Fortunately, the actual school you went to probably isn''t going to matter all that much.
On the other hand, getting transferred in from one school to another is frequently a pain in the ass, so make sure you find the right place.
After moving to Arizona from Ohio, I discovered that, despite having a 32 on my ACT and a 4.0 highschool GPA, universities don''t like students who don''t go to classes, and they actually do care about your GPA at previous colleges (woops).
Thankfully, there''s always online classes.
High School Student going to University.
Take into serious consideration who you want to work for. Are you looking to specifically make games for another company? If that''s the case, any math / physics / CS degree would probably be fine, so long as you work in your spare time to build up a ''this is what I''ve done'' portfolio to go with your degree. If you plan to go to work for yourself, do whatever you want...just so long as you learn what you need to know. Hell, maybe a business degree would be better, and learn programming on your own. Maybe you want to do more general programming, or work for the government? Then most CS or math related degrees would be fine...what''s more important is what classes you take to get that degree. Choosing your major, and the classes you will take, should be heavily influenced by what you want to do with that degree.
Zipster you kidding me? I was accepted at CMU and rejected at MIT, but my major will be EE, but too bad they're both expensive as heck (CMU is over 40 grand a year all costs added) Here are my final few sentences on the subject: Undergrad CS really doesn't matter that much if you're planning on pursuing graduate degrees as long as you perform successfully in wherever you do decide to go. Unless you are exceptional at math though, REALLY don't consider going to Gatech. I was very scared when I heard my friend's brother who won all sorts of awards in math on the state/national level was getting B-C grades in his math classes required for his CS degree (I'm sure his school isn't alone in difficulty). Their grading scale is brutal and C-centered (on a bell-curve) so, choose wisely ^_^
[edited by - uber_n00b on June 3, 2004 12:39:35 PM]
[edited by - uber_n00b on June 3, 2004 12:39:35 PM]
I can't pick a college for you, but if you are willing to come up to good 'ol New Jersey, you may consider NJIT. They are accredited by ABET and CAC for BS/BA programs and if you're a good student you'll do very well all around. Tuition is about 20 grand for out of state per semester (including housing). The only drawbacks is that it's in the middle of Newark and there's no girls at all! But everyone is very serious about what they do. Definitely not a school for party types.
A good major is CS. I swear by it but other people go by IT. I despise all IT majors, personally
Do some reasearch. Look in catalogs from colleges you're looking at and get their descriptions of the majors they offer. It helps a lot.
Books - read as much as possible on how computers work internally. That includes hardware, software, everything that DOESN'T have to do with programmng. You'll have a good basis for what's coming, and programming will make more sense after you know all of that (or at least have an idea!)
Good luck in your searches. You're only young once, and it goes by fast. Enjoy it but stay on top!
_________________
:: MajorShredd ::
The glass is neither half full nor half empty;
rather, it is a combination of both, and the system is perfect.
[edited by - MajorShredd on June 3, 2004 9:25:54 PM]
A good major is CS. I swear by it but other people go by IT. I despise all IT majors, personally
Do some reasearch. Look in catalogs from colleges you're looking at and get their descriptions of the majors they offer. It helps a lot.Books - read as much as possible on how computers work internally. That includes hardware, software, everything that DOESN'T have to do with programmng. You'll have a good basis for what's coming, and programming will make more sense after you know all of that (or at least have an idea!)
Good luck in your searches. You're only young once, and it goes by fast. Enjoy it but stay on top!
_________________
:: MajorShredd ::
The glass is neither half full nor half empty;
rather, it is a combination of both, and the system is perfect.
[edited by - MajorShredd on June 3, 2004 9:25:54 PM]
This is coming from a GT guy, so its probably going to be a little biased, but I''ll give my opinion on this.
If you''re wanting to go to a "good" school and haven''t applied yet, its probably not going to happen this year. I know when I got into GT a few years back now the deadline was something like the first week of January. That said, perhaps you applied to a lot of good schools and you''re just trying to decide which on to go to, maybe I can help there. You can''t beat GT, CMU ($$$), MIT, CalTech, or Stanford, and then theres always Waterloo if you feel like going up to the great white north. Being from Fla, UF also has a perfectly respectable program.
Like others say, the degree doesn''t matter all that much as long as its something relavent, be that Physics, Math (Applied or Descete), CS, EE, CmpE. Any of those would be fine, but I would personally stay away from the IT type of things. Theres a big difference in the way those classes are taught, they generally only teach you how to use the tools, in the classes mentioned above you learn how to make the tools. This makes a big difference! Stay away from highly specialized programs like Game Design, instead major in CS but specialize in graphics and software engineering. I am going to disagree with Etnu on saying that the school does matter though, you would not believe how many doors it opened for me even getting summer jobs when I had decided to go to GT.
Now, a little about GT since the name has been thrown around a lot in this thread. There is a Video Game Design course open to undergrads as wel as digital special effects classes, lots of AI and many other options, but many of your other classes will also have you develope a game as your final project and things such as that to keep you interested.
To get ahead, learn math! I had no idea what I was getting into, it turns out that my high school didn''t really teach math all that well and I was in for a heck of a ride. Thankfully I got through all that, but the math involved with any degree mentioned above is going to be more than enough to handle, be ready for long nights.
With all that said, go somewhere that you want to go and you''ll enjoy your life a lot more. When you visit and the campus feels like home its probably a good bet that you''re in the right place. Also, I recommend going somewhere with a lot of other things besides academics, meaning sports, student center with lots of crap going on, clubs, etc.
Best of luck to you.
If you''re wanting to go to a "good" school and haven''t applied yet, its probably not going to happen this year. I know when I got into GT a few years back now the deadline was something like the first week of January. That said, perhaps you applied to a lot of good schools and you''re just trying to decide which on to go to, maybe I can help there. You can''t beat GT, CMU ($$$), MIT, CalTech, or Stanford, and then theres always Waterloo if you feel like going up to the great white north. Being from Fla, UF also has a perfectly respectable program.
Like others say, the degree doesn''t matter all that much as long as its something relavent, be that Physics, Math (Applied or Descete), CS, EE, CmpE. Any of those would be fine, but I would personally stay away from the IT type of things. Theres a big difference in the way those classes are taught, they generally only teach you how to use the tools, in the classes mentioned above you learn how to make the tools. This makes a big difference! Stay away from highly specialized programs like Game Design, instead major in CS but specialize in graphics and software engineering. I am going to disagree with Etnu on saying that the school does matter though, you would not believe how many doors it opened for me even getting summer jobs when I had decided to go to GT.
Now, a little about GT since the name has been thrown around a lot in this thread. There is a Video Game Design course open to undergrads as wel as digital special effects classes, lots of AI and many other options, but many of your other classes will also have you develope a game as your final project and things such as that to keep you interested.
To get ahead, learn math! I had no idea what I was getting into, it turns out that my high school didn''t really teach math all that well and I was in for a heck of a ride. Thankfully I got through all that, but the math involved with any degree mentioned above is going to be more than enough to handle, be ready for long nights.
With all that said, go somewhere that you want to go and you''ll enjoy your life a lot more. When you visit and the campus feels like home its probably a good bet that you''re in the right place. Also, I recommend going somewhere with a lot of other things besides academics, meaning sports, student center with lots of crap going on, clubs, etc.
Best of luck to you.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
