Colleges

I'm currently attending community college; I was accepted to Drexel, NJIT, UAT and Full Sail (who isn't?). I was going to apply to DigiPen but I decided not to. I did do a lot of research into the schools, and I can give you some insight on the ones above (which I see Drexel was on your list).

Drexel is a great school as long as you're going to utilize its co-op program. I believe a B.S. in Computer Science is a 5 year program at Drexel because you spend a year working at two companies (I think, might have changed). This is great; because you get work experience and a college degree at the same time. This school was definately on the top of my list, but I didn't like the area (Philadelphia was a turn off for me).

NJIT is probably where I'll end up as soon as next fall (I hate community college, I want to get out as soon as possible). Its located in a somewhat bad area of New Jersey (although, not the worse) but its close to Manhatten and NYC (great place to find jobs working for startups and small companies). They've got a great educational program; and I believe their Masters is a 5 year program if you go straight through (don't stop at your Bachelors).

UAT seemed like a good school, but I was sort of tied down financially. Its located in Tempe, Arizona (along with probably half a dozen other "gaming colleges") but UAT doesn't advertise themselves on television like the others. This is something that did make me catch the school; but I was accepted there rather fast for my liking (a few days after I sent out my transcript). I was almost going to go there; if it wasn't for financial problems.

Full Sail is Full Sail, there isn't much more to say about it. I currently have two friends attending there, one of which I think may make it out and get a job, the other I don't think will. Like any school, its going to take a lot of dedication, but its defiantely going to take more so. I didn't research it as much as the others, but after hearing some Full Sail horror stories (about professors, students, etc) it just sounded like a money toilet rather than a school.

Digipen, what is there to say about that? Its probably one of the best gaming colleges you can attend. Hard to get into, even harder to graduate from. Its funded by Nintendo, and a some graduates end up working for Nintendo afterwords. I can't say much about Digipen, once again, it was out of my price range.

The last choice of mine, which I might attend once I get my Masters, was Guild Hall. Its a realtively new school, but it's a post graduate school (you must have a degree). You're taught by game designers, programmers, etc. It seems like the elite of them all (gaming schools), probably costs an arm and a leg, but probably is definately worth it.

Hope I've helped. I don't know anything else about the others, if they were directly related to game programming (as in having a degree program) then they are either new or I passed them up because I didn't think they were good. Make sure you research all your choices before choosing, and you need to make the right choice for you. I believe my right choice is to get a Computer Science degree, and then move on to Game Programming somewhere else.

Good luck!

I'm a sophomore at Cornell University. I'm a Computer Science major in the engineering school. Here's what it's like.

Too much work, don't feel like doing it. I had to take 2 semesters of calculus, 1 semester of linear algebra, 1 semester of chemistry, 3 semester of physics, probability and statistics, (probability is fun, statistics is lame) and some other random crap. Frankly, I think this course load is overkill, especially since it's mostly irrelevant to comp sci! If I could choose, I might consider taking mechanics and linear algebra; mechanics is important for knowing how to control your game entities and linear algebra is important for knowing what matrix transformations are all about. That's about it. The rest is bullshit.

The good side: we have a small game design program! Although we don't have a game design major or minor, we have an intro to game design class (what I'm taking now), and I plan on taking the next game design class as independent research each semester I have left here. My group is fun to work with and fairly talented, and we're making some pretty good progress. My goal is to build up a solid portfolio here (with some previous projects I've worked on) to improve my chances of getting into the games industry.

Another benefit of going here: recruiters like Cornell, since we're all leet and stuff. (Maybe not me heh.) I managed to get an internship at Bloomberg in NYC this summer.

Another downside: Tuition is reaallly high.

Bottom line: School, for the most part, completely blows. Savor what free time you get and actually -fun- classes you take, and make something out of them. Even if you don't have any game design courses, work on projects on your own, and hope for the best!

I'm a sophomore at Cornell University. I'm a Computer Science major in the engineering school. Here's what it's like.

Too much work, don't feel like doing it. I had to take 2 semesters of calculus, 1 semester of linear algebra, 1 semester of chemistry, 3 semester of physics, probability and statistics, (probability is fun, statistics is lame) and some other random crap. Frankly, I think this course load is overkill, especially since it's mostly irrelevant to comp sci! If I could choose, I might consider taking mechanics and linear algebra; mechanics is important for knowing how to control your game entities and linear algebra is important for knowing what matrix transformations are all about. That's about it. The rest is bullshit.

The good side: we have a small game design program! Although we don't have a game design major or minor, we have an intro to game design class (what I'm taking now), and I plan on taking the next game design class as independent research each semester I have left here. My group is fun to work with and fairly talented, and we're making some pretty good progress. My goal is to build up a solid portfolio here (with some previous projects I've worked on) to improve my chances of getting into the games industry.

Another benefit of going here: recruiters like Cornell, since we're all leet and stuff. (Maybe not me heh.) I managed to get an internship at Bloomberg in NYC this summer.

Another downside: Tuition is reaallly high.

