<p>First time posting here, but I was hoping you guys could help me out. I'm actually enrolled in CS(Games) because I am very interested in the program and working with others to make awesome projects pertaining to gaming. However, my parents and I are both extremely concerned about the gaming industry in general, and would much rather prefer myself to have non-gaming related internships and work experience.</p>
<p>My dad was looking at the 1st semester fall CS(Games) curriculum and he pointed out that CSCI 180 and CSCI 281 aren't the most useful classes. I don't know if he's right, but is there still a way to get an internship after Freshman year even thought I wont have CSCI 104 and CSCI 170 yet (These are sophomore year courses under the Games curriculum)?
Another thing my dad says is that once you go into the gaming industry, you can't get out. In otherwords, if all your internships have been at places like Zynga or EA then companies like Google wont hire you. Again, I don't know if that's true.</p>
<p>And, finally, since there are less "Technical Electives" in CS(Games), will I not have the same experience as CS majors when it comes to non-gaming jobs?</p>
<p>I'm kind of freaking out right now since I've sandwiched myself. I cannot switch back to CS since CSCI 103 is completely full. What do you guys have to say?</p>
<p>Your dad is correct. It’s possible to get an internship after freshmen year, but maybe more difficult without having done the 4 basic CS classes. If you don’t get a CS internship after freshmen year, that’s ok. After sophomore year is when opportunities really start opening up.</p>
<p>There’s some truth, but I think it has to do more on a person-by-person basis. Please excuse the simplification but some people are great computer scientists (theory), software engineers (application), and programmers (implementation). They can go wherever they like. Some people in games are just really good programmers and might not have the strong theory background Google wants. Some Googlers might excel there but might not be able to get a job at Zynga making games because they have no game programming experience. If you’re strong in all 3 facets then you’ll be fine, but that’s a few years off.</p>
<p>From my knowledge, going from games to a more vanilla CS job is easier done than going the other way. Getting into games (and being good) can require different programming knowledge, 2d & 3d math, design & playability skills, and soft skills that a good deal of regular CS people are not strong in or have had little exposure to.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think getting an internship after freshman year is a top priority for me so perhaps CS is the way to go =( Anyways, is it possible to ask my adviser if I could get into CSCI 103? It has 4 spots open for lecture, but all the labs are full at the moment. Is there anything she could do or is it something that advisers have power to do?</p>
<p>Why is getting an internship after freshmen year a top priority?</p>
<p>If there’s spots in lectures open then they might be able to make an exception to put you in a full lab section. Talk to her asap.</p>
<p>Just make sure you want to give up CS (Games) if you switch now for the possible internship opportunities after freshmen year (no way guaranteed you’ll get anything). With that said, after freshmen year you could switch back to CS (Games) or you could get involved in game projects as a CS major. Whether through MEGA ([MEGA</a> - MEGA First Meeting of the Year!](<a href=“http://megausc.com/post/58221151869/mega-first-meeting-of-the-year]MEGA”>http://megausc.com/post/58221151869/mega-first-meeting-of-the-year)), extra-curricular projects, or taking CS (Games) classes.</p>
<p>@psydent, I haven’t really had any kind of work experience in high school and I really want to try and get ahead of the pack by doing some kind of internship. Ultimately, I don’t want a job in the gaming industry and even if I did, my parents are being extremely strict about avoiding it if possible. I feel like I could take CS and utilize the free electives to take some games courses. </p>
<p>I really hope my adviser can get me into the course, but I’m not so sure. Is there a specific way I should call her? I was admitted as a CS Major, but I changed some of my classes pretty recently so I could do CS(Games).</p>
<p>@psydent, will do. I’ll call her first thing tomorrow morning. What I’m worried about though is that she will tell me to wait until next semester to take CSCI 103. I really hope that’s not the case.</p>
<p>I think the gaming track is perfectly fine, and consider it as something along the lines of “applied computer science.” What you learn will be applicable to all kinds of computing jobs, not just games.</p>
<p>The computer games industry is kind of iffy, so you can’t count on getting a job involving games. Or if you do get one, it may not pay as well as you’d hoped. I’ve worked with programmers who had CS/Games degrees on non-game web and cloud applications, and they did just fine.</p>
<p>You definitely won’t get stuck doing computer games if your first one or two jobs are games applications.</p>
<p>@bbgg, did your oldest son take Data Structures? I know they reworked all the CS programs so perhaps he took CSCI 104 before the end of freshman year?</p>
<p>CS109 has to be taken with CS103, correct? Thats’ what we were told and it is listed as corequisite. Maybe you already took 103, this is part of the restructuring this year I believe so I am not sure what it was called before this. Parent advice is good, but I do hope in the end you will be able to find what YOU really like. Maybe they won’t be as strict when you start making money.</p>
<p>@blueskies, I’m a freshman so I havent taken any courses yet, but basically CS will have completed CSCI 104 and CSCI 170 by the end of freshman year while CS(Games) will be a bit behind and will only have CSCI 103 and CSCI 109 completed.</p>
<p>Also, my parents are both software engineers, so unfortunately I can’t argue with them =(</p>
<p>My son took DATA structures in his second semester of his Freshman year. His first internship summer after freshman year was at a community college in Southern California. He emailed the head if the IT department and asked if he could do an internship with out pay. Worked out well. He returned the second summer and was paid.
By the way, he is currently employed at a Games Company in Santa Monica.</p>