long enough to really know what's what.

- Graduates who were lucky enough to have found work immediately after school.

- Current Full Sail students.

Of this collective, you really find an extremely biased viewpoint, as you would on the bi-polar extreme. Those who most often relentlessly slam Full Sail are graduates who weren't able to find work after leaving Full Sail and found the placement department to be a cold and forgetful place.

I am a graduate who has acheived moderate success on my own in a completely different field than what I went to school at Full Sail for. I can truly say that nothing I learned at Full Sail is assisting me today in my current profession. I consider Full Sail to simply be a waste of time because most of the things you can learn in the audio recording/film & video/digital media fields can be self-taught since they all have nearly made a complete leap into the digital domain.

I've never found an employer who was impressed by the fact I had graduated from Full Sail. In fact, those who even know what Full Sail is know it based on the amount of resumes from Full Sail grads they receive on a daily basis and quite certainly are not impressed.

I've seen a lot of comparisons made between Full Sail and Harvard. That is laughable because Harvard is a highly respected school who's name is known nationwide. Even if you can't land the highest paying job in the field you've chosen by simply being a Harvard grad, you are still guaranteed a great chance at an adequate income level position. Full sail cannot offer this guarantee to graduates because the marketplace for all fields they train in are quite simply oversaturated.

So, if the degree garners no special merit amongst prospective employers and guarantees no minimum wage-level assurance post-graduation, then what good is the degree? The answer is quite simply, no good!

Since my graduation I have been working in a number of assorted jobs, learning trade after trade and not one of them was even remotely related to what I went to school for. Now I have amassed so much experience in labor and clerical fields I could walk into any city and get a job within the first 48 hours. That's something Full Sail couldn't even guarantee.

Hello,

My name is Christian Hindley, I am 25. I graduated from FS Recording Program in ’02. Prior to this I had computer networking positions and education along with advertising. Ok since I graduated FS I have had a terrible internship(wastes of time) at a recording studio. I advise those who take internships to realize that the company knows that they are gonna use you for free, realize this before interning. There is a 90% chance they have no intention of offering you a job. After I worked at Muzak which was ok just boring. I for the last year have been employed by Royal Carribean as a live sound tech and I love it – I am currently touring Europe. I do like my job and the ONLY reason I am where I am is because I made it happen. Everything spoken of on this site is 100% true---------the school is overpriced, very scketchy, and not worth the money and amazing interest rates you will pay. I will be paying mine forever----I just like my credit that’s why I pay. The teachers are a joke, they have no education just experience. The gear is ok, not close to what I use here at my job. All in all I am doing well and am not trying to talk bad of the school, but it is all true. The placement dept. is A JOKE . So listen to these guys before dropping the loans.

Believe it or not, I had a great time at Full Sail. It took a few weeks to find a gig once I graduated, but I found one. I had to go door to door, put on my game face and talk to people. Simple as that. Granted, I worked for free, cleaning toilettes and making coffee, but everyone has to do that in the music business. After a while of hard work, showing up on days off, and going the extra mile, I was hired as a runner. Yeah, the pay sucked, but I would have done it for free. I worked really hard as a runner, took advantage of any "downtime" with the studio, and once the management saw that I was comfortable around the gear, I was promoted to Assistant Engineer. Now, it has been a few years, and a few studios later, I am still working a lot. I'm at one of the best studios in LA, and slowly starting to get my own engineering gigs, outside of my 2nd work. My living maybe modest, but it's real and I am surviving well. Full Sail gave me the confidence I needed to get a job in this field, and I went into it with minimal 4 track recording experience.

When you enter into an occupation that relies off of hired freelance work, you have to approach it as though you have just started a new business. The company is YOU. With most business's, the first year is the toughest, and it usually takes 3-5 years to turn a profit. And your reputation is everything. Who wants to work around a whiner? I'm at 4 years andthings are getting better all the time. Yeah, work slows down sometimes, but it always picks up, too.

