I am a senior in high school and college selection day is just over a week away. I aim to develop games for a living, and I am between two choices: Northeastern University, where I would major in Computer Science/Game Development, and University of Michigan, where I would simply major in Computer Science. Northeastern has a lot of game specific courses that would tech skills specific to games and also develop my portfolio more. I think I would enjoy this more as well. Michigan, on the other hand, has a higher ranked Comp Sci program as well as being a higher ranked school overall, and it has a huge alumni base. Which of these two choices do you think would gear me better for a future in the games industry?

I would probably favour the normal Computer Science course at a more respectable university; especially if you are able to leverage that larger alumni base to your future advantage.

Although some game specific courses can be very good, some of them are (or have been) very bad (I don't know anything about the specific one you're considering) and so they can sometimes have a poor reputation compared to more traditional degrees.

A traditional degree also puts you in better standing for getting non-games jobs if you need to do so while looking for a games job, or if you discover that professional game development isn't for you.

During your studies, you can spend some of your free time privately studying game specific topics, working on a portfolio, and networking to make contacts in the industry.  Teach yourself the basics, make some hobby games, and try participating in some game jams. If you have a local IGDA chapter, consider attending some meetups.

Hope that helps!

+1

That's sound advice right there.

The bare truth is: Names and rankings matter. If you got accepted into Michigan, go there and don't think twice about it, unless you also got into  a higher-ranked school than Michigan :-D One thing that was not mentioned was: if you should find, while you're at school, that want to change focus/major/whatever.. you'd probably rather be at Michigan, because just about anything you could want to study there is in the top-ranked programs in the country.

There are other things to think about: distance from home, your tolerance for a larger school, etc.. but Ann Arbor is a pleasant place, and UMich is a name you probably want on your transcript/resume. And it's not JUST the name - it's the network of people you'll meet, resources available at the school, quality of professors (on average... There are bad professors everywhere, but higher ranked schools tend to attract better professors, and especially better research professors who are into some really cool stuff), etc.

Thank you both very much for the advice!

I'm curious how much of a difference you think it will make to have the name of Michigan on my resume instead of Northeastern, both immediately and many years down the line. Because I really am starting to think I will enjoy Northeastern's courses a lot more, and I think I will enjoy those 4 years much more. So do you think the credibility/prestige will make a small/medium/large impact, in other words do you think its worth going somewhere I don't think I would enjoy as much? How much exactly do you think that would affect my future 15-20+ years from now? 

By the way, as far as rankings go, for overall colleges, Michigan is generally in the low 20s while Northeastern is usually in the high 40s.

As far as computer science rankings, Michigan is usually around 8-12, while Northeastern is usually in the high 20s or so.

14 hours ago, Conor Egan said:

how much of a difference you think it will make to have the name of Michigan on my resume instead of Northeastern, both immediately and many years down the line. Because I really am starting to think I will enjoy Northeastern's courses a lot more, and I think I will enjoy those 4 years much more.

I do not think the name makes that much of a difference.  If you think you will enjoy Northeastern more, then you absolutely MUST go that way. Especially if the distance, cost, and other factors in your decision grid back it up.