I got accepted to northeastern in the computer science and digital art major. However, I’m also looking at the computer science and game design major. Is there anyone pursuing either major that could tell me more about them (coop experience, information learned, that sort of thing)?
I personally am straight CS major but I have a good friend in the CS and interactive media degree which also works with CAMD.
Any combined CS degree is going to have the same foundational base of CS classes - the differences between the degrees are the CAMD classes as well as the other department classes across many areas. In general, you will have a few less required CS classes that are substituted for art classes or digital media electives ranging from psychology to photography to video/animation. On co-op, you would most likely be looking at CS jobs, but looking for those with UI/UX concentrations or front end development.
If you have any questions about the core CS program, I TA the introductory course that every CS freshman takes - I would be more than happy to answer them 
Yeah, I do have some questions about the core CS program:
- on average, how big are class sizes?
- how intensive would you say the workload is?
About 40-60 students for the first year sequence, though that may be growing slightly. As you get into the higher electives, it gets to the 20-40 range. All of the classes have great tutor/TA support networks, so getting help or talking with the professor is very easy.
In the classroom itself, it’s all lectures but they vary in how they’re run. For the first year classes, the professor codes / solves problems on the board and students are regularly involved and ask/answer questions - I didn’t see a powerpoint until a 3000 level theory class, which was nice.
The first year classes all have labs or recitations as well, which are 25 to 50 students.
CS classes are all project based, so the work comes in waves, which I personally like. That means that while you could be swamped for a day or two, you will also have periods where you don’t have any CS work due and you can just go to lectures and catch a bit of a break.
Overall, it’s challenging but not overwhelming - unless you fall behind and start your problem sets too late - then things can pile up quick. Quality over quantity is usually the philosophy of most teachers and most classes - except those explicitly teaching you about hoe to deal with large projects like OOD and Software Development.
In general, CS classes have more work than most other classes, so almost anyone you will ask tells you to limit yourself to two per semester - that usually goes all the way to graduation so you have a nice pacing of work.
CS classes can be a lot of work, but it’s also a different kind of work. I usually enjoyed my CS homework, and I’d way rather spend 10 hours in a week programming than 10 hours writing essays.
Can either of you give examples of some of the projects they have you do?
Well, almost every homework is essentially a project: In your first year, you’ll have about 30ish “problem sets” (3 classes that assign about 10 each). Three of those will be large, fully functional games (Tetris, Frogger, etc). The others will be a number of smaller problems / programs but often a similar amount of work, usually slightly less.
The higher level classes vary but can have you making anything from an operating system to a working algorithm to a full software suite in Software Development.
Thanks for answering my questions. Computer science at northeastern sounds like it’s going to be lots of fun.