I never expected Full Sail to hand me a job with my degree, but I did expect to get a good foundation so that I could hit the ground running when I got out to LA, and that's what I got. I took my education seriously, and still proudly claim Full Sail as my audio school. And you know what, I have yet to meet someone in the industry that'll knock Full Sail. I've only ever seen it come from current or past students down on their luck with finding work. So there you go.

I cant say that my experience at Fullsail was totally positive, but as a whole it was pretty good and what i expected. I do have a few issues with the the school though.

The placement department really is a joke. They don't ever give you any type of direction when looking for studio work, they basically told me to call and arrange a tour and hint that your looking for a job. They also don't have the connections at studios they claim to have. I asked many times while i was visiting other cities if they could direct me to a studio they might have a relationship with to no avail. During the tours it's made to seem that they will you find you a job. (which i never believed in the first place, but unfortunately many students do).

Fullsail's acceptance policy is it biggest downfall. The school takes anyone who has the money. I don't mean to sound like a snob, but I would honestly say that 85% of my classmates were just really stupid and unmotivated. If your going to this school to be a rapper or rockstar your wasting 40 grand. If you really are serious about getting into recording as a career then it MIGHT be the right choice for you.

Personally I rather enjoyed the hectic schedule, i found it refreshing after being in a "real" college and only going to a class once or maybe twice a week for a 45 min lecture. You really need to understand that at the studio i work, I put 12-15 hours a day in everyday, even when i don't need to be there, if this isn't the attitude you have you will not be successful in the industry.

The classes were very good as a whole, they probably need to be a bit more challenging. Though you probably could learn all the same things from books. I knew nothing of recording coming into school and thought what i learned was a very good base for what i have learned since.

The equipment is the schools strongpoint. You may not get as much time using some of the equipment as i think you should considering the cost, but you need to take advantage of what you have. TO ANY PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS!!!!!! You must take charge of you labs and group projects. Use those times to experiment with the gear and actually listen. Where else do you get the chance to spend 4 hours micing a drum kit with a mic locker of $25,000 microphones as a novice. Understanding the operation and knowing the difference between mic pres, EQs, Compressors is very important.

For example If an engineer asks you what kind of settings you prefer on an 1176 on a kick you should know what he's talking about. Another thing when you graduate you will not be a good engineer and many graduates think they are. Which must be a turnoff to established studios with engineers who have years of practical experience.

One Last point, FULLSAIL IS A HORRIBLE NAME FOR A SCHOOL!

FullsailExposed Note: This post about Fullsail has been categorized as neutral.

I decided to go to Full Sail in my junior year of highschool, and was bombarded by mail and phone calls for months up until my enrollment. I visited Full Sail's campus for the walk-thru and was very impressed. They do a great job of getting you really jazzed about the school. If they have to, they'll throw in a lie here and there saying "Yeah, if the studios aren't in use, you can have a lab instructor come into one of the studios and spend extra time learning" . . . turns out, every bit of that is a LIE.

The schools image doesn't hold up throughout the year, infact it only gets worse. Once you get in, you really understand that you are attending a business and not a school. I will credit them on putting the tuition back into the school by buying more lab space and great looking architecture. The fact is, they graduate more kids then there are jobs. I consider myself lucky to be where I am . . . all by taking a chance and having financial stability. Full Sail does teach you what they say they will teach you. Do they provide the best teachers for the job . . . that's questionable in some situations, but the gear is there and the books have print in them. Bottom line: you get out of Full Sail, what you want to get out of Full Sail. Every under-acheiver that attends Full Sail can sleep through class, skip labs, and even fail finals but they still will pass. My roommate, for example, failed MIDI and went to the teacher and cried about his loans . . . so the teacher let him retake the final in his office, and he passed. Full Sail is as equally bitter, as it is sweet.

FullsailExposed Note: This post about Fullsail has been categorized as neutral.