<p>Preferably one that has a game design/programming course.</p>
<p>Northeastern University</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon comes to mind first to me. I believe it’s ranked third for computer science. Also, I know it’s a good school as my friend’s older brother goes there (extremely intelligent guy) and says that the program is incredible, though I think there are more liberal arts requirements.</p>
<p>Also I think it’s either Cornell or Princeton that have a really good CS program, though I can’t remember which. And MIT, obviously.</p>
<p>Rochester Institute of Technology has a good computer science program and the option to minor in game design/development.</p>
<p>you might want to check out RPI’s game design offerings</p>
<p>Cornell is ranked pretty high and has a game design minor.</p>
<p>i agree with the suggestion of carnegie mellon. its comp science programs are amazing.</p>
<p>While CMU, Cornell, and Princeton CS are excellent in CS, I don’t think Princeton is the best choice for someone interested in game design. Princeton’s major focus in CS is on theory and distributed systems and they don’t have much if any research or courses related to game design. CMU CS and Princeton are especially difficult to get into and Cornell is difficult if you don’t have steller stats (and may be difficult even if you do).</p>
<p>In addition, I would add Worcester Polytechnic Institute (which has a well respected interactive media and game design program and a lot of research in HCI and graphics), UMass-Amherst (excellent value if in state and very well known in cs and graphics), URI (again good if in state and good in graphics, not as well known in CS as UMass or WPI), RIT (good CS ug program and quite selective game design program), and RPI (good game design and cs program), and Northeastern (solid CS program with co-op).</p>
<p>Tech schools like Northeastern, RPI, RIT, and WPI have high sticker prices but if you get a merit scholarship they can be more affordable.</p>
<p>Totally agree with IndainPwnerDude’s recommendations. Might throw Drexel into the mix to be considered.</p>
<p>University of Maryland</p>
<p>For schools with programs in Game Design that complement Computer Science:
RPI, WPI, and RIT</p>
<p>CMU has one as a Master’s program as well. </p>
<p>For undergrad, CMU and MIT are the best for computer science.</p>
<p>How is the career outlook for Game Design and Development?</p>
<p>You know, I’d be cautious in saying that you want to be a game designer. The demand for game programmers and such isn’t very high; a lot of people want to work on games but it isn’t too practical. It’s somewhat like trying to be a writer… maybe less risk but the same idea-ish. It would be better if you got a solid computer science degree, that way you’re a lot more flexible and if you decide one day that gaming is for losers then you can go ahead and work on some real good stuff (though I’ll admit to many hours for Halo 3…).</p>