Cordell is the creator of CSR Digital Media. Cordell wants to share his experiences as a web developer, digital marketer, and artist with the world through tutorial videos and vlogs.
(Life Update After 4 Years) It amazes me how much views, likes, and comments this video keeps getting so I figured everyone deserves an update since I don't post videos as often as I hoped. Do I still recommend Full Sail after 4 years? If you can afford it, maybe. If not, no. Of course a lot can change in 4 years so I have no clue how it is today. The student debt crisis is continuing and I have not bothered to pay anything back yet since COVID. Where I am now with my life? Do I have a job??? Long story short, I was jobless for 2-3 years throughout the pandemic, nobody would hire me, even with a B.S. in Web Design and Development. I painstakingly discovered that web designers are typically contractors and not full-time employees with benefits. Now web developing is a little different as it can also relate to software engineering (this is where the money and jobs are). Unfortunately, I gave up on coding. Deep down, I wanted to learn, but I also hated it. I think Full Sail gave me a bad taste and maybe one day I will learn to code again. But, not today. Anyways, I moved to Brazil, got married to a beautiful Brazilian woman and now I have a 2 year old. Oh how life can change so unexpectedly. After years of searching for a job that would allow me to work in Brazil, In 2023, I was hired by a remote first AI company as a full-time long-term contractor. I am still working with this company and it has been an amazing blessing and I work with a lot of fun and passionate people that I can share gifs with on Slack everyday. Thank you all for watching this video and reading this comment. God bless! Put God first in your life and all things will come together eventually as long as you are patient and wait on the Lord.
You also forgot to mention GPS I think that’s plays a huge role in your grades like let’s say your not doing as well in the class like you would hope and You’re GPS is 100 that can ADD towards your Grade so like if you have a D then it could potentially bring that up to A C ya know
And actually now full sail tells you like say if you were going for computer science or web development it says you only get 2 tries and after that you’ll be dismissed from the program entirely so maybe that’s how it was for you I’m not sure but you did say that you failed a lot of times in your classes.
Hey man I just want to say congratulations on getting your degree I know it’s not easy I felt like how you were feeling I was in the same boat at one point I was at another university before coming to Full Sail University and I was taking up computer science unfortunately things didn’t work out and that’s because it SUPER Hard I also didn’t have a great support system Around Either I just want to say thanks for sharing your story because I honestly felt like I was the only one who was struggling everybody around me was smarter than I was and it felt like I not in competition with them with this Major Computer Science/ tech degree
Hey Cordell I just wanted to say its been a great experience watching through you vlog videos and I hope everything is going well for you and life and that your enjoying it and have a great day if you ever see this.
I found Online courses at Full Sail to be easier. I have kids and one of them has special needs. I only had one or 2 months where I had 2 classes those months. But everyone is different and how we handle things is different.
I had done the graphics design at full sail it’s my 3rd month I have a feeling it’s going to get harder but I will most definitely put all my effort into my time at full sail
You kind of look like Andrew Garfield a little bit lol. Thanks for the video I’m on month 2 and I’m super excited and nervous for the actual film portion but I’m ready to put in the effort!
My brother laid around on the couch for like 3 years and one day, he just got up and was like “well I graduated. Sweet.” Didn’t even know the dude was doing college classes. Crazy.
I have only now learned of how tough their curriculum is. Still, I am looking for a school that will provide me with the quickest bachelor degree possible, while maintaining a flexible online schedule. 2.4 years for a bachelor sounds ideal. Any thoughts?
Yes, I feel you are safe going through Full Sail's program for the fastest way of getting a Bachelors. Mine only took 4 years because I had to re-take so many classes. Hopefully you will not have the same experience.
@@csrdigitalmedia Thank you for replying so soon. Did you also have to take the general education courses in physics and maths? How would you rate the difficulty? I remember some people saying they very barely passed the math classes.
@@user-cp6oj4vo9n It's funny because the general education courses from what I remember were the easiest classes in the whole program. They were just annoying just like the classes in highschool and a waste of time. I really just struggled with some coding courses such as the beginning to C# and Object Oriented Programming.
