   University of Washington, WSU or DigiPen?
  I'm trying to decide what college to go to, obviously. I still haven't totally "decided" what I'm doing with my life. But I'd like to be either a game programmer or designer, an engineer, a critic, of some sort or someone in marketing. Though at the moment, let's just assume I've decided on programming. Anyway, I have 3 schools to choose from. WSU is closest to me, probably cheaper and easier to get into, and does have a Computer Science program, though my programming teacher now told me that it'd be hard to get a good job with a degree from there. Seeing as I don't have any experience that proves that true or false, all it does is make me a bit uncertain. I could also go to University of Washington or DigiPen. I may not get into University of Washington, because I've got like a 3.4 GPA and I don't think I did that well on the SAT, but it's a pretty nice school that's affordable with a degree in Computer Science.  Plus I'd get to go to Seattle, which is a huge center for game development. (Maybe I could get an internship or something) And then there's DigiPen, which obviously is a game-development based school. It seems like a nice school, but I'm worried I can't do anything with a degree from there, plus I've heard it's expensive, and my parents aren't exactly very supportive of me going to "game" school. But on the other hand, it's a great opportunity to have a game dev school so close to me. I dunno what to do. I'm gonna try to apply to all three, but I don't know if I should go for a game development degree or a general computer science one. I'd learn more of what I'd use as a game programmer at DigiPen, but then again I'm probably screwed if I can't get a game job. What do you guys think? I'm sure some of you've been to DigiPen or a similar school (like FullSail, which IGN.com keeps promoting), and I'm sure some of you have Computer Science degrees. So which is beteter? I've heard some of this before...but I need some more information before I can come to a decision.   
  You might want to check out Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. It's an engineering school that has a computer science program but has just started a new Interactive Media & Game Development program as well. It is only 2 years old so I don't know much about that major but it is similar to a CS degree but with most of your electives focused on game design. Here is a link for more info: http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Majors/IMGD/   ;Quote:Original post by pizza boxYou might want to check out Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. It's an engineering school that has a computer science program but has just started a new Interactive Media & Game Development program as well. It is only 2 years old so I don't know much about that major but it is similar to a CS degree but with most of your electives focused on game design. Here is a link for more info: http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Majors/IMGD/Seeing as I don't have the cash to be living off somewhere in another state, I'm gonna need to go somewhere in either Washington or northern Oregon. So to me, University of Washington and DigiPen are my best bets.;  I'd do a full-sized computer science program, just in case you decide not to do games development. I was really gung-ho for gamedev when I entered university, but have since changed my stated concentration to operating systems development because there are more opportunities to learn new things in it at my school.People change a lot in four years, and so does the market. If you're applying to a non-games job, your game degree might not be the most relevant.A full university experience also opens you up to research possibilities; the university might pay you to research fascinating things like multi-agent AI or image analysis, and you get some great (and unique) experience out of it. And you have many interesting fields to look at other than computer science while you are there; learning from other fields of science and study can give you neat ideas or stupid little facts to tell at parties.It's all about keeping your options open. You can always get a full CS degree, and then go back and get your DigiPen games education.   ;Quote:Original post by pizza boxYou might want to check out Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. It's an engineering school that has a computer science program but has just started a new Interactive Media & Game Development program as well. It is only 2 years old so I don't know much about that major but it is similar to a CS degree but with most of your electives focused on game design. Here is a link for more info: http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Majors/IMGD/I assume he wants to stay in sate, since all those colleges are in washington. Personally I would go to either WSU or washington. In the long run, the degree will not be as important as your experience. No matter what school you choose, you will want to do projects, internships, coops, etc. to get experience to show to future employers. That will mean more than a piece of paper or even a GPA.Game development can be VERY competetive, and if it doesn't work out, you won't have a large number of options. A general CS degree will let you do a great variety of things. An engineering degree can also be quite limitless.   