Full Sail University — Attraction in Winter Park

DO NOT ATTEND THIS SCHOOL!

I started at Full Sail University on 9/28/15 and was enrolled in the Online Mobile Development Bachelor’s Degree program (32 months). Rather than having a semester full of classes, I was enrolled in one class per month, with no breaks.

I started a class called ‘Advanced Scalable Data Infrastructures’ on May 30, 2016 (advanced programming class). It was very tough and I ended up having to withdraw for the months of June and July. I then failed the class 3 consecutive months straight after that (August, September, and October) and had to withdraw again in November. During those 6 months, nobody reached out to me offering help nor did they raise any concerns that I had failed a class. Per S.A.P (Satisfactory Academic Progress), I should have been put on some sort of discipline, and gotten my federal funding revoked due to not meeting Satisfactory Progress.

I requested a tutor and was denied within 2 hours, with no explanation behind the denial (via email). I called the school asking for help; I even cried on the phone letting them know I felt like I was at a loss and nobody cared to help me- they told me to find another resource for a tutor. During this conversation, my student liaison accidentally told me that the school had a “Town Hall meeting” regarding this class back in May of 2016 due to so many students failing repetitively and that they had to “re-work” the course. She then told me, “one bad class shouldn’t hinder the reputation of Full Sail as a school”.

Every time I withdrew / failed the class, they automatically re-enrolled me for the next month - I essentially have been stuck in this class for the last 6 months. Each class would end at 11:59pm on a Sunday, and the “new month” would start at 12:01am on Monday (3 minutes later). Not only did they keep using my financial aid to cover the course, but they also charged me 2 pay-to-retake fees ($1800 each), and took that out of my financial aid without my consent.

I finally got in contact with my online advising manager on 11/4/16 and after a long conversation, she decided to ‘do me a favor’ by waiving the pay-to-retake fees. What I later discovered, was that she was actually covering herself due to me never giving consent to use my financial aid to pay those fees, which is illegal.

I applied at a new college a few months ago and was accepted.... They sent me a FA award letter and when I went to accept it a few days later, the money was drained out of my FA account, leaving me with $0. Full Sail also dispersed all of my financial aid for the whole year of 2017 on 10/05/16, leaving me unable to start at my new college on 1/9/17 as initially anticipated.

I quit my job so I could go to school full time and really focus on my studies as I struggle with A.D.H.D and literally haven't had any income in over a year. With that said, Full Sail offered me a ‘Student Support Scholarship’ totaling $4,812.00 ( basically for poor students who don't have any resources to get that money themselves).

Due to not graduating, this scholarship has now become a debt. I now owe this money to Full Sail because it is only paid upon graduation from their University. WHAT A JOKE.

I am hungry for an education and my grades reflect that. The financial burden and emotional distress this situation has caused is beyond words at this point. None of my classes will even transfer to my new school, so I have to start all over again, as this last year at Full Sail has been a waste of time. I essentially am paying them $10,000 for one class I have been stuck in.

Every staff member screens my phone call every single time now; I tried reaching the Director of Student Affairs and was told "she was out of the office temporarily" - I left a voicemail and emailed her directly 4 days ago and have heard nothing. The staff is rude every single time I call. I printed out my phone records for the last 6 months and they have called me literally twice - to "see how things are going", not mentioning one thing about me failing 3 months in row. What a joke...

I "graduated" waaaay back in 1994. I hesitate to say graduate, because the school is not noted anywhere on my resume and none of the classes would transfer to a university. I noticed that most everyone that has graded as "excellent" have yet to enter the real world with their "real" two-year, overpriced trade school, worthless diploma. Back then, I paid $18,000, which I thought was ridiculous even then. I am completely dumbfounded and astonished that people shell out the dollars they do to go to this school now -- this isn't frickin' ivy league Harvard after all!! When I graduated, I quickly realized that the jobs paid next-to-nothing so I went back to a four year, state university, (which NONE of my classes from Full Sail transferred to), and got a real bachelors degree in computer science where now I make real money.

I just want to warn people as I am an old-timer here, but this was a constant complaint from all my former classmates. I don't know of a single one that graduated and really hit it big, however you may define "hitting it big". Even those that moved to LA to become producers (for very well known artists) never really made much money and end up hating the entertainment industry and leaving (can't imagine why, with all those genuine people in LA-LA land). Many went back to college or pursued other careers.

The safety. Well, I see things haven't changed here much, in fact, it's only gotten worse. This school is pretty much in the ghetto, and you couldn't pay me a million bucks to live there now.