@@csrdigitalmedia General education courses are always a waste of time, aren't they. Thankfully they only take like one month each to finish and then you're done with them, I think that's some consolation
Stay focused and calm. I know it may sound cliche but it's very important to do so. I believe that you are adequately equip and things will definitely work out; rather that being with coding, youtube, etc.
It’s definitely challenging but it’ll be worth it! November will be a year since I enrolled and it’s been challenging but I’m still pushing. You have to find your balance, we work, have kids and have personal issues every day but once you find your balance you will be fine just stay on top of your assignments
I went to full sail years ago for web design and development. It was hard. No joke. This school has some good, tough curriculum. I had to retake classes as well. I had to take college mathematics 3 times before I passed. Had to drop out due to financial issues. I’m really considering going back now that I’m able to. I did enjoy the school. I did online.
I would highly advise to look into marketing instead of web design unless you want to be a software engineer. It took me a long time to figure this out unfortunately. Knowing how the job market is today, Web Design and Development is more contract work than a career.
@@csrdigitalmedia yeah. I began to realize this degree program wasn’t right for me around the time I had to leave school. I enjoy the work, I really enjoyed working with photoshop and html/css but I began to realize that the market was shifting. I’ve been working in IT for a number of years so if I do go back it will be for their fairly new cybersecurity degree. The good thing is I won’t have to take math, English and a few of the other gen Ed courses. I hope you’re doing well.
Sounds like the problem was not choosing a field you already knew. If you took graphic design you would have aced it all. I am an artist. I 3d model.and sculpt. And I'm good at it. So I'll be going for 3d animation. I would LOVE to do game design but I dont know enough that I would feel comfortable. It would be hard. But taking something I'm already great at means it all will come easier. Increasing my chances of graduating but also during my time there I will be less stressed. My son uses Blender and is amazing at it as well. He also is good at making music. So if he goes either of those routes he will have a better chance to slide through it all. He codes a bit in LUA too so he may do well with code. But he mostly is aiming to do animation like me. It seems smarter to go for something that you are familiar with for sure.
Hi CSR, I am sold on the idea that C# is the way to go. At the moment I am 6 months in learning HTML, CSS and JavaScript. I haven't learned a library or framework yet and node either. I have gotten good at HTML and decent at CSS using flexbox. JavaScript I am not so great despite the fact that now I know how to manipulate the DOM and I somewhat understand the principles of what a function is, what a constructor is, what a class is. But I still struggle to create these objects. I am at the moment on the Odin Project re-learning the fundamentals now because I see there are holes in my knowledge. My goal is to complete the Odin Project and move onto the Microsoft eco-environment. Which is C# and .NET for web development. My only concern and my question would be, how do you maintain your knowledge of previous technologies without forgetting what you learned? I am thinking once I complete the Odin Project to jump right into C#. But I am afraid that I will begin to forget everything within the JavaScript environment. The C# environment is HUGE and there is so much to learn. My goal is first the land a job with everything related to JavaScript while doing so learn .NET. What would you recommend? Any wisdom you could impart would be greatly appreciate. Finally, I am self-taught with no college degree from NYC so where I live, I guess is an advantage, maybe not since its very competitive here, thank you in advance for replying.
Keep doing projects! You'll exercise all your knowledge, and for the parts you 'forget' you don't fully forget them, you'll know when you need to use them but might not fully remember the details
@@TozzaYT Thanks Tozza, that was 9 months ago and now I feel a little more comfortable in these same tools. No longer on the odin project. I didn't want to focus full stack JavaScript with node.js. Everyone has taken this path and it feels so common. Plus, I don't like using async for the backend. So I am focused on JavaScript with React and Python with Django for the backend for Full Stack. Almost done with a CRUD app. I scrapped the previous project a couple of weeks ago. But I am almost done with this one.
well i do say i will be going into IT CERTificate and i know some in`s and out around my computer and can make one but dont knoww all the tech -words but it woeks well .but i thank you for you info on how the online school is but cause thats how i will roll with this.thanks for youre input..i hope you got so work by now...
