Well now I say it. A CS program is a good thing, that is if you wish to work with with other more academic stuff like research related contents and theories. IF you really wish to make games and only that then you will have to take a risk(living is a risky business). You will have to ignore what we people are saying and just follow your passion, which means a Game related degree or starting a team with someone who is more experience than your self.
Now why would I write this? Well for instance this website has plenty of people who took the save road(a CS degree) and they did NOT ended up doing games. In fact many of them are too tired after a 40-60 hours week to even touch game development(you guessed it they do not work in the game industry). And the little spare time they have left goes for their kids and wife / husbands.
The chance that some other industry drag you into their fold is very high and you will end up with a fine salary and perhaps even a life with quality. BUT... BUT if you only wish to develop games you might start finding that some of the stuff some CS programs offer you is rather dull or perhaps not but still a waste of time(However some classes are really useful, but I have still not used my Turing machine knowledge ). And even your life become rather borrowing after some time in this very safe job position after graduation.
Another thing to take into account is the tuition fees for college and trade schools. Are they a good investment? Well many people would show you statistics that say yes, but here is the truth about these numbers(I have taken some fine classes in this topic from a fine University), they do not tell you about all the people who did not find a good well paid job. A trade school is way too expensive as the chance is that you might end up not liking what you see after a semester or two or you might even end up unemployed for some time. This goes for a CS program too.
In the end the decision should be yours. If you choose the trade school you will not have the safe job waiting for but then again that might be the same for CS programs in these years too(remember that out sourcing is more normal now and we have a financial crises too).
You should choose the road that appeals to you the most and stop thinking about safe roads and jobs as these only comes with your ability to produce something people wish to pay for and not the paper alone. That kind of skill level will only appear after many years of constantly hard work, which means doing it and not just writing about how to do it. Making games is mostly a craft and not only a science(we use stuff that science has invented though).
Also have you read any books? Do you know how to program? Do you know how the different tasks done in a game production is split up among different majors(music, art, programming(scripting), AI programming, 3D engine development(if no pre-build engine is used)). Do you want to end up being a X within the industry? Then you should learn to master Y major...
That was my two cents about why you should listen to your self. Now do as Tom Slope would say. Sit down and make your self a decision grid where you have a Traditional CS program vs Trade School vs Something else you like and then start writing your pros and cons about them all(I my self did do this back then
).
I decided to take the CS degree(which is like reading a history class about computing... Zzzzz) and produce my own game along the process(currently doing).
Good luck and we all hope to see you around here
