I’m an Army Veteran looking to attend Full Sail University for their game design program. I will be using the G.I. Bill which will pay for 36-month of education/tuition. One reason why I wanted to attend this school is because of their 20-month bachelor and 12-month master degree. Which mean the G.I. Bill will pay for both of those degree. I know I will be in class 8 hours a day and 5 day a week at Full Sail. I know getting a degree doesn’t guarantee a job. I know Full Sail tuition is high and credits earn there will not transfer to another school. I’m not looking to transfer credit and wanted to stay with Full Sail til I get both my bachelor and master degree.
I initially wanted to attend a state university, but due to my low GPA in high school, I don’t think they will accept me. During my first 2 year of high school, I maintain a 3.2 GPA. I dropped down to a 2.0 for the last two year since I didn’t really care much about school work. I was thinking about doing 2 year or even a year at a community college and transfer to a state university. Even if I did go that route, not all credit will transfer and I may spend a total of 5 year for a bachelor degree. Which mean more cost.
So what do you all think? Should I apply for Fall Sail or apply to a community college and than transfer to a state university?
As a Veteran myself, I would recommend going to a community college first. I did the two years at Valencia and am currently awaiting transfer to another university. Also the community colleges all have direct connects with the major universities. It gets you a foot in the door at least. What you need to do it look at degree options elsewhere. From what I have heard/seen, close friends that have been to full sail have found it very hard to find jobs once graduating. Most of them found jobs in other fields. Also if you decide to do the community college route, look up which degree you would like from a 4 year university and follow that degree pattern. General AA studies usually can get all of the credits for your pre reqs for most 4 year programs.
Do NOT attend any for profit schools. They exist to take your veterans benefit and if you don’t have benefits they will set up a private loan. The credits at for profit universities are typically not transferable to legitimate colleges. The poster above gives good advice. Go to a community college and transfer to a four year. You can study the transfer agreements on the CC’s websites. I understand that you want to get out in the working world fast but really there aren’t any short cuts to a legit degree. ITT-Tech just closed its doors because the Government decided it would not give student loans to it. I have heard a lot of local stories from people who were mid degree and can’t transfer and still must pay the private loans they acquired.
I completely echo what Osprey said. Stay away from for profit colleges. My husband has an ad agency and in the past has hired kids from Full Sail. He says never again. Every one of them came out with unrealistic expectations of work hours and starting salaries. They all had huge loans to pay off so needed that money to live on. All of his recent hires have been from UCF. They have some great options that you should look into.
All content community colleges have transfer agreements with 4 year schools. You just need to pick the CC base on what 4 year unless university and see which classes will transfer. Some schools post these agreements online.
GI BIll will pay for a 4 year university as well. It’s a 36 month benefit - 9 months x 4 years. You won’t get your BAH in the summer but you can work a job to pay the bills in the summer. Trust me, it’s nice to get a break from school in the summer as well. Internships are also an option once you are an upperclassman.
Go to a CC or state 4 year where GI Bill covers 100% tuition.
Please do not go to Full Sail. They have very pushy salespeople (based on the experience of a friend’s daughter) but the program is all sales-pitch and not a good education.
What aspect of game design are you interested in? Someone suggested Computer Science, which is an excellent degree that will lead to excellent job prospects both in and outside of gaming. It would be more in the technical and engineering side of gaming. My friend’s daughter wound up in a Digital Animation program at an art school to focus more on the artistic side of things. She had a beautiful portfolio of both traditional and digital art for her applications.
Thank you for all the great responds and advice. I have decided to go with the community college route. I will be starting school next month and will major in Computer Science.