Looking for colleges...

[Inferno]

I'm in my senior year of high school now so I'm looking for colleges. I'm hoping to get a degree in game design but if that doesn't work out I'm probably going into mechanical engineering (2D and 3D CAD).

I live in northern AL so anything that's shorter than a 6 hour drive is fine for me. This is new for me so I thought I'd ask for tips heh.

edit-
I looking into the same college Llama is at. It's fucking expensive but it's not super far and it's nice looking.

[L0d3x]

I recommend the KUL in belgium. Sure it'd mean you'd have to move over here, but on the bright side, you could party the night away with good ol' L0d3x!

[Inferno]

Haha If I had enough money I would lodey :iamafag:

[PenGuin1362]

There's not a lot of schools that offer game design as an actual degree, and there are a lot out there that are a pathetic excuse for a program. Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale has a good program. Avoid full sail....

[Inferno]

Avoid full sail....
Why? They sounded pretty good.

[legionaire45]

Digipen (http://www.digipen.edu) has very very good BS and MS programs for game art, design and programming. Tuition is pretty expensive and the cost of living nearby is pretty expensive, so you'd probably have to get an apartment or something fairly far from campus if you don't want to pay an arm and a leg. Seattle is really pretty and Digipen is literally right across the street from Microsoft and I think a building across from Nintendo of America (they are secretive :< ). The degree is definitely worth it though, especially if you want to work at Bungie. Bungie employs tons of ex-Digipen students.

RIT (http://games.rit.edu/)also has a game design program. I'm going for the comp sci program there but I have a friend going into the game design department. A couple other Modacity people are also heading up there, so you'd get to see us IRL. Joy. RIT's tuition is a bit expensive (it's a private school afterall), but they do give out a lot of grants and the campus is great. Apparently gets cold as hell :).

From what I have heard, Full Sail isn't all that great because they rush you through 4 years of content in 2. If you don't mind one massive chug then that's fine, but don't fall behind or else...

There are other decent programs as well. The Art Institutes of California have some game design related stuff and they're pretty easy to get in to if your grades aren't the greatest. You can transfer out to a more "prestigious" college afterwards if you want. Not sure if there are Art Institutes in other states but if there are, they may have similar programs.

Your cheapest option will probably be going to whatever state/public colleges you have. Over in California there are a couple of big groups of colleges like the UCs and the CSUs - check into whatever your state has as an equivalent.

Remember that most game development studios don't care so much about what degree(s) you have; they want to see what you are actually capable of doing. Between a person who has a comp sci degree and little to no game dev experience and someone who has solid experience working on 2 or 3 games on something like the iPhone that have sold reasonably well, most companies would probably go for the guy with experience under his belt. Unless you go for something like a masters degree.

I'm planning on going the latter route. Not sure where I want to go to get my MS but I'm thinking about Digipen. Don't be afraid to do something like get a regular degree in something that interests you and then specialize out afterwards. BS degrees aren't quite as rare as they used to be and you'll need something else to set you apart from the rest of the crowd.

(Hint: Math Minor - people with heavy math skills are wanted everywhere. You could also do something like a physics minor, although I think you usually need pretty heavy math for that [like, math major level math] )

Then there's Collens College :D:D:D (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwlE1aASc4g)

Also, didn't your college advisor tell you that you were supposed to be looking at colleges back in 11th grade >:| ? Have you done any other stuff like take your SATs or ACTs? If not, sign up now! Like, literally, right now. Google in "college board" and "ACT" and you should find the sites. Hopefully you've taken those.

[Inferno]

Yeah I got a twenty something on my ACT but I haven't started looking into colleges until now.


Also I'm really good with BLAM and BLAM 2. So that's a + and I'm learning Unreal. I have PLENTY of past work on mods and maps in all sorts of game engines (I've worked in at least 10 different engines total)

Maybe I'll look into some game companies too heh.

[MetKiller Joe]

Yeah I got a twenty something on my ACT but I haven't started looking into colleges until now.


Also I'm really good with BLAM and BLAM 2. So that's a + and I'm learning Unreal. I have PLENTY of past work on mods and maps in all sorts of game engines (I've worked in at least 10 different engines total)

Maybe I'll look into some game companies too heh.

I'm with legionaire. It is pretty easy in New England to get a game job because there are so many companies, and so many of them could use your skills in Unreal and Halo (not that engine specifically for obvious reasons, but you get what I mean).

You have to be persistent though. I also recommend RIT. It is in the middle of nowhere, but that way nobody will bug you when you are studying or creating content.

[Limited]

If your going for a job in art, you must have a great portfolio, which houses your best work. If you have a piece of work, and your like "meh, its okay I could have done better", do NOT put it in. Its not about quantity, its quality.

I'm currently going into my final year of my degree, you going to be expected to do alot of work in your own time. Make sure you brush up on key skills, for art, make sure you learn perspective and colour theory. Even if you plan on only doing 3ds max stuff, having it is vital.

Programming, try and learn the key programming languages, Java and C++ is great. Make sure you try and get experience with different engines, I've spoken to some companies, said I've played around with Blam! engine, they didnt know what it was, until I explained it was Halo 1's engine. They told me I should venture out and try a few different engines. Hence why I might move on to Unreal.

Game companies also said they dont care about work you've made whilst on the course, they care about seeing your personal work. They want to see devotion, dedicated and passion, and obviously skill and knowledge.

