well everyone is entitled to their opinion...

just as an offhand thought...schools like full sail are becoming increasingly popular...we commonly have game companies check out our final project presentations at the Enzian theatre, such as EA and the likes...we have guest speakers from all over the game industry who love full sail and are big names, such as The Fat Man, I'd name more but youll have to come to our lobby and check ou the signitures yourself I cant remember all of them...

sure MIT is better, go ahead and apply and good luck to you...Full Sail offers a Game Design and Development degree...so if you were looking for more generalized teachings beyond that of gamning....you obviouslt werent thinking straight....thats all we do here as stated by the degree....and we do it well...

if you want a general com sci degree i agree with you...go to MIT for the love of god do it...RIT in NY or something....but if you are looking for game design education...a school based on it is the place to go...but lok for more schools like full sail to pop up in the future and become big, if you dont think so...well...i guess we'll see....*shrug* in the end its up to you not your degree anyway...

and as for the post on employers not selecting based on skill...that was a joke right? who is going to spend millions of dollars on a project and hire a degree and not hire the skill....dont make me laugh...if you hire a masters with less skills than a BS grad....youre a tool and I dont want to work for you....because you clearly make poor decisions....

I was part of the first bachelors class to graduate Fullsail. The placement department doesn't do much work for you. You are added to a mailing list that frequent job postings get put on. If you do the legwork and work on a better relationship with your placement advisor and show him your motivations and skills, it's not hard to get up at the top of their list of people they consider first for new positions. Consider placement an alternate stream of contacts to send your resume to, and with the good relationship, possibly a little more. I'm now happily working for a game/simulation company in Virginia, due mostly to my hard work in job hunting, and networking with instructors that ended up going back into industry work.

Fullsail is for a different type of person. I enjoy the no nonsense, get to what matters approach, without all the fluff of many normal universities. But just like any school, you have to work your ass off. No school is going to guarantee you a job. In the end it's what you are capable of, and the effort you put forth toward getting a job. You need to send resumes and cover letters out starting a couple months before you graduate. You will have to take programming tests, interview with the game company, most likely be drilled with fairly complex questions by the developers in on-site interviews. Any respectable company isn't going to hire you based on degree alone.

I'm not worried about credits transferring around. I like the idea that in the future I can go back to Fullsail and audit classes to refresh or bring me up to date on the many different topics that are covered.

There are horror stories about Fullsail, especially from some of the other degrees like recording arts, there the number of slackers expecting a free job is much higher. The same people exist in every program. They piss away their time during school, doing the bare minimum, they don't do jack around graduation, then they are pissed off because placement didn't find them a job.

Is Fullsail expensive? Yes. Is Fullsail worth it? If you are ready to work your ass off and you like the more focused curriculum, yes. If you are looking for a vacation from parents in sunny florida, then no.

Just my 2c, YMMV
J

I went to full sail and had no problem getting a job(although I'm not in the gaming business, I currently work for Architects developing Real-Time stuff, as well as plugins for their 3d applications). There is a stigma attached to the degree there, this is without a doubt. But in all reality, after a year of going to that school I have become a very proficient programmer. I did have a couple years of college experiance before I went, however.

I chose to go there because it's a very hardcore schedule, you eat, sleep, and crap code for 14 months. Its difficult for me to stay focused at regular "real" colleges. The only thing that is a downside is that we don't learn as much of the computer science aspect (certain algorithms and other stuff that isn't really used much in the gaming world, but would still be nice to know). But you will become proficient with c / c++, a few APIs (openGL, DirectX, Win32, MFC) and one class lets you work on PS2 Linux boxes. The most importatnt thing I walked away with was the ability to learn new things quickly, and that the biggest part of being a programmer, of any field, is "to read, read code, and code", to quote one of my teachers from there.

Overall I enjoyed my stay there, it was well suited for *MY* needs. Just research all the options and follow your gut. But I will warn you, there are colleges out there who's Comp Sci programs are a JOKE. A friend of mine who was attending FSU (down the street from Full Sail) was in his third year of a comp sci degree and needed my help with basic file I/O crap. They were still doing basic "Enter a number: " bs programs that are better suited for a first year student. So just do your research...even pricy "real" colleges are not the answer for everyone.

As for equipment, they are pretty good at keeping their equipment up to date. If you go into the gaming program you will be issued a nice laptop. They change every year or so. I'm not sure what the specs are on the new ones. As for the other programs, I'm pretty sure they are pretty well suited too, although I did hear some complaints from the Animation students about some things.

hth
moe.ron

Quote:Employers? Hiring based on actual skill?

I do interviewing/screening for hiring. I can assure you, we screen for real skills. The skills we look for are, in order:

- real coding skills
- computer science skills
- quality skills
- teamwork skills

In theory, you can pass without any kind of degree or real education. In reality, a real CS degree (ideally MSCS), a healthy involvement in some side project, and a good attitude towards life and other people are good predictors for success.

Quote:Original post by Dean Johnson
moeron I think you mean UCF is down the street from Full Sail. FSU is in Tallahassee :) I got you.

Thats right, UCF =) Its been a while =)

moe.ron

Quote:Original post by hplus0603

Quote:Employers? Hiring based on actual skill?

I do interviewing/screening for hiring. I can assure you, we screen for real skills. The skills we look for are, in order:

- real coding skills
- computer science skills
- quality skills
- teamwork skills

thats unusual for an employer isnt it? teamwork tends to be at the top especially in game development...not that I dont believe you because every company is different...but I have een told its more like this...

- teamwork skills
- passion to create/play games
- skillsets(coding/art)

I can basically sum up the responses you're going to get from most people about Full Sail:

Those who failed/didn't do well tend to say the school is aweful and blames it for their inability to finish or get a job.

Those who do well and find jobs afterwards will tell you the school is amazing.

Personally, from what I have seen, I don't think their is a better school out their for people who want to get into game programming. It was probably one of the best times of my life, and I'd jump at the chance to go back for my BS (I was there before they offered a BS).

The only downfall is the price, which is going to take me about 15 years to pay off! But honestly, it's allowed me to move all over the continent, doing what I love, so I can't really put a price on that.

Matt Hughson