Bottom line: School, for the most part, completely blows. Savor what free time you get and actually -fun- classes you take, and make something out of them. Even if you don't have any game design courses, work on projects on your own, and hope for the best!

What's the tuition at Cornell? Most colleges make you take a few semesters of calculus, I believe I need to take 3, discrete mathmatics, and some other math courses as well. I'm not sure if NJIT has a game design course, but I know my community college does (I was surprised) and I'm definately going to take it if I end up sticking around for the full 2 years.

~$40k according to a search.

University is more than job training. Alas, most americans still believe themselves defined by their company position. Just remember that most of the things you learn at college are not in the classroom.

Well, I go to RPI, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. One thing Id like to point out is that whatever you end up doing in computer science in college to an extent will only be limited by how much you learned on your own prior to getting there. In my school for example, Computer Science I (C++) is taught very poorly (in my opinion if you didnt know it before you took the class you were in for a rocky time if you cant grasp it easily). For me however, since i have been programming for 5 years, it made it quite easy. Therefore Id recommended that you choose a language, and master major CONCEPTS of programming (even if you dont achieve proficiency with the language).

If you have a good programming background choosing the straight programming vs game programming paths wont be much of a problem.

Therefore, my recommendation is learn as much programming as you can before you get to college so you can have an easier time choosing, and maybe even skip a few classes due to what you already know.

As for having a crappy curriculum as others have complained, I cant really speak too much on but its obviously dependent on the school you choose and could have an effect on your choices....

Thanks for all the replies, keep them coming ;)

I forgot to mention that I have been programming for a couple of years (a tincy incy bit of delphi at first and then C++). However, I haven't taken any programming classes (except one outside of school where I actually did not learn anything new), I am learning it on my own (I post in For Begginers every now and then).
And btw, I live in Arizona. I didn't mention that since I got used to thinking I'll most likely be moving out of state. The only interesting college that I found here was Devry. I've seen a lot of commercials for computer/game colleges, but judging by the quality of their ads... well, you know ;)

Again, thanks for all the replies!

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Original post by bkt Full Sail is Full Sail, there isn't much more to say about it. I currently have two friends attending there, one of which I think may make it out and get a job, the other I don't think will. Like any school, its going to take a lot of dedication, but its defiantely going to take more so. I didn't research it as much as the others, but after hearing some Full Sail horror stories (about professors, students, etc) it just sounded like a money toilet rather than a school. I was accepted to ... and Full Sail (who isn't?).

Herein lines the problem...~90% of the people who complain about teachers don't belong at the school, but they accept everyone. That's where you get all the horor stories from. It's people who have no idea what they are getting into, they get to the school and realize that it is actually fairly difficult to program well, and sometimes not very fun, so they bitch about everything. Believe it or not, I had students in my classes who had never programmed a line of code in their life. Most of them end up failing out, or quiting.

There are valid complaints about the school but you have to realize who most of them are comming from. Like I said...~90%, there are some valid issues people have with the school, like any other institution.

I graduated from Full Sail in Nov. 04.

I'm currently a sophomore/junior at Daniel Webster College studying Aviation/Air Traffic Management and I would highly recommend against coming here as a CS major. The school is geared towards flight and business/management majors, the engineering/science programs are not terribly great.

However, I would recommend you take at look at Worcester Polytechnic Insitute (link), Carnegie-Mellon University (link) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(link). But if you choose a polytechnic choose WPI, it's a much more fun school, the courses are better in general and it isn't in Troy, NY.

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Original post by x_gamer_x I graduated from Full Sail in Nov. 04.

I graduated Oct 04. The place isn't great, but it got me a job and taught me a great deal. To each their own.

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Original post by x_gamer_x I had students in my classes who had never programmed a line of code in their life.

I guess I don't see the problem with that. Not everyone has had the opportunity. Do you know how few high schools teach physics? Coming into college, I thought most high schools would teach at least basic kinematics. You know, stuff like:
x = x₀ + vt + (1/2)at²
I was wrong. Intro course was an easy A because I'd seen it before, but many hadn't had the opportunity.

Anyway, here's my take on choosing a college. The most important thing is liking the school. Make sure you like the city it's in, the size of the campus, etc. Also, make sure you can afford it. The college's reputation is secondary to all that. Once there, take every opportunity given you. If a professor is looking for assistance with his research, take him up on the offer. Join clubs relevant to your major. Join clubs irrelevant to your major. For the summer, get an internship. Taking these opportunities will make up for any deficiencies in the curriculum. Additionally, they'll give you opportunities to network which is helpful when it comes time to find a job. Also, realize, as was pointed out, college is more than job training. Take time to party. Further, realize that Gen Ed's are good for you. Sure, it may not be immediately applicable to CSci, but you'll learn to see problems in a different light. Even more, if you get hired in that area (and even if you don't), you'll have some background knowledge that could prove useful.

Did I get an ivy league education? No, not really, but my resume will still be competitive. Did I have a blast getting it? @#$% yeah! Which question will matter more in 20 years? Which will matter more to you?