First off, hello everyone. You can call me Jenna instead of my username.

I'm a senior in high school and got a dilemma. I'm unable to decide which Bachelor's degree to get. Game design, game programming, game development or animation. I don't want to make the wrong choice and regret it for the rest of my life.

Which one do you think I should go with?

Jenna, I would think that someone who chose to call herself “AnimeFantasyFan” would be most interested in animation and art. Your interests should help inform your first major decision in life: choosing a college/uni. I wrote some articles that might help you with this decision (and don't worry, you're not likely to make a wrong choice that you would regret forever).

Various jobs in the game biz (which are you suited for?) - https://sloperama.com/advice/lesson7.htm​

How to Choose a College/Uni - https://sloperama.com/advice/lesson25.htm​​

More about decision grids for making major life decisions: https://sloperama.com/advice/m70.htm​

Why I say your interests should help inform this decision: https://sloperama.com/advice/lesson40.htm​

The articles you posted helped me out so thank you for that.

I forgot I had Unity3D on my laptop so I could self-teach myself how to program and develop my own games. Now that I think about it, I never really thought about becoming famous in the future and this is more of a hobby.

Would a degree in digital arts and design be useful in the gaming industry? What are your thoughts on this?

My personal opinion is to get a broad degree that's affordable. Easier said than done for some disciplines. A lot of the game colleges are “for profit” and cost a ton. I got a computer science degree from a state school and now work as a programmer at a AAA game studio. A lot of people get burned out in the gaming industry due to crunch and long hours. So having a degree that can be applied to other fields is useful if you need to get out of the industry. That's just my opinion though.

Also the gaming industry isn't the best paying industry either (it isn't bad, just isn't the most $$ you can make out of college). So paying off big loans can be a challenge. For an entry level job, the same degree can be 10k less per year (at least for programmers). I know this from experience ?

That being said, a lot of people who I work with went to places like fullsail, digipen, scad, guildhall, and many other game oriented schools. Not all though, some had a similar path as me. The one thing I hear in common about those game programs is “you get what you put in”.

My company cared much more about my portfolio and the skills I had than my degree title.

Use your first year in college to explore some majors. Programming isn't for everyone. Neither is art. To really make an informed decision for your self, you should probably test the waters of programming(ue4/blender), 3D modeling(blender), etc.

AnimeFantasyFan said:
Would a degree in digital arts and design be useful in the gaming industry?

Any kind of degree is useful in the game industry. And do listen to what mattstone said. It's good advice.

To clarify: the degree gets your foot in the door. Then you discover that the real learning has only begun.

I'm more of an artistic person than I am a technical person. When it comes to math, physics, etc. I'm weak in those subjects. When it comes to drawing, painting, etc. I'm strong in those subjects.

I could try to pursue a BS degree that teaches C#, C++ and Java but I don't think I would last that long.

You can always try programming at home. FWIW not all programming is like physics and math. Most of that is provided by the engine; programming can be a very creative thing, especially scripting. But if you don't like it, you probably will have a hard time being successful majoring in CS. But knowing a little bit of programming will help you in the gaming industry (UE4 blueprints, shader-node graphs). So maybe minor in CS, or at least take the two primary computer science I and II classes? Either way, I would try a range of things before you make a decision.

To practice some art, here's the first blender tutorial I ever completed: https://www.gamefromscratch.com/page/Complete-Blender-Game-Art-Tutorial-From-zero-experience-to-2D-or-3D-game-ready-asset.aspx​ But it is a bit dated since they updated blender to 2.8 (I still think it can be followed, but the screenshots don't match 1-to-1 with the current software).

I've heard good things about this modern blender 2.8 series:

After that you can try making some RPG characters:

AnimeFantasyFan said:

I'm more of an artistic person than I am a technical person. When it comes to math, physics, etc. I'm weak in those subjects. When it comes to drawing, painting, etc. I'm strong in those subjects.

I could try to pursue a BS degree that teaches C#, C++ and Java but I don't think I would last that long.

Jenna, why are you talking about programming degrees when you are an artistic person and not a technical person? Let the technical people worry about the technical stuff. You don't have to do everything yourself.

AnimeFantasyFan said:

I'm more of an artistic person than I am a technical person. When it comes to math, physics, etc. I'm weak in those subjects. When it comes to drawing, painting, etc. I'm strong in those subjects.

I could try to pursue a BS degree that teaches C#, C++ and Java but I don't think I would last that long.

100% With what Tom wrote above. You also want to focus on your strengths. The job market is competitive so don't put yourself at a deliberate disadvantage by taking on programming if you're more artistic.

Settling for a BA degree in digital arts and design or something similar is what I should do then?

I've been told to stay away from degrees in the gaming side. There's a BA in Game Art & Development that I'm really interested in but I'm being told to steer away from it.

Should I listen to what people tell me or just go with it?