<p>Currently at work in Viterbi, today is a quiet day so ask me questions!</p>
<p>Can you tell me anything you know about the computer science / business administration program? I was considering it but I’m unsure if ill be able to handle the CS part of it. I have some programming experience but nothing substantial. Is it worth trying out? How much work is involved? Are the people in it successful in finding jobs later on? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Although I do not know much about that specific program, here is the course outline for that major, <a href=“http://viterbi.usc.edu/assets/131/77770.pdf[/url]”>http://viterbi.usc.edu/assets/131/77770.pdf</a> . As you will see, the major actually incorporates quite a bit of programming. It honestly depends on whether you are a person who easily learns how to program. I know some programmers who struggle while some kids who have never programmed excel in class. </p>
<p>If you are really passionate about CSCI, I suggest you go for it. Within the first semester you will realize whether this is the right major for you and if it isn’t, you can always switch your major. As with any engineering major, companies are constantly looking for engineers, specifically Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. Success depends a lot on how involved a student is with companies and how well the student networks. If you are student that constantly interacts with recruiters, I believe that you will be successful if you have a decent GPA.</p>
<p>I’m really interested in the computer science (games) major that Viterbi offers, but cannot find very much information from actual students that have gone through the program. Do you have any experience with it or have any friends that have had good/bad experiences?</p>
<p>I’m majoring in biomedical engineering so I really don’t have much information regarding CS games. However, I will ask some of my friends and will post their experiences here so make sure to check back :)</p>
<p>I’m majoring in CS-Games. Any idea of what type of computer (mac or pc) I should buy?</p>
<p>@hailzeon0079
This is my friends experience with CS-Games.</p>
<p>CS Games is awesome - you’ll have lots of familiar faces throughout the games classes you’ll take (that you’ll also be taking the regular CS classes with), and they’re (almost) all really passionate about game design and stuff, which gives you that in common. Then you have the Interactive Media majors - they’re under the cinema school, and focus on design, not worrying about the programming stuff; you don’t really have classes with them freshman year, but you will eventually, and even before that, they’re people you’ll see around at games events. In terms of just the general state of the games program at USC, we really earn our #1 spot: in just my first semester, Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid) and the president of EA came in and just talked about their experience in games and stuff like that. In one class I took this spring, the professor brought in people from Blizzard, a bunch of people from different mobile games companies, and Jenova Chen (Flower, Journey). Most, if not all, of our faculty either work in games now, or have extensive experience in games - one of our newest faculty additions is Richard Lemarchand: he was a lead at Naughty Dog for most of the Uncharted series. On top of the awesome faculty, we have MEGA (Makers of Entertaining Games Association) - it’s a student organization that’s really awesome - we meet up for things like having people show off games they’re working on, doing game jams where you have to make a game in a limited amount of time, having industry speakers come in to talk to you, and talking about how to get internships and scholarship opportunities (you could get industry mentors and go to events like GDC or E3 for free, if you get the scholarships).</p>
<p>ViterbiTrojan, I would also appreciate any advice you can provide with respect to a laptop purchase. I’m a freshman, major is Biomedical/Biochemistry engineering. Thanks</p>
<p>Just thought I’d jump in and help out with the questions about what type of laptop to get. I know I was worried about this before coming to SC, and I was definitely surprised by how little it mattered once I got here.</p>
<p>Honestly, computer purchase for any engineering major is a completely personal choice. I probably know just as many engineers with Macs as with PCs, and all the computer labs on campus have both Mac and PC as well. The vast majority of the software you will use will run on both platforms, and if you ever DO need software that won’t run on one or the other, you can always head to a really nice 24 hour computer lab on campus with every single program used in Viterbi classes. I have a PC and have had to go to the lab for Mac-only programs, and my friends with Macs have occasionally had to go to the lab for PC-only programs. Again, it’s rare, but neither brand really has an “advantage” in that sense. Also - I’ve personally never once had to wait for a computer at the lab - there was always at least one free computer when I needed it. You can even check out PC or Mac laptops for free!</p>
<p>In short: get whatever you’re most comfortable with, because it really doesn’t matter at all. Your computer choice will never get in the way of your success in Viterbi.</p>
<p>For the record, I am a rising senior in Biomedical Engineering, but my friends in any engineering major would definitely agree.</p>
<p>Hope this helps ease some worries! If you have any questions email me at <a href=“mailto:viterbi.student@usc.edu”>viterbi.student@usc.edu</a> </p>
<ul>
<li>Steve W</li>
</ul>
<p>I just graduated from CS (Games), am returning for my Masters via Progressive Degree, and have a sweet internship this summer. Feel free to ask me questions here! Below I’ll volunteer some info and my take.</p>
<p>For computers, w/e’s your preference. When I entered USC 4 years ago I thought Macs were noob computers, but I’m now considering getting one. It has a much higher price point, but a lot of dev I do is for iOS and they can be as useful as a PC (or more with terminal). Remember dual boot or virtualization is your friend, ex: [Good</a> to Know: Windows on a Mac - Apple Store (U.S.)](<a href=“http://store.apple.com/us/browse/guide/windows]Good”>http://store.apple.com/us/browse/guide/windows)</p>
