Hey everyone this is my first post, I been considering going to Full Sail. I also heard bad things though so I wanted to hear from you guys what college would be the best to go to for a Degree in Game Development, I only have a GED so I cant go to a school like UCLA or USC. I am still considering going to Full Sail even with the bad reviews due to the bad reviews only really being the online schooling, I heard nothing about bad professors on campus yet.
You can attend a UC or a CSU with a GED. You will have to meet all of the other requirements (ACT/SAT, etc ) however. There are a number of home schoolers who attend different UC campuses so your situation is not all that unusual. Another route is a California CC and then transfer to a UC. Getting a CS degree over a proficiency certification has some additional benefits, such as wider acceptance outside of the development world, but if you are a good coder you can readily get a job based on your skills.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/freshman/minimum-requirements/
How much will it cost? Because to go to full sail I will need to pay $43,485, thats not counting student loans though, Im not sure how much I would get from student loans. I will still need to put in a lot of money and I got no job and my Mom and Dad/Step-Dad make up to 30-35K a year, so that will be quite hard to come up with.
Actually its more like 20-30K a year.
Isn’t that school a “for-profit” school? The students pay the school for a useless degree in the “industry”.
You cannot afford that online school.
Your parents make less than the cost.
Where would you get the money?
No one will loan you that much money.
My neighbor is a game developer. She went to a legitimate school in California and received her degree. She is now a manager and hires her help from legitimate California universities.
You need to find a real school that is affordable.
My grandma may if I pay her back, she has a lot of money.
The only thing is how would anyone go to college if you need to spend as much as you make a year??
Legitimate schools offer need based aid. That means that school will reduce the cost of attendance based on your parents’ income. Please look up “net price calculator” or “npc” for schools that you are interested in.
Please don’t take your grandmother’s money. At least not for Full Sail or any for-profit school.
If you go to a “for-profit” school, you won’t be hired for a legitimate gaming company and you will be stuck having to repay Grandma with money you aren’t making.
Don’t be afraid of going to a community college first, and then transferring to a university. Yes, it will take longer, but you will have better employment options. No one will recognize or hire you with the Full Sail degree.
Please take these posters’ advice and do not look into any for-profit school. I have no idea why they are even still in business
Every college and university has a Net Price Calculator on its website, run those to get an idea of what each place is likely to cost you.
If you are a CA resident, the most affordable route for you is likely to be the CC then transfer. Go talk with a counselor at the CC closest to you and find out how that can happen.
Go to community college for 2 years, then switch to a UC. I have 4 siblings who did this in recent years. They were all home schooled and none had a high school degree or even a GED. They all did 2 years of CC, then transferred and graduated from Berkeley, UCLA and UCSD.
Don’t waste your money on a for-profit school. Even if Full Sail is okay, you have so much cheaper options available in Cal.
UCSC has a good game development program. Find a community college with TAG program that feeds into UCSC, and enroll. Then as long as you finish CC with a good GPA you’re guaranteed admittance to UCSC and can finish your degree.
Are you in California @popeyetyty?
If your parents make $30-$35K, your NPC will be extremely low at most ‘full need’ universities, far less than full sail. I’d plan on attending CC and working part time first.
I strongly echo what others have said. To add more, no one in the game development industry would take a degree from Full Sail seriously. It’s a tough industry for grads from anywhere given its size and how many people want to do game development.