Just want to throw in a dose of reality to this crap school. When you're 18, like I was, it's easy to be enamored with the glossiness and facade that they put up. Fortunately, you now have the internet which offers honest reviews; back then you were literally sold on the BS they served to you (Thank GOD for the internet). I wish my parents would have guided my decision better and did more research themselves, as this was a horrible waste of 18 months of my life and money. Again, state school offered me a much better, well-rounded education, which also gave me four more years to mature and figure out how to navigate this world. I highly recommend anyone to not even consider this school straight out of high school. The chances of you changing careers is likely, and finding this out after you shelled out tens of thousands of dollars is not the way to do it.

This school is a business! I can't begin to stress this enough. This is a FOR PROFIT university where a handful of people have become incredibly, ridiculously wealthy on poor students' backs. The school has been known and cited for targeting lower income students, which is incredibly egregious on their part. They take out insane amounts of student loans, only to be swimming in debt when they "graduate" then go on to earn maybe 30K a year (if they're lucky).

Just apply some pragmatic reasoning and think about how crazy the following points are: The school has NO admission requirements, except money. What respected school in this country lets ANYONE get in?!?!? Even State Universities have requirements. This school FOR PROFIT This school is in Florida; home of some of the shadiest business practices and loose business laws in the country. (UGH....Florida) This school has classes that start monthly, just pumping students out on a conveyor belt, basically leaving the market flooded. NONE of these classes will transfer to a real university. A real university does not make a profit. This school costs as much as Harvard University. Think about it!!! Say it to yourself, then when you graduate tell people that you graduated from Full Sail University and then watch their eyes gloss over because they never heard of it. Then, as comparison, say you graduated from Harvard, and see the response you get. I...

There are a lot of rumors and horror stories about Full Sail. They are told by drop-outs and people who never went to the school. They are unreliable and factually inaccurate. Full Sail is a great school.

It has a few downsides, but overall, it was far superior to my experiences at five other (public) colleges, both in education as well as structure. The structure was absolutely perfect. Every school should operate the way Full Sail does in terms of classes and scheduling. The educational quality was good. A small handful of classes are managed poorly by their instructors, a small handful are far superior to any I've ever seen, and the rest are on par with any other university. The type of student that comprises the majority of the student population is kind of annoying (bunch of Tom Haverfords), but the game dev students aren't quite so delusional. My entire graduating class was employed in their chosen field within 3 months of graduation, with the lowest-paid one of them starting out at $50k a year.

To summarize the key differences from your average public college:

FS: Take 1-2 classes at a time. Public schools: Take 3-6 at a time. FS: 2-3 years to graduate with bachelor's. Public schools: 4-5 years to graduate. FS: Classes are fast-paced, reach deeper topics, but glaze over some details. Public schools: Classes are painfully slow and watered down. FS: Books are issued for free at the start of each class. Public schools: Figure out which book you need, find and buy it before class, and hope it's the right one. FS: The class you need is guaranteed to always be running and have room for you. Public schools: Classes you need may or may not be running or full. FS: Scheduling is automatic You do nothing but show up. Public schools: You register your own classes and hope you picked the right ones in the right order and with a good professor. FS: One campus. Public schools: Usually have campuses all over town. FS: Instructors are courteous, patient, and accessible. Public schools: Most professors are aloof. FS: Tutors are free. Public schools: Sometimes tutors are free, sometimes they cost money. FS: Work-study pays $3.00 more per hour than minimum wage. Public schools: Work-study pays minimum wage. FS: Parking is free. Public schools: Parking usually costs in the range of $80 per term. FS: Expect to start there and never stop until you finish. Public schools: Can start, stop, and transfer as you wish. FS: Curriculum offers depth and expertise in your field. Public schools: Offers a vague understanding of your field if you don't pick the right electives, the right teachers, and do some supplemental learning. FS: Even the worst graduate was a half decent programmer. Public schools: Some graduates knew less coding than a month 1 FS student. FS: Retake failed classes for free. Public schools: Pay to retake failed classes. FS: Retake passed classes for free any time, even after graduation. Public schools: Sometimes it's free, sometimes you pay, and sometimes professors allow you to sit in off-record. FS: GPS program (but it's faulty). Public schools: No professionalism standards. FS: Surrounded by wannabe producers and grandiose delusions. Public schools: Surrounded by bimbos and wannabe thugs. FS: No on-campus housing. Public schools: Usually have on-campus housing. FS: Math entrance exam requires college algebra and trigonometry knowledge. Public schools: Math entrance exam accepts as low as pre-algebra. FS: Will take anyone who can afford it. Public schools: Possible to be...