<p>Regarding other schools:
Similar to Utah’s past CG glory, the rapid rise to #1 in Games for undergrads is connected to the presence of some highly regarded game studios in Salt Lake City, notably EA and Avalanche (Disney). These studios like to hire Utah grads, which also gives a high employment rate that is considered in rankings. One guy I worked with started working at Avalanche 2 years ago so he give me the scoop. He says the grads from Utah and USC are really good. However it explains why Utah “isn’t top of mind” to devs as there’s a geographical connection. Talk to devs in Salt Lake City and it’ll be more more probable they’ll regard Utah highly.</p>
<p>The last time I looked into UCSC was years ago, but back then their approach to games was more artsy and research-y. I don’t know how it has changed. I preferred USC’s approach. Also the schools are quite different so I’m glad I went to USC for a multitude of reasons.
Also, before picking a school due to duel interest, such as Marin Biology, make sure both can be pursued, i.e. a major and a minor may take 5 years.</p>
<p>This is False: “does not set up graduates well for anything but a job as a gaming coder. They cannot step into another CS fields easily”. I’ve talked about this in other threads, but good CS Games grads are good CS grads and can get non-game jobs. Experience (languages, frameworks, platforms, tools) becomes a noticeable differentiator, but I have a CS Games friend that went into enterprise software (Java) simply by reading a book (might have been <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Database-Driven-Application-Development-Java/dp/B008SLEQ2G”>http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Database-Driven-Application-Development-Java/dp/B008SLEQ2G</a>) before applying to some hollywood companies. His fundamentals were solid and he had beginner knowledge so he got an offer. Basically it should be easy to go non-games, but it might be difficult - everyone’s different.</p>
<p>This is True: “I don’t think many IMG kids would be hired as pure coders unless they had taught themselves.” It is highly unlikely IMGD students would even apply for programming jobs unless they took more programming classes (<a href=“http://itp.usc.edu/minors/Video-Game-Programming/”>http://itp.usc.edu/minors/Video-Game-Programming/</a>) or taught themselves. IMGD students should apply for non-coding positions, such as design. If they wanted coding positions they should’ve gone CS Games, which is probably easier to get into.</p>
<p>Note one can also switch from IMGD to CS Games, but may have to take an extra semester or two to fulfill CS/Viterbi requirements.
Switching from CS Games to IMGD is more common largely because 1. students enjoy the design side more & 2. students realize they can still make games without the harder** classes. However, they have a lower chance of getting a job offer in games right out of school, and if they do then the pay is usually 10% - 30% lower (short-term vs long-term trade offs).
**harder meaning both as an engineering/science discipline and more difficult classes, which is generally accepted. The debate about which major, CS Games or IMGD, is more challenging and time consuming would belong in its own thread.</p>
<p>Going indie right after graduation is more common now, but is a huge risk without a publishing deal a la Jenova Chen. I’ll break it down further if anyone requests. I just realized I may be going too far off topic.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If I were choosing between University of Utah and USC, I would choose USC. While I’m certain Utah has a great program, I think USC’s location is a huge benefit. Being in the mecca of game development means there are many guest speakers from the industry, many opportunities to network with major companies, etc. On the other hand, Salt Lake City does not have as many developers (though there are Disney/Avalanche, EA mobile, and a couple of other companies).</p></li>
<li><p>As psydent noted above, CS Games students can have, generally, little issue getting a general programming job. The core CS classes are the same whether you’re a games student or not. The difference is, essentially, that general CS students have to take more EE classes, and general CS students have more options when it comes to upper-division electives. In CS Games, all of your upper-division electives are essentially chosen for you. However, all CS Games students have to take the theory-focused CS classes like Discrete Mathematics and Algorithms. So they are taking the core CS curriculum.</p></li>
<li><p>I do strongly recommend students in IMD consider taking the minor in video game programming, because many entry-level design positions are scripting-focused, so having exposure to programming concepts is very helpful.</p></li>
<li><p>Students switching from CS Games to IMD is a lot more common than the other way around, for the reasons psydent posted. But either switch is possible.</p></li>
<li><p>For the questions regarding the Summer@USC course, the way the class was last year (and it will likely be very similar this year) is as follows:
Week 1 is focused on production and prototyping in GameMaker
Week 2 is focused on design (both paper prototyping board games, as well as design documentation)
Week 3 is focused on programming simple games using C# (and this year a bit of Unity)
Week 4 the students more or less work on their final game projects</p></li>
</ol>
<p>FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a faculty at USC, but all of these opinions are my own and not the University’s.</p>