They also want you to have experience working in a team, a structured team too, not just a group of people with the same goal, designig, planning, implementing, all that good stuff :D

[Inferno]

Well I obviously have yoyov2 to show off. I did a ton of work on that.
I can also show off IMP and epsilon when it's done along with the new project I'll be starting in the next few months.

Hopefully I can get into some more engines before my senior year is over.

[Limited]

You need to think feasibility how are you going to show the work, CD is a good way. But how will you distinguish which is your work and which is other peoples?

For example, one bit of my portfolio is a game I made in 2nd year, C++ platformer. The lecturer produced the idea for the same, but implementation, coding and art was done by me. I've got the essay for designing and planning, Ive got the actual game and code, commented. Got the post production essay I can show. I've got backups of the work to show the progress, along with screenshots and videos showing progression of the game.

I dont mean to be lecturing, but for future work you want to include, perhaps think about doing some of the steps I do (take logged screenshots/notes with it)

[paladin]

https://www.digipen.edu/ My school :) For my degree, Tuition is $20,000 a year. Relatively cheap for a private institute. Housing on the East side will run you about $2000 a month with full amenities. But youll probably have house mates.

@AD: Do you live in Seattle?

[Inferno]

I'm in the south so I doubt I can get to digipen. Florida is 10 hours drive from here but my only real option. :saddowns:

Also I have plenty of documentation on how I've created maps and show experience. I'll probably create a portfolio online. Possibly as a webpage or site.

[paladin]

It actually wasnt hard to get into it. I was a 3.5 in High school and 3.8 in College. The portfolio I sent was actually pretty blah... your stuff with yoyo would make you sand WAY out IMHO

[legionaire45]

I got accepted to Digipen with a 3.0. However, I have lots of math/physics experience and have done lots of extra curricular stuff to back that up. If you aren't involved in any clubs, it's probably too late to join, but that really does help. Taking classes outside of HS (like, at a community college or something - in CA at some point it used to be free for HS students, I don't know if it is anymore with all of the budget cuts) also helps, especially if they are mathy or difficult. My HS was also really small and competitive.

Any summer programs, contests, public service, etc. is worth mentioning as well.

Make sure to apply to several schools as well.

[TheGhost]

Honestly, if you want to do game design, you should NOT major in game design (unless you are going to Digipen).

[mech]

Game design schools are bologna.

[kid908]

W8, so your suppose to look into college junior year? Shit... I need to start. UT here in Austin is a pretty good school for egeneering and computer tech.

[Syuusuke]

No but if you don't want to stress over what schools to go to, Then yes.

[Inferno]

Alright so I should be working my ass off on high end mod projects for the rest of my senior year for my portfolio?
Oh and learn Java.

On it.

[legionaire45]

Learn something useful like C++ or C# :3.

Don't let your schoolwork tank - colleges also sometimes look at what trend your grades are setting. If you are showing a downward trend, some colleges will assume you don't care anymore and will not accept you.

[Inferno]

My grades have sucked since HS. I stopped caring about doing redundant and pointless work a LOOOONNNGGG time ago.

Although I'm trying harder this year.

[paladin]

legionaire45 (http://www.modacity.net/forums/member.php?u=32) so are you going to DigiPen next year? or now?

[Ganon]

Hmm this thread helps... digipen seems pretty cool. Inferno I'll go with u and teach u how to get mad gamer chick pussy :S

[Inferno]

Fuck yeah that's the best kind. :iamafag:

[Syuusuke]

Even if it hasnt been washed after days of gaming.

[Masterz1337]

I don't understand how any of you can want to go into game design. I'd hate to be a game developer. Yes, even at bungie or epic.


As far as College, with this economy, most people I know are going to community colleges to get their basics out of the way for cheap, and then transfer which is so much easier) to a college of their choice where they can focus on what they really want to do.

[kid908]

I'm already taking the basics out of the way during high school, but I guess that's a bit to late for Inferno here. CC is the best way to go if you're grades are kinda flimsy or you want to save alot of bucks. Transfer over to the college you want once you're done with basic courses.

[paladin]

I don't understand how any of you can want to go into game design. I'd hate to be a game developer. Yes, even at bungie or epic.


As far as College, with this economy, most people I know are going to community colleges to get their basics out of the way for cheap, and then transfer which is so much easier) to a college of their choice where they can focus on what they really want to do.


This man speaks the truth. Unfortunately, some schools, mainly specialty schools, do not or is hard to transfer credits.

Also, fuck game design. Thats for fags. Animation ftw...

[legionaire45]

legionaire45 (http://www.modacity.net/forums/member.php?u=32) so are you going to DigiPen next year? or now?
I kind of changed my mind on where I wanted to go before I got my acceptance from them; originally they were my first choice but due to monetary factors and such I decided to go to RIT. RIT's tuition isn't that far off from Digipen's, but the on-campus housing makes it a bit more affordable and RIT offered me a lot more money in grants. I'm going to be up to my ass in debt anyway.

Right now my plan is to get my BS in Comp Sci at RIT and then I'll probably apply to Digipen for my MS (https://www.digipen.edu/prospective-students/applying-to-digipen/graduate-admissions/), assuming I get that far :P. I'm still looking around for other MS programs that look interesting but I know the most about Digipen's right now.

[Reaper Man]

Game design? Come to SCAD dude. RIT sounds good too.