Preparing for FullSail

I'm officially an IGDA member which means I can now attend E3 and GDC. I also had inquired help from the IGDA community and got a very welcoming set of responses. The thread stretched on for four pages and has neared almost 1,000 views. I'm going to try and summarize what I've learned below.

• Holding a part time job while attending Full Sail is unrealistic and ill-advised
• Getting a loan is not difficult and their are many lending institutions

I'm sure you've checked it out already, but the fafsa site has some info on it: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ , as well as the Sallie Mae site:
http://www.salliemae.com/

Also, you could try looking into what scholarships are available for Full Sail. Here are some search sites:http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp http://fastweb.com/, many schools will tell you about financial options, so calling their financial aid office would help. - ghostgirl

I seriously recommend not working a part time job while attending Full Sail. The classes are very compressed, and time is very limited. You'll need that spare time to develop your skills, and work on a demo reel. The sleep schedule is all over the place. One of my classmates had a part time job while attending Full Sail. He was 24/7 wasted, and he failed half way through the degree. There was another who also had a job, he managed. So it's possible. As long as you get the daily 8 hours of sleep, you can last no problem. It all comes down to holding the pace.
I put in far more side work because I wanted a job upon graduation. I was the only one in my class who had invested the time into a full demo reel before graduation. I think only 3 of a class of 45 landed our professions, 2 of us in the game industry. here are more people than ever being churned out of colleges, Full Sail is the correct choice, but even then I'd say your chances of getting in are less than 1%.
The longer you job hunt, the more effort you put into your talent, networking, as well as picking an ideal location, you can increase your odds by 10% or more. A lot of them just don't have what it takes, and that's a good thing for those who are truly serious about breaking into the game industry. Even then you are entering
into a field where the competition gets higher each year, with no signs of slow down yet. Do not get a bike! There are bike thieves in Florida. They caught them, but new ones crop up. They steal the bikes right out of the college parking lot (they monitor security)! I had mine and about 4 others stolen by two SOBs who are now rotting in kiddy prison. I'm pissed, because I never got my bike back. Custom made. Anyways, after they were caught, the stealing continued a short while later. They have stuff that can clip through any bike chain. I seriously recommend a car. Parking is awful, but a car can save you lots of time, and the Florida weather can be very erratic on bike. They get lots of floods, so sometimes riding a bike isn't possible. On foot or by car is your best choice.
They also have bushes that shed thorns on the sidewalks. They can pop bike tires a lot, and drivers there are dangerous for cyclists. I saw one kid die from a car smashing into them. The driver ran the light and hit the kid on the bike. On foot you are way more agile and able to better cope with all the stuff they make you carry to class.-sagema

Be very careful about taking out a loan. Read as much information and exercise caution before signing on the line. http://www.studentloanjustice.org/-melodyaw

Food will cost you a fortune in Florida. Not as many healthy things were on sale, and very few generic brands of food were sold in Win Dixie. I spend about 50% less in NY on food bills. I didn't pay a water bill at Park Apartments. The electric bill is never low. I recall 1 month I didn't run air conditioning, and was only home on average 9 hours a day (That means 30 hours of lights on max), mostly to sleep. Even then, my electric bill was $100. You have all these circuit breaker surcharges which prevent, lightning storms from destroying plugged in devices. Poor Mike had his cell phone melt one night plugged in (Pay the bill). They get lightning storms all the time there, but don't lose power much.

If you are female, guard your laundry at the Park Apartment Laundromats. Make sure you pick an apartment complex with a built in Laundromat. Get theft insurance on everything, just in case. I had theft insurance on my bike (Go me!).- sagema

I had a friend who had to take out enough "living money" in loans to support his wife and kid. I really wouldn't recommend taking out this much money in high interest personal loans. You should plan your finances out and estimate how much your total loan will be and what your interest rate will be. Determine what your montly payments will be when you graduate and how long you'll be paying them off. Ultimately, you have to make the decision yourself but I can tell you first hand that high loan payments SUCK.
-jeffason

Again thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.I also spent sometime doing research and compiling the month bills.

Please note* these are personal estimates based on my own decisions so they will defiantly differ if your in a similar situation or maybe a few years down the line.

Rent-----------------------------$650.00
Utilities--------------------------$200.00
FIOS---------------------------- $50.00
Food for One---------------------$200.00
1 Monthly Video Game-----------$50.00
Usenet via NewsHosting--------- $13.00
IGDA Membership---------------$4.00
Magazine Subscriptions---------- $10.00
Clothing--------------------------$20.00
Haircuts------------------------- $60.00
Personal Care Products---------- $25.00
Paper Products------------------ $30.00
Toner----------------------------$10.00
Notebooks----------------------- $10.00
Gas------------------------------ $200.00
Car Insurance--------------------$200.00
Cell Phone----------------------- $45.00
Total----------------------------$1,777.00

A safe margin--------------------$48,000.00 for 21 Months
Tuition-------------------------$64,000.00
Grand Total!!!! $112,000.00

Time to start working on those scholarships -.-