<p>For CS Games: I have really enjoying CSGM. I enjoy programming so I find it a good fit. In the USC Cinema school there’s the Interactive Entertainment degree, which is like the ‘soft’ version of CSGM (B.S. vs B.A.) Both degrees take roughly the same required game design classes, but we have more required engineering (mostly CS) classes whereas they have some required Cinema classes that we do not. If you want a little more game design and less engineering (cuz we have a few units of tech electives and they have a few units of game design electives) consider Interactive Entertainment, but I recommend CSGM. If you think about it, with an Interactive Entertainment degree you’re trained for game design and if you don’t get a job in the games industry your skills are limited in what they apply to; however, with a CSGM degree you can go into a number of non-games fields - pretty much the same as any regular CS major.</p>
<p>The CSGM curriculum was made by taking out classes unnecessary for CS, such as foreign language and biology classes, and replaced by relevant classes, such as Video Game Programming and Introduction to 3D Animation. The required CS classes for regular vs Games are different by one class I think. It’s a legit major. And [USC</a> News](<a href=“USC News - University of Southern California News”>USC News - University of Southern California News)</p>
<p>This will show you the required courses
<a href=“http://www.cs.usc.edu/brochures/ugcsgm.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cs.usc.edu/brochures/ugcsgm.pdf</a>
The curriculum layout is here (gotta rotate it)
<a href=“http://viterbi.usc.edu/assets/131/77770.pdf[/url]”>http://viterbi.usc.edu/assets/131/77770.pdf</a>
(It’s called a Bulletin, which took me months to figure out 
so remember that haha)</p>
<p>I feel the major has prepared me for a successful career in the game industry, but a lot of it is what you choose to do. You will graduate with skills, knowledge, & experience, a portfolio of work, and connections for a life-time (sometimes it’s not what you know but who you know). You learn a lot more than programming as you can see in the 2 above documents. You learn about everything in process of making a game from start to finish, and you get to do that in your first year! Game design, programming, art, modeling, animation, sound, publishing, etc. Several students from CS Games and Interactive Entertainment have made award-winning games while in school and/or have graduated with offers from large game companies, such as Rockstar and Riot! We take some classes with Interactive Entertainment students and it’s always great to work with them (they have similar passions and skills, etc.). Being involved in MEGA (outdated website [MEGA</a> (USC)](<a href=“http://www.megausc.com/]MEGA”>http://www.megausc.com/) ) and ACM allows more experiences with Game Jams, mini-lectures about a particular language or topic, and Hackathons. I wish I would’ve done that more because it’s a great way to network and build your portfolio through hands-on doing it. Learning a language outside of class, such as Obj-c if you want to do iOS dev is also great.</p>
<p>I had basically no programming experience coming into USC. Only HTML. The first CS class, 101, goes over the basic topics slowly so you should have no worries. I was challenged in the beginning, but then if you just stick with it and do the assignments and labs correctly you’ll get the hang of it. By the end of the semester, I was coding stuff I thought I’d never understand. There’s a learning curve but it’s worth it. Asking for help from friends and older students makes it easier. I got an A so I’m sure you’ll be fine.
If you want to get a jump start, which I’d recommend so class is easier, do these tutorial lessons (idk which is better)
[Instructions</a> for use - C++ Documentation](<a href=“http://cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/introduction/]Instructions”>http://cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/introduction/)
[C++</a> Tutorial - Introduction to C++ - Cprogramming.com](<a href=“http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/lesson1.html]C++”>C++ Tutorial - Introduction to C++ - Cprogramming.com)
About half way down the page there’s a link to a free C++ development tool called Code::Blocks (I’ve never used it tho).
It goes up to lesson 20, go that far if you can, but that’s getting into second semester material. I’d say Lesson 13 is the last one covered in CS 101. Also, CS 101 is not graded on a curve and most people get A’s. A number of people in my CS classes came to USC with more programming experience then my null experience yet I’m doing just as well as them, and sometimes better (especially if they don’t apply themselves…).</p>
<p>As previously mentioned, you learn a lot more than programming. Some programs you’ll use are Eclipse, MS Visual Studio, Maya, Audacity, Game Maker, XNA (for xbox programming), and you can learn mobile programming (like the iPhone). You’ll learn C++, Java, MIPS Assembly, C#, and maybe actionscript (if not you should try to learn that on your own during breaks, you’ll be busy during the semester, but you’ll def be able to have fun too). ITP 280 is taken second semester freshman year and the final is making your very own original game, which was a very cool experience. And I had some friends playtest my game and they got really into it which was rewarding.</p>
<p>Roughly 30 people enroll in CS Games each year (that’s how many in mine), but it’s growing and could be 50 for your class (of 2016). A nice thing is that we’re familiar with each other because we take so many classes together. After all that talking of academics, I also want to say that some people worry engineers have no social life, and that is completely wrong. College is what you make of it. Some CS Games students will get together every Friday to play some fun video game, and some go out and party (whether they’re in a frat or not).</p>
<p>It really is a unique and great program. The experience of going through it is great. Of course the endgame is getting a job, and the career opportunities are there. I’ve had multiple companies contact me for interviews, ranging from recruiters to Senior Engineers of companies. If you have any more questions, please ask me.</p>
<p>Could someone do a minor in CS games?</p>
<p>I don’t know. It’s not listed anywhere, but you could ask the awesome CS Advisor Steve Schrader [Faculty</a> Detail, Computer Science Department - USC Viterbi School Of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.cs.usc.edu/faculty-staff/details.asp?lname=Schrader&fname=Steve]Faculty”>http://www.cs.usc.edu/faculty-staff/details.asp?lname=Schrader&fname=Steve)</p>