I’m in Graphic Design in month 3 TEM now. I was wondering how English Composition would be next month. How are things going now? Thank you for sharing!
VERY LONG - BUT PLEASE READ THIS, FOLKS Hopefully I can help someone who is reading this before it is too late for them. Full Sail credits do not transfer to other universities and the degrees are often not recognized by hiring firms. National accreditation sounds better than regional accreditation (most established universities), right? It isn't. Regional accreditation ensures your credits will transfer almost anywhere (even to universities with different regional accreditation - hell, the bulk of your credits will transfer to a different country in all likelihood) - and even if you do not transfer, no employer will question whether or not your degree is legitimately a degree. This is not arbitrary - regional accreditation holds students to a higher standard, a consistent standard. With all due respect to the poster of this heart felt video, the reason some of you are surprised that a valedictorian could fail so many classes and still graduate - let alone be valedictorian - is because in a typical, regionally accredited institution, this would result in academic probation and dismissal within about 6 months (2 semesters or so). Many employers are aware of this, and no shiny piece of paper will convince them otherwise. I am from Florida, and every friend I grew up with who went to full sail (now well into their 30's) have failed to pay off the debt incurred from going there - the only one making progress had to get a separate degree from UCF (regionally accredited). That entire degree cost him less than a year at Full Sail. DON'T GET ME WRONG, one could argue that these more "standard" schools will also drain you of money by forcing you to take and re-take credits that are unnecessary for your major or that you have already shown yourself to understand. That they are just as self interested... AND YOU'RE RIGHT. That's not the issue. The issue is that those standard (often state-funded) Universities/Colleges also rely on keeping a hard earned regional accreditation, and high performing students, to even entertain the idea of having transferable credits, as well as state and federal funds. In other words, they are actively incentivized to hold you to a higher standard - and dismiss you if you don't meet it. I am currently transferring to a 4 year institution after getting straight A's for an Associates of Applied Science in Computer Programming... I owe no money to my college. Because after a while they paid me to go there with scholarships (and some external scholarships that I applied for). I am graduating this semester and have already gotten 3 job offers from large (billion dollar) firms. Of course, this too is something of a trap. These firms want to sign me to 2-3 year contracts and teach me mostly in-house software. This way, they keep me at the company without a Bachelor's Degree while telling me that I don't need one (inflating my ego while paying me less, common practice). I'm old enough now to know this from past work experience for corporations and the military. AND STILL, every job offered me MUCH more than the average salary for the Full Sail students with the degree this gentleman in the video earned (you can look these figures up yourself). These weren't interests - they were offers - and I turned them down to continue studying. But why is that? Well, despite only having an Associate Degree - there were no real do overs and no second chances (not necessarily a good thing, but its reality). I had to deliver working programs with documentation on time and take in-person or proctored exams administered by PhDs and Masters with 20+ years experience - who sat with me in actual classrooms and offices to walk me through a concept. Had I failed to deliver, I would have been dismissed, and no amount of money would have changed that. I was just honest about what i was good at, accepted what I wasn't good at, and worked my ass off at a regionally accredited institution. And the firms that offered me jobs know this. They are aware that my GPA and scholarships weren't "try and pay until you get it right", and that I will be 2-3 times more expensive once I get my Bachelor degree. Again, this is because said degrees are from/for a regionally accredited institution and are recognized everywhere. I am not trying to be rude. I just don't want to see more people live in crushing debt for the remainder of their lives when there is an objectively cheaper, more comprehensive, and widely accepted alternative. You'll have to deal with endless bureaucracy, admit your shortcomings - it won't be glamorous - but you will likely have manageable debt and a worthwhile degree at a regionally accredited community college or typical state school. Please, swallow any pride you may have, and be honest with yourselves.
