<p>I am on the verge of committing my life, and pockets for the next 3 years to this college.
I am scheduled to begin class July 8th,but before I sign the final dotted line I would like to know if I am making the most informed choice. I am wanting to major in the Visual and Game Programming Program. I have a love for creating code in C++ and also for Video games. More so I would like to create not only games but software in general,which is how I found The Arts Institute of Phoenix. I feel that a bachelors in this program can be utilized in many areas not directly tied to games. My concern is I have not been able to find any current reviews or comments from anyone who is actually pursuing this major. I want to know if the instructors and classes are interactive and informative, if they teach you C++, and Java, or do they just teach scripting and not in depth programming? What jobs do people majoring in this area get? So on and so forth. Can anyone one here help. I even tried talking to the program director for this major but he seemed to be lacking in any detail about this major as I couldnt get any straight answers from him.</p>
<p>In my opinion, going to one of the Art Institutes would be a very bad idea (They are degree mills like University of Phoenix and DeVry) If you still can, you should drop them and go to a real college. You will have a much better chance of your degree being taken seriously by potential employers. </p>
<p>I don’t know how much the Art Institutes cost, but I would be willing to bet that they cost WAY more than a state college.</p>
<p>Get out of there quickly, you would be much better off going to a community college and then transferring to Arizona or Arizona State. (Not to mention all the money you will save).</p>
<p>These schools are companies. Their primary goal is NOT to provide you with a quality education, it is to extract as much money from the student and the government (student loans) as possible, unlike every public and non profit school in the country which are first and foremost designed to educate students. DO NOT GO TO THESE SCHOOLS. If you are doing this because you want to do an online degree for the scheduling flexibility your local state university will likely have these at a fraction of the cost.</p>
<p>This seems to be the majority consensus. My opportunity is not going anywhere ,and though I am anxious to start I may very well cancel and hold off until I make further investigation into community college.</p>
<p>Community college is probably better because you can often transfer your credits to university later. Most state and non profit universities however will not accept transfer credits from for profits schools. This gives you an indication on how the reputation of for profit schools are viewed.</p>
<p>
That should have told you all you needed to know–add in the fact that you don’t even know what’s taught in the classes…what in heavens name were you thinking?</p>
<p>Well I talked to the director of admissions today and she tells me that "yes the school is not cheap and community college is not as expensive, however the quality of the education is better and more precise to the field I want to be in. " Their program is not cluttered with so many general education classes. That in order to stay open that their school is required to meet certain standards and that they cant just make up the numbers and statistics about their school…They are willing to review my current financial plan and make some adjustments to ease the financial burden. My personal opinion is that thus far they have been really helpful. I stated that my biggest fear is investing all this time and money just to end up with a piece of paper that corporate america does not respect, and a degree that holds no weight. I was told that they have been around for decades, and a school dont stay around that long without carrying any weight…</p>
<p>I was also told that they are not perfect, but what school is…? I have another meeting on tuesday to discuss matters of concern …In the end I must make my own decision by drawing my own conclusions obviously, I just hope that I make the most informed and wisest decision for me. You all have been helpful as part of this and I am thankful…</p>
<p>Just remember…at AI, 60% of your tuition dollar goes RIGHT BACK into marketing. “Admissions counselors” or “director of admissions” are just their fancy names for marketing personnel. They are not there to help you make an informed decision. They are there to sell you a bill of goods.</p>
<p>Please watch this documentary, I believe it can help you make an informed decision. The video is embedded in the article, which is also worth reading. </p>
<p>[I</a>, Lamont: For-profit schools take a hit from Frontline](<a href=“http://www.ilamont.com/2010/05/for-profit-schools-take-hit-from.html]I”>I, Lamont: For-profit schools take a hit from Frontline)</p>
<p>Its seems like you really wanna go there.</p>
<p>All I have to say is: Please do not ruin you life.</p>
