   Masters in Programming
  I currently attend Bloomfield College in Bloomfield New Jersey and am finishing up a BA in Game Development: Programming. I realize that although this degree has it's benefit, it does not provide a well rounded understanding in programming. As I searched the internet I found many people giving the advice of getting a BA in Computer Science then a Masters in Game Development. If I pursue a masters in Computer Science then I would be doing the opposite. I worry my foundation in programming will not be sufficient to do well in a masters program. My question is should I wait to go for a masters degree sometime in the future or jump into it immediately after finishing up my BA this year?Also, I was interested in attending Digipen for their masters program since it is more within my budget for grad school and they offer a rigorous one year course. Should I consider this option or would this be too much for the intermediate programmer?Thanks in advance,Danny   
  Do a BA in Computer Science, and get as much prior learning recognised as to tick subjects off and reduce overall course time. Then you have two degrees! Two is better than one! No seriously, go to your uni and see what they'll let you skip, having already attended a programming-based course. You'll be suprised at how lenient they can be. It's a good way of getting your basics down, which, if your Games Degree is like every other I've ever seen, you're lacking in (namely: Data Structures and algorithms, automatons, and relational databases). Those three seriously help way more than you'd think. Well, hope that helps.   ;  Relational Databases? As in Database Management? Those classes make my brain bleed but we actually do take that at my school. Thank you very much for the advice;  you have no idea how much your help is appreciated. I just spoke to a representative from Digipen over the phone and she said that as long as I met the GPA requirements and passed the "Graduate Record Examination" Math, Verbal, with a combined 1000 or higher as well as the GRE Computer Science subject test (she mentioned no score) then I'd be eligible to attend for a Masters in Computer Science.Who would go for the graduate program?Who would go for a BA in Computer Science?   ;  What parts or "programming" do you feel you need more knowledge in?   ;  In short, I'm not exactly sure.The college I attend added the programming track to their game development department two years ago and I have been programming for one year. Most classes in the department involve 2d/3d stuff as the department is traditionally revolved around graphics and animation so there isn't much being offered. I am supposed to graduate in one year and have taken most of the programming classes available (except for one which I take next semester as well as an ActionScript3 class I am taking for fun). All classes consist of Java or C++. I feel as if I have not gotten past the basics of programming or at least not very deep.The textbook used across all Java classes is: Java Programming: Comprehensive Concepts and Techniques (Third Edition)The textbook used across all C++ classes is: An Introduction to Programming With C++ (Fifth Edition)My knowledge is basically limited to what I have learned from these two texts. I don't know where to go from there and am supposed to graduate in two semesters so I am getting nervous. I want to go in depth; just don't know how. The masters degree is supposed to do that for me only I now doubt if I should jump into this given my limited knowledge base.What should I be learning on my own? What do I go into next? What moves do I make education wise?[Edited by - saaddani on September 8, 2008 4:20:56 PM];  If you've only got a year or two of programming, I'd look into trying to get a double major in CS. Normally I think dual majoring is kind of useless if you're wanting to get a job as quickly as possible, but if you want to become a game programmer you need more experience than that. I think you'd probably struggle a bit with a Master's at this point. You could always contact some of the faculty of some of the schools you're interested in for a Masters to discuss what they expect you to know before coming in.   ;  The Masters at Digipen is, IIRC, mostly a self-directed thing -- developing a thesis, research, white-papers, etc. Master's degrees are not for those seeking a better understanding of the fundamentals. If you want a better understanding of the fundamentals, you need to attend a better university course and double major, as zer0wolf suggests.That said, don't evaluate your knowledge of computer science solely by your knowledge of one or two programming languages. While an important and practical aspect of computer science, programming languages are just tools -- the famous saying goes: "Computer science is as much about programming as astrology is about telescopes."Now, having looked at the course catalog, it does seem quite underdeveloped for serious work in game development without another major in CS or a related area. I wasn't able to find any mention of what math/science credits are required for the degree, presumably (hopefully) because they are common to many tracts and listed elsewhere, but math/science is *very* important in game develpment.At a minimum, you should have a good understanding of logic, multi-variable algebra, trigonometry, calculus, geometry and physics. There is, frankly, a TON of math which applies to computer science and game development.You also need to know data structures and algorithms inside-out. You need to know how to calculate the complexity of an algorithm, you need to know which data structures have characteristics that benefit your use-case. I don't see this anywhere in your course catalog.I had been programming in various BASIC dialects and C seriously since age 14 or so, and after high school attended Digipen, which has more applied programming than most CS courses and which focuses almost exclusively on C/C++. Among the peers I graduated with, I considered myself a pretty competent programmer, certainly well above the median anyhow. Even at that, its taken another couple years of self-study, practice and reading to get me to the point I'm at today where I believe, honestly, that I'm approaching the status of being an "expert-level" programmer in C++. (keep in mind, that there's a whole other "guru-level" comprised of folks who can quote the C++ spec from memory, engineer massive programs, and debate the most-obscure details of the language intelligently and fervently.) Programming is simply not something which you can expect to fully absorb in two years. It takes many, many more than that.