Full Sail doesnt teach you the latest fads. They teach you how to learn the latest fads regardless of pre or post grad. They teach you how to learn to code.
They dont teach you a narrow focus. Sure it may be narrower then other CS degrees. But we can still go out and do database programming, learn other languages, networking, whatever. I have fellow grads in the defense industry(such as myself), medical industry, designing operating systems, game company. Its not what they teach you...its what you learn. I can not stress that enough.
Sure, people screen out full sail grads. They were left with a bad taste from one or two students who escaped without learning a thing. They will screen us out. That happens with every school. You get a student from UCF who comes out with a degree but knows nothing, youre gonna look at the next guy with different eyes.
People I have spoken to who get CS degrees, the biggest complaint "Their education was so broad they didnt feel they got to involved in one thing" They feel they learned a little bit about a ton of things. I learned a ton of stuff about fewer things. Who do you want workin for you, the guy who can start up all the machines in the workshop and shut em all down. Or the guy who can work a drill press but cant tell a circular saw from a belt sander.
I was taught how to learn quickly and adapt to what I need. I learn and implement. I know how to code really well, anything I dont know is a matter of research and/or syntax.
Ive had this convo a few times. I believe in one thing. You are what you learn not what you are taught. I dont care where you went to school, trade school, community college, UCF...if you do your part, thats all that matters.
The only sad thing that you can not fully control, is who looks at your resume and why. Sure you may get tossed to the trash if your resume mentions Digipen or Full Sail. It hapened to me a few times, more than that even. I kept at it, did my part to impress people, now I make more money than I wouldve at any of those other jobs. You might get pushed aside, but not everyone feels the same way. Keep pushing and eventually one door will open.
regards
Full sail
Yeah, like Tang of the Mountain said,
as long as you can learn, you don't need Full Sail
better off going to a normal University where at least you will be taken seriously (more then Full Sail at least) on the resume screening process
besides, you'll meet more girls there
as long as you can learn, you don't need Full Sail
better off going to a normal University where at least you will be taken seriously (more then Full Sail at least) on the resume screening process
besides, you'll meet more girls there
Author
Thanks alot for all the replays,
Got something to think about.. still not sure if im gona go there.. But I guess its all about what I can do when I finnish there, if im good enough I'll get a nice job.. If im not I wont..
Keep em comming.. :)
Got something to think about.. still not sure if im gona go there.. But I guess its all about what I can do when I finnish there, if im good enough I'll get a nice job.. If im not I wont..
Keep em comming.. :)
Quote:Original post by Nanook
Thanks alot for all the replays,
...
Keep em comming.. :)
If you say so. I'm just about to graduate from Digipen. I was at Northwestern University for 2 years before coming here, and I went to Oklahoma State Univ. during high school.
Lets start with... state schools are a joke. I could have aced any of those classes blindfolded.
Northwestern, on the other hand, is an excellent school for robots. I met way too many people that aced their SAT/ACT's but were dumb as a box of rocks. The reason I left was the school did not cater to the amount of experience that is required to be reasonably good at programming. I was taking senior/grad. level classes as a sophomore and nobody had ever taught me how to do so much as create a windows application. They suggested I not take more than one computer science class per quarter because "they were so difficult." So I got to take some cognitive science, chemistry, and some other classes that I will never use in my life. Furthermore, they start you off learning scheme/lisp and other languages (none of which are used near as often as C/C++). [and there were a lot of rich kids with drug habits].
So now I'm here. Most of the people are taking 20-22+ credit hours per semester and rarely leave the school. 6-7 classes per semester is a bitch, but at least 4 of them are computer science, at least 1 math or physics, and then an art or english class to satisfy the college accreditation (yeah, its a real college).
I'm sure everything I've heard is horribly biased, but Digipen is almost definately a better school if you want to learn how to cope in the industry. It also helps to have artists from the 3d animation program give you models and other art to program with.
I'll try not to keep this too long, but I do have to give you my opinion. If you are absolutely sure you want to program games for a living, go to digipen. Once you graduate (mmmm... my class started with 200+, now its down to less than 50 and nobody has graduated yet) you will most likely be a step up on everybody getting out of college. But once you get into the industry, you will realize that you could program boring databases for 3x the pay.
If you are still deciding, I would suggest going to a state school, saving yourself the money and learning everything there is to know on your own using the internets. Good luck.
