Hello, sorry for the kind-of-double post, but this one is a tad bit different.

Anyways, I am 16 and I plan on going to college so eventually I can work as a game programmer. I am very intelligent, 3.9 GPA with 31 on ACT, so I'm pretty sure I can get into any of these colleges (hopefully ). I am also a fluent programmer with knowledge and experience in C++, Java, PHP, etc. I am currently making a little 2d tile game, which I hope will turn out great (gameplay wise of course). I am also very conscious of programming logic and a little game theory. I am wanting to go to college in 2 years, and I was wondering which would be best out of these three: DePaul's Game Development (programming concentrate), SMU Guildhall, or DigiPen's RTIS.

Thank you

Hello, sorry for the kind-of-double post, but this one is a tad bit different.

Anyways, I am 16 and I plan on going to college so eventually I can work as a game programmer. I am very intelligent, 3.9 GPA with 31 on ACT, so I'm pretty sure I can get into any of these colleges (hopefully ). I am also a fluent programmer with knowledge and experience in C++, Java, PHP, etc. I am currently making a little 2d tile game, which I hope will turn out great (gameplay wise of course). I am also very conscious of programming logic and a little game theory. I am wanting to go to college in 2 years, and I was wondering which would be best out of these three: DePaul's Game Development (programming concentrate), SMU Guildhall, or DigiPen's RTIS.

Thank you

Personally? I would do none of the above. I would go through a computer science or engineering curriculum at a quality engineering focused school. There is little (read: nothing) that you can learn in game oriented programs that you cannot learn through electives in a quality computer science program, and you can do so without any potential stigma from employers should you decide to pursue a non-game oriented career. With that said, if you are smart, you will do fine with a certificate/degree from these programs. Just don't think that you must in order to learn game programming/be a game programmer.

Any good schools that you know of that have a nice computer science major?

Any good schools that you know of that have a nice computer science major?

I went to Georgia Tech, and I thought it was a pretty good school.

I've heard good things about MIT, Caltech, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon. Are finances going to be a limiting factor in your decision?

Well my dad is in the military and he transferred his GI Bill to me, which I don't know exactly how much that covers, but it's an added plus. My dad and mom are divorced and neither are 'rich', so maybe, but probably not. I can get loans or whatever.

Moving to Breaking In. Pan, you simply must read the Breaking In FAQs. Link above.

Wow, thanks Tom. I spent a while reading a bunch of the FAQs there. Seems like it doesn't matter that much which college I go to, per se, but as long as I graduate I should be good. At GameCareerGuide.com there is a list of top schools, and all three that I listed are on that list, SMU then DigiPen then Depaul. I'll look at past students made and where they work now (if I can find it of course).

Thanks everyone.

You're already writing games. What possible value do you expect to gain from a school designed to teach you what you're already doing?

Promit Roy: I'm not fully sure to be honest. I think all that I really need (I may be being arrogant right now) is more experience in programming games (which is what I am doing currently). I just think that programming in a company would be more challenging than in my bedroom, and college would help prepare me for that. I could be completely wrong though.

Well I'm currently facing the opposite problem as you, where I have a degree but not as much experience programming games as I'd like.

There are a lot of benefits to getting a general CS degree. You're going to learn a lot about computer science as a whole (in addition to receiving a rounded college education) beyond just making games, including valuable lessons in theory. Personally, I believe that knowledge cross-pollinates, and that you can draw lessons and inspiration from knowledge not directly related to your specialization. I've indirectly learned a lot about video game development by working as a web developer, and conversely I've improved as a web developer by working on games.

Plus, you never know what you're going to do in life, and the best laid plans are often spoiled. When I couldn't get a job in the game industry on short notice and was staring at a 3-digit checking account desperately, I was able to pick up just a plain software engineering job without much trouble. Having that flexibility it is pretty cool.