Digipen Vs. Reg. 4 year CS Degree

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi, I'm a junior in high school right now and i've started to look at colleges and i REALLY REALLY want to get into the gaming industry as a programmer(i havent chosen what area yet) and i know it wont be easy but i'm willing to work hard for it. I was looking at colleges and i happen to scroll over this college named digipen and i noticed it was a game development specific university and so i was instantly hooked and i started to research more on it. I was wondering if i should(if i get accepted) go to digipen for a BA in computer science there or if i should just go to regular UC declared as a CS major and just get a regular 4 year degree there. I know that people are going to say that i should just stick with a regular CS major because if you want to change majors then its a possibility if im in a regular UC but if i went to digipen i couldnt. I'm learning C++ right now and im on overloading operators.</p>

<p>I'm enrolled in a online C++ game programming module and i'm almost done with module I(fundamentals in c++) and then once im done with that i'm going to do module II(Win32 API)</p>

<p>Next semester I'm going to take a CC course on Intro to Computer Science. After finishing that i'm probably going to take another more advanced course on Computer Science.</p>

<p>My SAT scores arent that great though, Math: 650, CR: 470, W: 490
As you can see I excel in math, not so much in critical reading or writing but, i'm going to retake it again and hopefully get a better score.</p>

<p>I'm currently off season for Dragon Boat(in the US its a club but i like to think of it as a sport because UCB and Stanford have Dragon Boat clubs as well) Next season is starting in February.</p>

<p>As you can see I'm VERY serious that i know i want to get into the gaming industry.</p>

<p>What are your thoughts on this?</p>

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<p>helllooooooo??</p>

3

<p>Hi cuo741, I saw your post by coincidence during a search. I have a friend whose S will graduate this Spring from USC-Viterbi in their Gamepipe program. The S was already VERY advanced in programing and game design before college (the dad had been a game designer but the money wasn’t great in the 80s/90s so he got into conventional compsci and software engineering work, but he taught his S a lot). They found that although USC-Viterbi Gamepipe grads are extremely popular with high-end game development companies, the college itself doesn’t have a very robust program, and they haven’t been impressed. However, the S will undoubtedly get a great job in gaming after graduation. They think that DigiPen has the best program, but because it’s not accredited, and its focus is so narrow, it’s risky to go there. Good luck with your decision.</p>