I agree and I would also tell people that college these days is not worth being in debt for the rest of our lives. The truth is I have had about a dozen interviews and the majority of them could care less if I had a degree or not. They just want people who already have years of experience and work to show in their portfolio to prove it. This is from the standpoint of someone applying for a job relating to web design, web development, graphic design, UI/UX design, and Software engineering.
@@aydanjones2219 I recommend you ask this to a third-party academic advisor (works independently from any University system), who can get to know you in person, for anything this specific to your situation. I can (responsibly) only broadly recommend a regionally accredited College/University you can afford without careening head first into serious debt, since I don't know your situation in it's entirety. Anything more would assume too much about you. A school counselor for example (if you are still in HS, and this is available to you), can assess your future career's average income, loan/scholarship availability, and your potential return on investment, to weigh what is best suited for you. If you don't, then look up what the career you want makes on average to see if loan repayment would be manageable, if LOW INTEREST federal loans are available to you based on your grades/situation (private loans should be used sparingly - or avoided entirely - since they are often higher interest, less regulated, and therefore more difficult to pay off), AND THEN ask YOURSELF if a particular College/University is worth it. Honestly, if living in a dorm and studying full time yields better grades (it isn't distracting) then you may want to go to a four year University all the way through - BUT, if you are fine living off campus in cheap accommodations, then a two year college before transfer (check credit transferability) would yield the same result for less (again, should have the same regional accreditation as UCF or other prominent schools). Nationally accredited for-profit schools cost more, and give you less to show for it than state-funded regionally accredited schools - again look up the graduation rates, job acquisition rates, and average debt for these schools, and it will become obvious that you should avoid them. Hope this helps.
@@aydanjones2219 this is what I am wondering now...I want to go for Data science AI or Machine learning and I am hearing mixed reviews about taking a bootcamp for this but now I read above that Full sail isn't good either LOL...I def don't want to put myself in debt!
I wish I could go somewhere else but I'm going for computer animation and finding a school that offers that in my area for full sail's price is non-existent. Tried looking into online programs at other colleges but students spoke ill of all the ones I looked at, so I guess I'm going to full sail. Wish me luck☺️🌟
There are Excellent teachers and shitty teachers I feel ya Bro. I got accepted at Full Sail to continue with by BA. I have my AAS in graphic design but need to upgrade portfolio. I'm starting to just consider relying on youtube university and brushing up on programs yet the same time I would appreciate the bachelors degree. Decisions decisions....
God Bless to those peeps that Parents help with your college....If not you could consider the Military as well. The Army has helped me wiith tuition assistance not even touching my GI Bill. Just a though and something to consider and research. If any other questions let me know. I was in Arm recruiting as well. 25M FYI is mulimedia illustrator in the Army. 25B you'll get to be qualified in network and security plus for free !!
I'm in my 5th year of senior bachelor's. I'm hoping to finish up this year so I can finally get my degree and pay off my $53,000 of student loans from FASA
Hey man, I'm supposed to start at FSU at the end of this month. I was wondering if you could tell me what they put in your launchbox? I am also going for webdev and the launchbox is kind of pricy so I want to see if it's worth it.
I honestly don't remember. But, I think that it came with a Macbook Pro which was nice for me at the time because I didn't have a laptop or Microsoft Office. If you already have those things than it's probably not worth spending the extra money.
Honestly, I don't code that much anymore. As far as job market research goes...Javascript and PHP coding skills are what I seem to see most of employers wanting for app and web development. It really just depends on the type of job. If you want to get into video games than C# 100%
Thank u so much. This was awesome!!! Love your hair!!! 🤙😎😊🤣... I’m looking at the digital program and web development!! I’m also looking at UX/UI. Did they incorporate that into your degree???
Did you ever find a well paying job? I go to Full Sail and I’m on month 5 3D models and I’m pushing harder then I was. Because you said to work hard and not that it’s not worth it like other videos thanks dude I hope things are great after full sail
I want to do IT or web development and I'm trying to decide if Full Sail is a good choice for me. I don't really have any experience with coding. Could you help me decide if it's worth it to me?
