[GreggAllenArt]

Thinking about taking the game art program but would like some opinions/insight first from fellow artists.

1.) Is the debt from the student loans worth the education?

2.) I live in America and I've heard that many Game Art jobs are moving overseas. Is that true?

[number11273]

Post graduation, here is my advice: Look at the cost of tuition. You can have passion and drive shooting from every pore of your body, to the moon and back, but if you do not have this money in your pocket to blow before you enroll, do NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL for RA. It is not worth the very basic things you could learn on your own through purchased gear and an internship. You don’t need a degree for an internship. In this case, passion and drive IS enough.

I graduated with a degree in RA in 07 and would have been better off either spending money on a degree in a STABLE job field. I worked in the tech shop for the majority of my time there, and I discovered I wanted to transfer to an electronics degree a handful of months into schooling. But FS locks you into tuition (I believe 30% of the way into the program), and the credits are non-transferable to any school, anywhere. Hindsight is 20/20. A very painful 20/20.

I am suffocating with debt working at a decent job in the electronics field. Unfortunately, I do not have the disposable income to go back to school in order to move up in the field. I will be paying $500/mo until I’m in my very late 30′s. Maybe longer, maybe more if something happens and I can’t continue to make these payments. I’m scared out of my mind and the pressure to pay is encompassing my life. I wonder if I’ll be able to afford a home, children, etc. before I’m 40.

Private loans do not qualify for bankruptcy in any capacity. There are no IBR or ICR programs. Interest only payments last for only a few years. Forbearance and deferment will only inevitably shoot up your monthly payment due to daily accruing interest. You cannot consolidate with Sallie Mae, or with any other bank without collateral. There is no help. You will have to pay.

The one thing I can say Full Sail is good at is directing students to Sallie Mae. They have an AWESOME Financial Aid department. They have an awesome power to get you the money to attend, even if a typical financial institution would look at you and laugh you out the door.
So don’t worry, if you want to go, you’ll go.

That's all just my opinion.

[number11273]

^*DO NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL for any of their programs.

[BiancaJo]

I can't vouch for the online program, but my younger brother is there for music production. It's insanely expensive. Here's some recent full sail university reviews - some good...some bad. I think it depends on what your situation is.... i'm kind of hesitant to recommend any completely "online" arts program. Seems like you'd be missing out on a lot of the networking possibilities.

[KotLeopold]

I've heard quite a bit of bad things about Full Sail. I've never attended it nor planning on doing so. Remember, this is a "for-profit" school which means it's insanely expensive. You're better off studying game art on your own by purchasing a few of Gnomon DVDs and/or subscribing to Digital Tutors. I believe they cover more than what Full Sail will teach you in 2-3 years. Plus it is much much more affordable.

Whatever choice you end up making, this is a serious matter. It'll have an impact on you for the rest of your life. There are always options, just don't rush to a decision right away.

Best of luck!

[DrLoomDoom]

Even if you had the money to blow to go to this school I would still not recommend it because you can use it for other things like A.) Living, B.) food C.) a better school

I think your biggest concern when looking at a school is looking at the work instructors produce. Safe house atelier is a good school because carl dobsky is a good artist (also really cool guy) watts atelier is good, because the teachers are good. full sail is well. Not. Work alone speaks volumes

[Tromaboy2002]

I am looking into Full Sail as well, I know some people in the industry who have done well for themselves coming out of Full Sail (most notably Darren Lynn Bousman director of Repo! and Saw 2,3,4,5) he's done quite well for himself. On Linkedin I see many animators who've graduated from Full Sail and are working in the industry. So I am considering it as well.

I find most of the horror stories about Full Sail tend to come from people who are having a tough time with the debt and weren't able to convert into a full time position. I cannot speak for these individuals as to whether or not they took advantage of internship opportunities or just did their 4 years and called it a day so I can't speak to why they are having issues finding work. But that seems to be the crux of most complaints is that cost vs. conversion seems to be the main issue.

Now most student loans are going to be at about a 3.5 percent interest rate, it's always good to do your homework on any loan agreement before you enter into it. I'm buying a house right now so I'm hyper aware of interest over time, fixed vs. adjustable, all of that. Also it's good to make sure you are actually going for all of your grants you might be eligible for as well to help reduce over all cost.

Right now I'm looking at the 3D animation program, figure that would put me in a good position looking at either the film or game industry. But it's all portfolio portfolio portfolio at that point.

Stuff like Gnomon Workshop is great, the problem there is, making sure you have the money to build your rig, and buy all the software. It's a bit easier if you are looking at story art jobs because you can do Adobe Cloud for 50 bucks a month, but there's no program like that for Autodesk's 3D software so that makes Gnomon a bit problematic for those of us who can't drop thousands up front on software packages. And Gnomon workshop doesn't qualify for the free learning program unless you are doing their in person degree (if even that).

As far as the outsourcing, that's a problem in any industry right now, I work customer service/sales at a large Telecom company and they are aggressively outsourcing jobs left and right. The thing is try and get a professional certification in some kind of field you'd be comfortable in (nursing/CIS/databases) so you have something to fall back on. That's what's killed me in the job market is I tried to do it all on my own (and have worked with name people in the industry Kevin Smith and Lloyd Kaufman to drop a name or two) but my style of cartooning in a 2d capacity is declining rapidly as more studios go for Anime/3D style exclusively so I'm out in the rain on that. I'd look also into the Animators Guild as well if you're going animation they can at least give protections and benefit guidance.

A bit long winded on my post but hopefully it helps.

Good Luck!

[jonnblaze]

Now most student loans are going to be at about a 3.5 percent interest rate, it's always good to do your homework on any loan agreement before you enter into it. I'm buying a house right now so I'm hyper aware of interest over time, fixed vs. adjustable, all of that. Also it's good to make sure you are actually going for all of your grants you might be eligible for as well to help reduce over all cost....?????