<p>I have a friend coming in as a freshman this year, and would like to know if computer science game design is one of the most chosen degrees, if not impacted. Thanks.</p>
<p>It’s minorly impacted, only in the very first few lower division courses. This is because the intro to programming classes are the same across the engineering disciplines that require them. So you might be pushing back that first programming course by a quarter or two, but it does not carry a big risk of someone falling behind in the major. I know people who did not start programming courses until sophomore year, but are still on track to graduate in 4 years with some careful planning. </p>
<p>It is a very popular major though. 
We probably outnumber the regular CS students 2:1. There are over 100 students admitted into the program each year, though more people exit the major than enter it.</p>
<p>liesel xD does that mean you have more people graduating, or more people changing majors xD</p>
<p>Oh, sorry! It means there are more people changing to another major from game design, than there are people switching into the game design major.</p>
<p>=P i think ill have fun with this major as i like to program and i took 4 year of digital art in high school</p>
<p>Why are more people exiting CS:GD major than there are entering it?</p>
<p>It’s a trend for all engineering majors simply due to the difficulty. But I can touch on a few for game design specifically.</p>
<p>It’s advertised that the major is programming focused, not design focused, but a lot of people end up in the major even if they don’t want to do programming. This inevitably causes trouble, especially because a lot of people enter the major with no programming experience. Before you get into most of the design-oriented courses, you have to take programming classes. These people try programming, don’t like it or don’t do well in it, but keep pushing because they really want that end goal of “game designer”. Most of these people drop the major due to failing too many courses, or just get tired of struggling with something they don’t enjoy.</p>
<p>liesel, if you’re a transfer student majoring in CS, but want to program computer game and etc. Will game design offer you that plus extra that you don’t normally get in CS</p>
<p>Almost. The game design degree isn’t “CS+extra”. They do have to cut some requirements to make room for the design classes. For instance, you won’t get as much experience with algorithms, or computer architecture. There is also no multivariable calculus. </p>
<p>They say that the game design degree also prepares you for any regular software programming job, and I mostly believe it. Unless you want to do theoretical CS the loss of those classes is not a big deal. The main bonus of the game design degree is that the senior sequence has you produce, in teams, a game of such quality that it could be put on the market. It’s a very good thing to have to show off when you graduate, plus a hell of a lot of experience working on big projects.</p>