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Seeking advice: education

Started by July 18, 2009 01:46 PM
1 comment, last by nilkn 15 years, 3 months ago
Long story short, I attended a traditional college and pursued a 4-year BA in "Game Programming." I desire a BS in Computer Science but am unable to pursue one due to this BA. Already having a BA means I am not eligible for financial aid for another Bachelor's. This also narrows down the list of schools I can apply to because many schools do not accept students into their undergraduate programs if they already have a Bachelor's. A master's in CS is out of the question because I do not have the appropriate prerequisite degree for any of the programs and because my Math and Science understanding is no where near the caliber needed to be successful in one of these programs. I have been taking Math and Science courses as electives as well as working on projects outside of school. I have a enough understanding to program a simple racing game for the iPhone, which will hopefully be published in the coming months. I hope you're still with me. My question is: What can I do to get into a Computer Science program from a reputable school? I would love to go for a Master's in CS but is this even possible at this point? Thank you. -D
If you can make a game for the iPhone and you've already got a related degree in the field, I would probably work on creating a polished demo and start job hunting.

Though, if you're trying to get a job as a programmer, your weakness in mathematics will haunt you.
Classes I think are very relevant to game programming:
1) Mathematics (trigonometry, linear algebra, algebra, statistics)
2) Physics (Newtonian physics, laws of motion stuff)
3) Programming (data structures and algorithms)
4) Game programming
5) Software engineering
6) Project & people management

If you're really set on getting a CS degree, the best course of action would be to talk to admissions advisers at your college/university. They'll be much more knowledgeable and able to help you than people on an internet forum.
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Well, I'm not up-to-date on the curricula in most game programming programs, but I'm a bit surprised they didn't give you a decent amount of math and physics since, as slayemin mentioned, those are pretty critical for games.

I'm honestly not sure what to do in your situation. If I were you, my first priority would be to make sure there was no way you could go into a CS Master's program right now. If you determine you absolutely cannot, then I'd try to set up in-person meetings with the computer science faculty at any schools you want to attend and discuss your situation with them and see what advice they have and whether or not they could let you in to the undergraduate program.

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