<p>Ever since I was a kid I always thought it would be really cool to make video games. Now that I'm in high school I've been coding and I know its what I want to do with my life. I am a senior in high school and I live in North Carolina. Looking at schools, only a few stand out to me. </p>
<p>My ultimate dream school is DigiPen, but I'm just not sure if its worth it? My other options at this point are places like NC State, and Chapel Hill. </p>
<p>I like that at DigiPen I would have such a specialized degree (RTIS) and that it would put me in a great place to get a job at somewhere like Microsoft. Everything I've seen and read about the school look amazing, but is it worth it financially? I would have in state tuition at NCSU or UNC so it would be a lot cheaper I suppose... </p>
<p>For those who know a lot about DigiPen, what do they typically offer as far as financial aid, how much would I really be paying each year?</p>
<p>(Any other information you might need about me):
White Male in NC
3.7 Unweighted GPA
1980 SAT Score: 750 Math, 620 Writing, 610 Reading
Marching Band member for 4 years
Marching Band Section Leader for 2 years
Concert Band for 4 Years
Jazz Band Member
Involved with Drama/Theater Department at School</p>
<p>Any other questions, please do ask.</p>
<p>(If you skipped to here cause you didnt want to read basically my question is how much would it cost me to go to DigiPen compared to a state school and do you think its worth it since my dream job is a game programmer for a company like microsoft?)</p>
<p>Game design is a very small subset of all of the possible CS jobs.</p>
<p>If you go to a well recognized, regionally accredited university with a good CS degree program (like UNC or NCSU), you will have options in all kinds of CS jobs, including, but not limited to, game software. You can take electives in graphics, artificial intelligence, physics, and art to go along with the usual important CS courses like operating systems, networks, algorithms and complexity, software engineering, security, and databases if you want additional preparation for a game software job.</p>
<p>In contrast, a specialized game design degree from an unknown “career college” may not be given much credibility by many of those hiring CS graduates, especially outside of the game software industry.</p>
<p>Also, at a school like UNC or NCSU, you will have plenty of options if you decide to change your major or emphasis, or do a second major or minor. Actually, some of NC’s less well known schools like Appalachian or A&T are likely better choices than DigiPen. If you want to be near Microsoft for possible recruiting advantages, consider University of Washington in Seattle, which is well respected for CS. Of course, there are also schools near Silicon Valley like Berkeley, Stanford, San Jose State, and UC Santa Cruz. However, costs may be more of an issue at these schools (except Stanford, which is very generous with need-based aid for the few it admits).</p>
<p>Ditto UCB. In addition, the problem with a hyper-specialized degree in game development is that the platforms and languages for games change faster than you might realize. There are a few major engines out there where C++ will rule for a while, but by far the most development the past few years has been on iPhone/iPad/Droid. Who know what will be next. A conventional CS degree will prepare you to be adaptable by laying a theoretical foundation and teaching you how to learn practical skills like new languages. A career degree will give you some practical skills without the foundation and when the industry shifts, you could be left behind.</p>
<p>By the way, here’s an interesting link about video game development. I can’t believe it’s really as old as it is! This is the article that made me turn down an offer from EA out of college.</p>
<p>The other thing is, UNC and NCSU are in the Research Triangle, which should have good CS graduate job prospects anyway. There are even a few game companies in North Carolina.</p>
<p>And yes, a lot of the stuff about the computer game industry that the Slashdot article describes does happen. With a normal CS degree, you can certainly try for a game software job, but you will have the option of other software jobs if you do not like what you see and do there.</p>
<p>DigiPen doesn’t offer much financial aid, though the one person I know who was accepted there was from a relatively well-off family. Another college I’ve seen ranked highly in video game design is USC, which would offer financial aid. I’m not sure about admissions there, that might be a reach for you, or a high match. UW is a good suggestion but tuition is rising like crazy and OOS you wouldn’t get much aid, so if money is a concern for you then UW might not be a much better option than DigiPen.</p>
<p>Another thing about Digi: As far as I remember, they don’t have student housing. Which means you’ll be renting an apartment in Redmond, which is a relatively wealthy area and it won’t be cheap. Or you’ll have to commute from a cheaper part of the Seattle area.</p>