<p>Career-wise, you’d be much better off going to a real university that has a CS degree with an emphasis in games. Sacramento State has that, and I also see Arizona State has lots of game classes. USC has the best program in the country, though it’s expensive and hard to get into. Please look around some more. Putting up with a few general ed classes is a small price to pay for getting a legitimate degree.</p>
<p>I’m looking at the Art Institute of Phoenix catalog, and the program you’re interested in is very specialized. If you can’t find a job in video games, I don’t think you’ll be well-trained enough to get a fallback job in other kinds of programming. There seems to be only a minimal amount of programming with real languages like C++ or Java.</p>
<p>I’ve been working as a programmer for 30 years now, and at one time was very involved with computer graphics. I can’t remember ever working with someone who’s main degree was from a for-profit school like DeVry, U. of Phoenix, or an Art Institute of Wherever.</p>
<p>I watched that video in the posting and I must say , what an eye opener. So much information and I cant believe how ignorant to these for - profit schools I am. Its hard to decide because there is so much information out there. Both positive and negative, but I am glad I have a deeper perspective and not just walking in financial aid and signing whatever papers they put in front of me. I got an appointment with Mesa Community College tomorrow to begin the process of planning out my future. I also found an 11 billion dollar suit against EDMC for fraud for taking advantage of lower income students for the purpose of collecting student aid. In the spirit of keeping an open mind, they couldve changed their policies and in fact do provide quality education. For now I am going to this appointment… It’s times like these when I am thankful for the internet for its vast source of information and its network. Thanks alot for all your feedback , in which you people may not realize it, but your feedback does have power.</p>
<p>I am glad the video helped you.</p>
<p>I’m glad you took the concerns voiced here seriously. It can be exciting to just think that you can jump into the coursework and of course they make it very easy and convenient and tempting for you. They prey on hopes and dreams and fear. But you are wasting time and money that can be spent on more respected schooling. Those sales people/admissions are often paid by the head for recruiting you. Even if not, their jobs depend on it. So don’t waste your financial aid on them.</p>
<p>If you can enroll in the CC and transfer into AZ State for CS you will be set. CS is paying really well right now. If you get into game development, great, but if not, you will have solid marketable skills to work many places. This is a little longer road and requires some focus from you and some math skills, but is solid.</p>
<p>Another thing to ponder when you mention wanting to be a video game developer is the fact that the video game industry is /very/ abusive to its employees. Long hours with little benefits and lower pay than you would get coding anywhere else. They can get away with it because they get to sell the “you can work on video games!” aspect to people fresh out of school, but the truth is that coding games isnt much different than coding other types of software, and many other companies have much better working environments. A general CS degree will prepare you quite well, should you decide despite this that you wish to work in that industry, however. Certainly much better than a targeted “video game design” degree would.</p>
<p>There is a great thread on video gaming majors in the parents forum, read up and listen. Also someone posted this really interesting and insightful blog post from an insider
[John</a> Ratcliff’s Code Suppository: So your teenager tells you they want to ‘make video games’ for a living…](<a href=“http://codesuppository.blogspot.com/2013/04/so-your-teenager-tells-you-they-want-to.html]John”>John Ratcliff's Code Suppository: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living...)</p>
<p>I’m attending The Art Institute of Colorado currently and have found that yes it carries a steep cost but they are also 80% program specific. If you go to a standard college you’ll find yourself taking classes you could care less about and your second option class is even worse. That’s what played the most into my decision, I wanted to go to college for what I wanted to do, not take 20 classes ill never use. I think about it like this, doctors go to med school, mechanics go to technical colleges, and art related professions go to art school. If you doubt the credibility of the Art Institutes as a whole research people that have attended them, Chip Foose went to The Art Institute of California I believe and look where he is today. And also IT’S NOT WHERE YOU GET YOUR DEGREE IT’S HOW YOU ARE ABLE TO USE IT!!!</p>
<p>Chip Foose went to the highly respected nonprofit Art Center College of Design. The Art Institutes cannot compare in reputation, please don’t be a shill for these for-profits. Also Chip doesn’t do video gaming, so that’s a bit off the mark for this thread.</p>