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Yikes OP

Get the fuck out while you still can. Did you already give them a deposit? Any money? Back the fuck out immediately

I went to Full Sail in 2007 for Music Production. It's a fucking joke how my "degree" works in the real world. My old roommate was doing the graphic design and game development program.

I'm not even trying to give you shit anon. Seriously. Get the fuck out of there and do some shit by yourself. I'll even link you to whatever torrents and shit you need.

Take the money you used for tuition and invest it in a nice beefy computer to learn and play on. Take some courses at your community college, like core classes and see if you can hook up with the university for some animation courses. You have a better shot developing your skills at home and to yourself than over in Florida.

I can't stress enough how fucked you are if you go. You don't have to believe a fucking word I say because I'm just some anon on a fucking website but I really really am trying to warn you for your future, your debt.

Remember when I said I went in 2007? I'm still paying off my debt from Full Sail.

You have been warned dude.

If you decide to go and ignore everything I just said. Please take time to enjoy how rich and luxurious their campus and buildings are

Did you know they have a super, incredibly high turnover and dropout rate? No? Well now you do. Keep looking at all the pretty things displayed around campus. Because when you drop out and realize it was all a sham. You then will know that all the pretty shiny stuff around campus is others wasted "education" money.

It's one big dog and pony show.

I don't think I've ever taken the time to give a shit like this OP and I know I'm just one guy with one experience. But don't do it. Just fucking don't dude. You have a 100% better chance anywhere else but there.

Remember, they are a for profit institution. When I went there, we were the first class to be apart of the university accreditation.

It's a giant sham.

If you just want to get away from your parents/shitty hometown. I feel for you. But don't do that and live in independence in Florida. It might seem all and well at first but this is the first time you are out in the real world and they will fuck you over so quickly out there. Don't get me wrong. I loved Winter Park. But I honestly wished I was smarter with going out there. I would go at the age I'm at now if I could do it again but don't just leave your place to feel like this is the right or necessary thing to do. There are a hundred other places that won't fuck you over like Full Sail will.

I'm not even trying to pull reverse psychology shit on you. I'm not trying to fuck with you either.

DON'T GO TO FULL SAIL

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>you went to Full Sail and are about to graduate

it's kind of fun I guess, but the people here are fucking retarded on all fronts and all the "teachers" do is give you tutorials to follow. Every once in a while you learn some "insider info straight from the industry :)" but mostly (read, literally the rest of the time) you teach yourself.
I can answer questions about classes but shit, this guy already gave you a good run-down of what you need to know

Also Florida fucking sucks, only saving grace is the anime shop a short drive from here.

>>514846
I only know one person who went there and I got the impression that they felt ripped off.

It seems like a scam to me, but not much worse than any of these other for-profit "universities" that have sprung up over the last couple of decades.

Full Fail doesn't teach you anything that you won't learn from public youtube videos. If you wanna spend your money on CGI education, pick one thats worth your time and money

>>514846
1/3
Allright OP. I went to Fullsail, graduated the AS Computer Animation program in 2007, when it was still a two year program. I'll give you a rundown:

There are only three good reasons to go to Fullsail.
You will be forced to learn things fast. If you truly want to graduate, that is. You will pick up knowledge in the manner of a log being crammed into your brain daily. If you have zero knowledge of Maya, you will learn most of what you need to know to get a somewhat solid foundation. Note that I said somewhat. For example, no one bothered to talk to us about proper edge flow until I was in Final Project. Literally 20 months in. In the class that would determine if I graduated with a degree or not. The school is like being in the military, if you take it seriously. You will work 18-20 hours days if you want to actually do serious work. Some of the classes are good. I can vouch Game Scene and Character Design. Shading and Lighting also kicked ass, buy Larry Santaw is no longer teaching it, so I don't know how it is now. The traditional art classes are good /if/ you get the right instructor. That's a 50/50 shot, at least when I was there it was. Compositing was probably the most useful, in that at the time they were teaching Apple Shake, and learning a comp workflow from start to finish gave me an understanding of the math behind how things like layer blending worked in Photoshop, which is invaluable. I actually intentionally took a dive in that class so I could spend the whole month the second time around working on the final so it wasn't rushed shit, and I pulled a 92% on it. Thank god for one time grade forgiveness. So if you need forced instruction or aren't much of a self starter, that's one positive. In my case, it brought me up to speed and gave me a solid foundation on which to expand my skills.
You will get your degree quickly. That is a plus if you don't want to go to school for four years.

>>514892
2/3
The other reason is, if you are lucky, you will be surrounded by people with a like mindset. I was lucky. I have a group of about 10 friends, we all worked as a group together, held each other up when we were ready to throw in the towel, kicked each other in the balls when we needed it, and we all graduated. We are all still very good friends, to this day. Hell, I started a small game development company with one of these guys. We don't make much money, but we are still doing what we love, and that makes it worth it.

Now for the shit.
The school is fucking expensive. Hell, I wanted to go back for the 9 month completer's program to pick up my bachelors, tuition was $35,000. Not to mention cost of living in Winter Park. Can't afford that, even if I took out FAFSA at maximum rates. I have friends that are still paying off their loans.
You will learn infinitely more after you graduate. The school gives you a foundation, sure, but you have to motivate yourself after the fact to keep your skills up. I have, and I am happy with the work I am doing now, much happier than the work I did while I was there. If you are a self starter, there is no reason you can't just teach yourself from the get go.
You will never get lab time. Forget about it. The reason my friends and I graduated is because we all spent loads of money on equipment to work outside of school. We had better equipment than the school did at the time, and it is one of the reasons we were able to keep up.
You may wonder why I keep talking about this group of 10 friends. Because out of my whole class, we are the only ones that graduated. There were over 200 students in the program when I started in 2005. 11 of us graduated. ELEVEN. Everyone else either flunked out, dropped out, or burned out. The odds are stacked against you, and unless you are driven, to the MAX, you will not survive. You must eat, sleep, and breathe school.

>>514893
3/3
If you are in a relationship, it will die. I was married when I went there, three years, after a 13 year relationship. I got divorced two months after I graduated. Fullsail was not entirely responsible, but it played a big part in the destruction of my marriage. No one I knew who had a relationship while there had it last after it was all over. No one.

All in all, I have mixed feelings about Fullsail. I am glad I went on the one hand- I look fondly back to the time I had with my friends there, and I value those friendships that carry on to this day. On the other hand, it was terrible for my health (I had walking pneumonia for three months because I couldn't take time off school to go to a doctor), ruined my marriage, and left me with a feeling of not at all living up to what they promise.

I would strongly caution you against it. Most people just can't handle the stress involved, and that's okay. There are plenty of other schools, with better programs, that will get you on the path. That being said, in this industry, no one gives a flying fuck about your degree. Your work is paramount. Work, and attitude. You have to have an outgoing and upbeat personality, and have quality work. If you don't, you won't get work. It's that simple. And you don't need school to become a good artist, you just need time, and the drive to make yourself practice until you get good. And your degree will do fuckall in any other industry, believe you me. I have 20 years hands on in IT administration, network engineering, and computer repair-I don't even put my degree on my CV anymore because it never helped me to get a job. Most people who graduated from there do not end up in the industry professionally, so keeping that little tidbit in mind is important so you aren't fucking yourself when it doesn't happen.

Good luck, I hope you make the decision that is right for you.