Hey everyone. So I narrowed my choice of majors to three areas. Which are game design/development, digital media design/graphic design field and digital computer forensics. If I go into computer forensics, what are the best colleges to go to that offer that for a bachelor’s degree?
Computer forensics sounds way too concentrated - more like a graduate degree. You’re unlikely to find too many non-profit colleges that offer that as a major. More likely, you’d have to major in computer science, and then build that specialty in a graduate program or in on-the-job training.
There are just a few four-year colleges that offer a degree in computer forensics. Some of the more reputable ones are Bay Path University (a women’s college), Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Christian Brothers University, Chestnut Hill College and Tiffin University.
If you get lucky, you could potentially go to a college that has a CS major and a forensic science major, and then double major (or major in one and minor in the other). But there aren’t that many colleges that offer a forensic science major AND most of them will probably be based mostly on biological forensics, like DNA and blood testing. Albany State University, CUNY-John Jay, Bryant University, Hofstra, IUPUI, Guilford, George Mason, Fayetteville State University, Loyola Chicago, Loyola New Orleans, Long Island University, Pace, some of the Penn State campuses, Savannah State, Seattle University, Seton Hill, SUNY-Buffalo College, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Towson, UCF, and Virginia Commonwealth are some of the colleges that offer a major in forensic science. (There are more - regional state universities seem most likely to have them, so check to see if yours does.) Another, broader major to combine it with would be criminal justice, which is more widely available at many universities.
My guess, though, is that the computer science part is the most important part. Once you have that, they can train you on the forensic and criminal justice aspects more easily, but you have to be good at the CS.
As an additional note, you should also know that game design/development is also a very specific major that you are unlikely to find at nonprofit colleges. Again, here it is the computer science/software development and programming skill that is most important, with the game design part usually given in on the job training. It might be good for you to study computer science as a major and then maybe minor or concentrate in graphic design, and do some internships at game companies during college.
The College of Saint Rose (outside Albany, NY) has an undergraduate certificate in cyber forensics and majors in computer science, criminal justice, and forensic science. They also have an undergraduate certificate in game design and a graphic design BFA. Seems like that’s one of the few places where you could go and choose between all three of your majors.
Thank you for your response. After talking to other people about the game design, graphic design, and computer forensics I heard that game design is very competitive and after hearing that I am now torn between computer forensics and graphic/digital media design. I am narrowing down my choices better but I decided to narrow down between the two fields I listed.
I will add that I can double major or do graphic design but I like your idea of interning at game company’s while getting a graphic design degree.