thanks. i'm graduating in 2 months. i was thinking about going to an art institute/college rather than a university and learning there. i was thinking about either getting a Visual & Game Programming Fine Arts Degree or a Game Art & Design Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. Rather than just Computer Science in a university. basically, I would be going into the school with them teaching me everything. they teach all of the languages, and I'm sure the people there aren't wizzes. i just want to be able to hold my own as a newb. i've gotten up to precalc in high school, 3.5gpa, good at computers, love gaming, photography, graphic design. i'm still not that good at much.

I guess my machine hiccuped. Sorry about the double post. Just read what I wrote below as Anonymous Poster

I am in the middle of my first sem of college. Honesty my C programming course is pretty easy. Then again I took CS I and II in high school. My c prog class is an easy A. I go 80% of the time we have class and sleep 50% of the 80% I got. Its pretty easy we finally got to using pointers and structs (stuff I actually did not know) and I did not find it to hard. The advantage of college is that you can get help easily. I help two of my friends in CS I all the time.

Math wise this sem im in Calc I, I have to take up to Calc III and then some other stuff.

http://cs.okstate.edu/csprograms/bs/Flowchart.2005-2006_frame.htm

That is the flow of some stuff I will be taking class wise. There are also more classes that are not listed, but wouldnt really fit into that flow chart (such as ADA programming).

-TS

is it smarter to go to a normal college and get into computer science? or to go to an art college and actually work for game design or programming and get a degree?

Quote:Original post by blut3ng3l
is it smarter to go to a normal college and get into computer science? or to go to an art college and actually work for game design or programming and get a degree?

I have always heard a full degree, then if gaming doesnt work out for you your not hosed.

Quote:Original post by SKATIN_HARD
I say go with computer science in college. Then if you want you can take a game design program at a later time. Since you don't really know any programming yet that would probably be the best choice since you start at beginner level stuff and work your way up.

yea, it makes sense that way in my mind too. what are typical careers a person gets after graduating in computer science? and like TriSwords said, I'd be stuck not being able to change majors like you can in college.

Quote:Original post by blut3ng3l
is it smarter to go to a normal college and get into computer science? or to go to an art college and actually work for game design or programming and get a degree?

Er, depends on what you want. Is it smarter to become a carpenter or dentist? [wink]
If you want to be a programmer, computer science is your best bet.
If you want to be an artist, an art college sounds like a good idea.

Quote:
I am in the middle of my first sem of college. Honesty my C programming course is pretty easy. Then again I took CS I and II in high school. My c prog class is an easy A. I go 80% of the time we have class and sleep 50% of the 80% I got. Its pretty easy we finally got to using pointers and structs (stuff I actually did not know) and I did not find it to hard. The advantage of college is that you can get help easily. I help two of my friends in CS I all the time.

Yeah, the actual programming classes in CS are usually not too difficult. Then again, they're only a fraction of what CS is about. You're in for a few surprises if you think your programming classes are representative of CS. [wink]

And that also means that CS really doesn't requireany prior skill or knowledge. Almost everything you learn are new stuff that "newbies" don't even know are relevant. The only thing *some* (far from all) students know before they start is usually a bit of programming. And that's not always an advantage, even.

Quote:
yea, it makes sense that way in my mind too. what are typical careers a person gets after graduating in computer science? and like TriSwords said, I'd be stuck not being able to change majors like you can in college.

Heh, virtually anything even slightly related to software development. [wink]
I wouldn't worry about that.

Quote:
Yeah, the actual programming classes in CS are usually not too difficult. Then again, they're only a fraction of what CS is about. You're in for a few surprises if you think your programming classes are representative of CS.

Right now its easy just because it is only learning the langauge too. Plus I can do all I've done because I have looked at C a bit before and already have a few years of java backing. A 3 day lecture over primatives just isnt going to hold my interest.

I was looking at a past FullSail thread. Personally, when I think about majoring in Computer Science, COmputer Programming, or Computer Engineering, it seems intimidating. Like that you need to be real good at math, and have a background. I only took precalc, and made a C. Which I never studied. I'm a 3.5GPA student, good with computers, with no programming experience. I've taken a VisualBasics.NET class, and didn't do too hot, mainly because I didn't study. Well, I mean, I made a 98, higher than the kid who actually did all the programming for everyone when we cheated. I'm not good with PHP, basically cause I never sit down to do it, and would love for books/some one to teach me the coding.

Regarding me, and Full Sail/A game college. It seems like knowledge can help, but they can also teach you a lot, and if you stay dedicated... you can learn a lot and become good.

I need to decide if I want to risk paying a large loan, to do gaming, of which I have no experience. Or go to a normal college and do smething in computers, where I feel I need to be a lot smarter than I am.