Schools for game design w/finaid?

<p>This thread isn't for me, but instead for my little brother. I went through the college search process on my own because we are first gen, so I want to help him get a good head start.</p>

<p>He's going to be a junior this year, and hasn't taken the SAT yet, so unfortunately I can't offer scores. He has had straight A's all thoughout high school, but unfortunately, no extracurriculars to speak of. (He's planning on getting more involved next year, and he's working this summer and is searching for part-time employment after his summer job ends.)</p>

<p>Now, his one and only true passion is gaming. Ideally, he'd love to pursue a career in game design, or something otherwise integrally related to gaming, because it's the one thing he really does enjoy. He's an intelligent kid (though not a prodigy), but he's pretty good with math and science. My one big concern is that he doesn't really seem to express any real interest in art, and I've got no clue how important that is to that field.</p>

<p>An ideal school would be Rochester Institute of Technology because it offers his major and is in-state so he'd be able to utilize TAP grants, but unless he could manage to get the full presidential scholarship there (which probably isn't incredibly likely), it just most likely would not be financially feasible (because we have an EFC of 0). </p>

<p>I've looked into in-state publics, but from what I saw, none offered a game design major. </p>

<p>For the record, he took AP European this year (4 on the exam), and next year will be taking college-level spanish class (through the local CC), AP Chemistry and AP US History. No clue about senior year, though I would suspect he will take AP Bio, AP Gov, AP English, and maybe AP Calc or Stat if he is feeling particularly ambitious, this being the typical AP track at my school.</p>

<p>Really, at this point, I'm just looking for a little direction to help put my little brother on the right track. Any suggestions for schools or alternate majors that might fit our situation?</p>

<p>There are other majors he could look into, check out the link below.
Game</a> Design and Development</p>

<p>Also, UC Santa Cruz offers a game design major.
UCSC</a> Discover - The Computer Science: Computer Game Design Major</p>

<p>I hate this....IF you want to major in Game Design, Major in CompSci and build a portfolio of games and mods..It is a much better option. </p>

<p>As for a CompSci school Stanford, and CMU are top notch especially since he has a 4.0. Both are very generous with FA, especially Stanford.</p>

<p>That would be great if he could go to Stanford, but I don't see it as terribly likely. The odds of us being able to send him cross country aren't very likely, assuming he could get in in the first place, which is also not terribly likely. </p>

<p>For the record, we go to a medium sized, mediocre high school that has never sent a student anywhere more prestigious than Cornell. We have some really exceptional students, but even those with Ivy ambitions really never seemed to stand a chance with a guidance department not knowledgeable in sending people anywhere more prestigious than the local state school.</p>

<p>I'm really not sure where I should recommend my little brother to turn for career guidance. Our guidance counselor is an amazing person and has helped me through numerous crises, but he really doesn't have much of a clue about actual career guidance. </p>

<p>Do you know of any sorts of community resources that might be available for free to help my little brother to figure out what he wants to do? I was in the same boat at his age, with a ballpark field but no defined plans, but then I was looking at biology/health careers, something that my guidance department was actually equipped to deal with.</p>

<p>The Internet is the best resource you can get...</p>

<p>I am quite knowledgeable of compsci and game design...Ask me your questions..</p>

<p>Stanford is still one of your best shots and going cross country shouldn't be a problem if you want him to suceed.
Most game developers and publishers are located in CA or WA. so it would be best to move out there for college.</p>

<p>I also recommend UCal and UW.</p>

<p>Why don't you try an online school search site like myusearch.com, collegeboard.org or petersons.com. That might help you find a match.</p>