If you're in Orlando, save the money and just get a degree from UCF. They have a pretty good CS program, and EXCELLENT relations with the simulation industry here, which is HUGE. If you intern/coop in a simulation lab or something and then graduate with a 4 year degree with decent grades, you are virtually guaranteed a job as a game developer if that's what you want.
EDIT: Oops.. Norway, huh? Oh well, the advice still stands.
EDIT: Oops.. Norway, huh? Oh well, the advice still stands.
Quote:Original post by blaze02Universities start you off with a non-imperative (and typically functional) language for a reason. That's a good thing, not a bad thing.
Furthermore, they start you off learning scheme/lisp and other languages (none of which are used near as often as C/C++).
Quote:Original post by blaze02
Lets start with... big midwestern state schools are a joke.
Fixed. I don't know how many people would call a Degree from U.Va or Berkeley a joke.
I personally graduated from University (in Canada) and currently work in the game industry. The school you go to doesn't matter THAT much, but certain schools definately have much better CS, or SE programs than others. Getting a job really boils down to what you know and what you can offer the prospective company...once you get an interview that is.
Interviews are usually decided by company recruiters (unless it's a small company), and these people know what to look for in resumes and when pre-screening candidates. They look for the right attitude and at least some competencies and are usually able to find a few "red flags" in order to select a few good candidates for tech/manager interviews.
In other words, in many cases your knowledge AND your background are equally important, however, you'll have a VERY HARD time finding a job without actually having a solid programming knowledge base. If you simply have a..."non-conventional" background but a good knowledge base you may not have an easy time getting an interview, but at least you'll have the knowledge to get a job, you might just have to work a little harder to get an interview.
And for anyone that is yet to begin post-secondary education. You are definately going to want to pay attention in math class. It's just as important as being able to program.
Interviews are usually decided by company recruiters (unless it's a small company), and these people know what to look for in resumes and when pre-screening candidates. They look for the right attitude and at least some competencies and are usually able to find a few "red flags" in order to select a few good candidates for tech/manager interviews.
In other words, in many cases your knowledge AND your background are equally important, however, you'll have a VERY HARD time finding a job without actually having a solid programming knowledge base. If you simply have a..."non-conventional" background but a good knowledge base you may not have an easy time getting an interview, but at least you'll have the knowledge to get a job, you might just have to work a little harder to get an interview.
And for anyone that is yet to begin post-secondary education. You are definately going to want to pay attention in math class. It's just as important as being able to program.
This is just a follow up to my previous post (I haven't posted in here for a while so I forget my user name and password...)
What you are going to want during your years at university and beyond is to forge relationships with other people in your program (either friends, school partners, just aquaintances who chat sometimes), and if you can, people you know in the industry.
Contacts will help you out a lot, especially if you have the knowledge base to back up any referals or recommendations. In fact, getting refered is one of the best ways to break into the industry.
What you are going to want during your years at university and beyond is to forge relationships with other people in your program (either friends, school partners, just aquaintances who chat sometimes), and if you can, people you know in the industry.
Contacts will help you out a lot, especially if you have the knowledge base to back up any referals or recommendations. In fact, getting refered is one of the best ways to break into the industry.
@blaze02 i am also going to graduate from DIT this semester, and next year i am going to continue doing Masters degree at Digipen. I think there is a confusion between Full Sail and Digipen. I checked some of full sail courses and they are mostly oriented towards game design rather than programming. Anyways what you take at Digipen resembles what you do if you graduate with a normal BS then have a 5 year experience in the game industry. I mean, I am pretty sure that no one implemented BSP/Octree .. MiniMax/Fuzzy Logic/Neural net/Genetics as normal assignments in a university and that is what you do at DIT. I got friends who are grads from other universities and who work in the game industry but it take them extra years to find what they need to learn and how to do it. I agree with the last post that you can learn anywhere if you put your mind to it, but going to some place like Digipen helps you get guided towards that specific goal.
For example, if you want to be a game programmer, you start learning asm,C,C++ some java and others. Now C/C++ is the only language used to make good engines. So if you to a university that will focus on teaching you java and nothing else, you will have to do that extra work to be good at C/C++.
For example, if you want to be a game programmer, you start learning asm,C,C++ some java and others. Now C/C++ is the only language used to make good engines. So if you to a university that will focus on teaching you java and nothing else, you will have to do that extra work to be good at C/C++.
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