Unfortunately I can’t really talk about specifics of the program and how it would apply directly to your situation. The truth is, the school moves so quickly that none of the courses are going to be the same as when I was there. This is another big advantage to Full Sail. I actually went to visit the campus last month, as I was in Orlando for a conference, and it’s not even recognizable from when I was there last in 2006. Everything about the school changes and grows with time but what stays the same is their commitment to educate people for the real world.

Can anyone share what REAL benefit would be for someone who knows PPC for Google, Bing and Facebook and is currently doing retargeting campaigns?

What will be covered that isn’t already a part of a normal marketing manager’s day to day?

Thanks!

The certificate program, which I took, is just 4 of the 12 courses needed for the full Master’s degree. There is some disconnect, I think, because we still take the same classes that the full program takes. That means that there are times that carryover from prior classes and make a few details or objectives fuzzy.

Don’t get me wrong. I have actually remained friends with several students, and several instructors from the program. Some of them never even taught my classes, but they are open enough to participate in the private community and friend some of the students from the program.

My problem is that I don’t feel either of my degree programs from Full Sail have helped me land a career in either field. I’m coming up on three years of deferment, meaning I’m about to have an $800+ student loan payment kick in. Because the school is in Florida, most of the career placements (I’ve found) is in the southeast.

I’m not saying don’t do it. But it is a very difficult task, and online education is not for everyone. It can actually be much harder than traditional classroom education.

Chris and I were classmates in the Full Sail IMMS program. I am an in-house SEO strategist for CCI Solutions in Olympia, WA. It’s a great company and a great job that I wouldn’t have gotten without my degree from Full Sail, particularly because all of my degrees prior to this were in Music Performance! (all the way up to the doctorate level). Yeah, no one was going to touch me without some kind of marketing or business credentials and the best, fastest way was not only to take a job in the industry, but also to get that Master’s degree from Full Sail.

I agree with Chris completely. Learn how to code. It’s something I am struggling with, but I’ve learned a lot, particularly HTML and CSS, but I think these days you need to know javascript too and you need to know how to implement things like schema (http://www.schema.org) and be comfortable enough doing that that you can fly solo (unless your code is completely locked down by an outside vendor or IT department – which can often be a problem too).

I also agree with you Rob when you say if you can do it without the expensive degree, then do it. My student loans are absolutely killing me financially, but I really do think incurring the expense was something I had to do to be taken seriously by the level of companies that I wanted to pursue.

Thanks for the post!
Dana