Quote: Original post by PsychoPumpkin
My son wants to get into the game industry as a software engineer. He plans on getting his BS in Computer Science at UCF and then perhaps go to one of the specialty game schools. Smart move.

UCF is a great place to do that, because it has so many ties to the simulation industry. If he takes advantage of their "Internship/Coop" programs and does some simulation work during his studies, he'll have no problem at all getting into the game industry (assuming he builds a portfolio or something as well).

Also, UCF offers an M.S. in Interactive Entertainment through FIEA, for what its worth. It's actually an accredited master's of science, so that's a leg up on a lot of things I guess.

(FEIA link fixed.)

Quote: Original post by Palidine

Quote: Original post by OrangyTang
I'm confused - you're attending a design school, which implies you want to be a game designer. But you also mention you'll be programming some stuff for a portfolio, which implies you're after a programming position. Which is it?

The "game design schools" use the term game design to mean "work in the games industry". But they offer courses that are specific to what we call: design, engineering, etc.

-me

True, but the OP mentions his degree title is "Bachelor of Arts in Game Design", which doesn't sound very programming-orientated to me. Maybe it's just an oddly named course.

Quote: Original post by smitty1276
UCF is a great place to do that, because it has so many ties to the simulation industry. If he takes advantage of their "Internship/Coop" programs and does some simulation work during his studies, he'll have no problem at all getting into the game industry (assuming he builds a portfolio or something as well).

Also, UCF offers an M.S. in Interactive Entertainment through FIEA, for what its worth. It's actually an accredited master's of science, so that's a leg up on a lot of things I guess.

(FEIA link fixed.)

Thanks for the info on that. My son is in 9th grade now but is starting college classes this summer (Florida has a great state funded dual-enrollment program). We'll have to start looking into it so he'll be ready to go when he graduates high school.

Anyway, my cousin's son was going to FullSail in Orlando and he was liking it last time I talked to him. I was hoping to get some more true info on it from him but for some reason he quit and picked up going to college in AZ. I'll have to see if it was because something with the school.

Has anyone on the board gone to one of these "game" schools? I'd love to hear some first hand opinions.

Quote: Original post by PsychoPumpkin
Has anyone on the board gone to one of these "game" schools? I'd love to hear some first hand opinions.

I didn't go to any, but I work with some people who did. Generally speaking, it is much more preferable to get a BS in Computer Science. The smart people will make out okay in either case, but you get a better education doing the BS and you have more options.

That's not to knock the schools, but, to be honest, I don't see the point. The only thing that seemed appealing to me back when I looked around at them was--at least in Full Sail's case--the unorthodox curriculum which is tailored toward people who are turned off by "regular school".

Part of what makes "regular school" important, though, is that it forces you to embrace it and excel in an environment which might initially turn you off.

Quote: Original post by PsychoPumpkin
Has anyone on the board gone to one of these "game" schools? I'd love to hear some first hand opinions.

There's a lot of controversy (and forum threads) over the "game school" debate.
Basically, everyone agrees that places like ITT, Devry and similar schools are worthless. Most everyone agrees that a solid CS degree alone is worth as much (and some say more) than a degree from one of the better game schools, such as Digipen or (to a greater extent) Fullsail. Most everyone agrees that University CS degree with a portfolio of game-related samples is the best route. I'll dig up a particularly good thread and post it in a minute.

I do not personally consider FullSail to be a good education, because the course is a 3-year accelerated program, and they've obviously made several concessions in the curriculum to meet that time frame. They don't cover enough math, and don't seem to cover much core fundamental material. A good example of this is that their computer graphics class teaches APIs (OpenGL, Direct3D) rather than having students write the "behind the scenes" code like Digipen does. Its worth noting that many Universities teach OpenGL as well, but that its typically backed up with the core theory as well. In general, Fullsail focuses on timely results, while Digipen has a greater focus on learning fundamentals and preparing a student to learn on their own. Some would argue that the Fullsail approach is the practical one, and that may be true, but I do not believe that the average fullsail grad (there are always stand-outs of course) is as prepared as a Digipen or University CS grad.

A good analogy is that Fullsail is like boot-camp, where Digipen is like a military academy. One produces soldiers, the other produces soldiers who are given the additional skills necessary to become leaders. Universities slot in at or above (Westpoint, perhaps?) the 'military academy' level depending on the quality and focus of the curriculum.

Its also entirely possible these days to go to a traditional university that has a games or simulation track available.

One of the mods, Jpetire I believe, did. He talks about it over on scientificninja.com

Quote: Original post by Sneftel
You've limited yourself to two options: Continuing a monumentally expensive and questionably useful degree program, or dropping out of school altogether. Unlimit yourself.

Also, you may as well mention the particular college. Others among us may have had experience either going there or evaluating applicants who have.

The name of the school is Collins College. And yes, as Ravy said, they do indeed have a T.V. commercial; And I assure you, had I seen it earlier than I had in the admission process, I would have stopped then and there.

You're correct though in how there's other choices besides either wasting money on a potentially useless degree or no college at all, such as the Computer Science degree that a lot of other folks mentioned. That, and I would definitely prefer a traditional college atmosphere to the whole 'training' thing most of the schools dealing in this area (including this one) fall under.

Quote: Original post by OrangyTang
I'm confused - you're attending a design school, which implies you want to be a game designer. But you also mention you'll be programming some stuff for a portfolio, which implies you're after a programming position. Which is it?

Oddly, it seems to be both. There's a few courses in general art, 3D modeling, and some C++. When I say both though, I mean the watered down basics of the basics. Which is another reason I'm more than wary of this school, as I already know a decent amount of programming and can draw fairly well. In my opinion, of course, haha.

The only reason why I'm here, in light of that, really does seem to get that degree. Since I do realize, as many of you have said, most companies won't make many exceptions for folks without degrees, killer portfolio or otherwise.

I have been leaning towards a CS degree though. It's certainly worth a look into now!

Anyway, thank you so very much for your input! This is a huge help for me~

I've been doing resume filtering and first round interviews for over ten years now and we've never hired graduates of full sail and their ilk for technical jobs; the candidates are not up to snuff. Sometimes we hire people into animation and modeling from these kinds of schools, but never coding. We DO hire people without degrees who have relevant experience or show promise in the areas they are applying for.

I would encourage you to get your money back now while you still can. Then I would recommend you look for a decent program where you can get a BSC or some kind of degree. You might find you want to do a masters, or you want to transfer to theater where your core courses can still be transfered for credit.

Those schools are factories for people who know how to push buttons but not why they should be pushing them. I've never seen a candidate from one of those schools who was not doing amazing work before they even started attending.

My 2 cents.

Sphet

Without further ado: Fullsail: Is it worth it?

The entire thread is good reading, but pay particular attention to the curriculum lists and analysis on page 3. JWalsh compares his University coursework to Fullsail, and below, I post Digipen's curriculum for comparison.

Many follow-ups to Fullsail's curriculum point out the red-flags in the brevity of their math education and in the fact that they teach not just one, but two 3D APIs, despite the fact that nearly all of the difference between the two is superficial.

Post by ravyne2001:
>everyone agrees that places like ITT, Devry and similar schools are worthless.

Everyone but me, perhaps. Those schools are the only choice for some folks - due to cost or their being online, or for other genuine reasons. Those schools are better than no college at all (thus not "worthless").

I wrote about it in my September 2007 column at http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/gamesgame_archive.php