<p>A little off-topic, but how about USC vs. University of Denver (for CS/Games). Denver was on the Princeton Review list a few years ago, 2010 I think, but then dropped off. We visited there and met with one of the professors, and it seems like a decent program. Anyone know anything about it? (Of course I’ve asked over on the UDenver forum but its not very active; this is the best CS/Games thread I’ve found anywhere.)</p>
<p>Basically S’s decision, if he doesn’t get into USC (his first choice, Viterbi CS/Games), will be between Digipen and Denver. I just found out that Denver, while not a “100% need met” school overall, says they are “committed to meeting 100% of need” for engineering and C/S students (not sure what that means, whether it includes Plus loans, which really don’t count IMHO, but we’ll see). Digipen, of course, does not meet all need, but its $20,000 or so cheaper. We’re still waiting for an admission/FA decision from Denver, and FA award from Digipen. S feels that Digipen is his 2d choice but mom, of course, has doubts about foregoing the “real university” experience, the lack of transferability of credits if he changes his mind about games, etc.</p>
<p>@Sweetbeet Denver has never been a school I have heard associated with either CS (Games) or Game Design and I have talked to both industry developers and game design faculty about it. And it’s location is definitely not ideal for internships.</p>
<p>Looks like both of our sons are interested in Viterbi CS (Games). IMGD is his first choice, Viterbi is #2 and then he won’t talk to me about how he ranks the othe colleges. This morning he announced “I am not going to even look at the details for the other colleges until all the decisions are in.”</p>
<p>What he really means is that USC is his top choice and it is a moot point to get excited about anywhere else until he hears back from them. (He has already been accepted at RIT, WPI, DePaul and Drexel.He hears from RPI in 10 days.)</p>
<p>@chalonverse Thank you so much for your awesome post!</p>
<p>Looking forward to a month of acceptances, rejections, varied financial aid packages, and the multidimensional optimization of deciding what is the best place to go overall! Good luck to all.</p>
<p>For both my twins: Son and Daughter!</p>
<p>ps. → If you don’t have rejections, youv’e played it too safe…</p>
<p>My son is looking at almost the same choices, rgosula.</p>
<p>Utah(w/full tuition) vs USC(1/2 Tuition, since NMF, if accepted)</p>
<p>The Turing Scholars (CS honors program) at UT Austin is now in the running, too. Yay!
DS can get in-state tuition after a year (or sooner if he wants to work 20 hours/week). </p>
<p>Waiting for MIT and CMU, although those places are both cold and expensive. :(</p>
<p>@geomom, I remembered someone else was in a similar situation. I have a maybe unfounded notion that Utah might not be challenging enough. If both our kids went there, we would both save money, and we would know they would have competition. and would together add to the critical mass to make the program itself stronger…</p>
<p>ps - your son did not get housing also at Utah?</p>
<p>Hmm - housing at Utah - not paid for by the U that I can see. I just reread the letters they’ve sent to DS, and saw that he missed the deadline for applying for honors housing. Oops!</p>
<p>The rigor of the University is of course a concern. I hear amazing things about the math department at U of Utah from my friends in academia, but I don’t have an outside gauge on the computer science department, and I don’t know enough myself to judge.</p>
<p>I think my son is not looking for competition so much as smart collaborators, and I’m sure he would enjoy working with someone with your son’s talents!</p>
<p>Son applied to further engineering merit scholarships at Utah, and secured honors housing as that was one of conditions of getting the housing stipend.</p>
<p>Yes collaboration and competition, both are driving forces.</p>
<p>Utah’s CS Graduate dept comes in at #39 US news ranking.</p>
<p>Question what does DS stand for, I know it will be obvious when you say it. </p>
<p>I certainly wouldn’t make a decision based on these rankings and which programs flipped places this year, because it’s likely to change all around next year. At least, that has been the pattern. Think about it, would you really encourage your child go to Becker College (??) over an unranked Hampshire? I would not.</p>
<p>I totally agree that the rankings should be considered cautiously. Like most other rankings or simple metrics, they obscure complex differences that might impact a good fit between program and student. But being on the list at all means that there’s enough investment in a program to say they have one :-). </p>
<p>Must confess I’m an interloper on this thread anyway because my S didn’t apply to either U of U or to USC. I met @GamerGal27 on another thread and through her discovered this one, which looks like a good place to talk about games-related programs in general. He didn’t apply to schools out west but applied to several in the east.</p>
<p>Speaking of Becker… we visited it last year. Sorry to be blunt but it’s the dumpiest school I’ve ever seen. If anyone you know is even thinking about it strongly encourage them to visit. If they are like us they will run away screaming like little girls. Lol</p>
<p>^ Yes, I had already decided to give Becker a wide berth. The academics look like a joke. @crowlady, I doubt my son will apply to USC either, despite the fact his sister attends and the campus is truly stunning. It’s 3300 miles from home and that isn’t going to work for him. Utah is not on the radar at all. </p>
and would together add to the critical mass to make the program itself stronger…</p>