Future Plans and Some Questions

mpittman17 · 06-15-2008, 12:47 PM

I'm a rising high school senior who plans on going to a traditional university and then getting a career in the game industry. I would like to get into programming and then maybe design later, so I plan on majoring in Computer Science.

The college I plan on attending is NC State University, to where I'll have no problem getting accepted. My main reasons for choosing this school are: it's not too far away, it has a game development concentration in computer science (see here: http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/academics/un...bs-csc-gdc.php), and it has the Digital Games Research Center (here's the "rough" website: http://dgrc.ncsu.edu/). I figure there are a lot of developers in my area, so maybe that'd make it easier to get a job in Raleigh. The IGDA site for Raleigh: http://www.igda.org/nctriangle/

My plans sound pretty good, right?

Also, I was wondering if it'd be a good idea to double major, minor, or pursue a higher degree in anything? What would help me get a job more easily?

Thanks in advance!

yaustar · 06-15-2008, 01:28 PM

Q. My plans sound pretty good, right?
A. Sounds fine.

Q. What would help me get a job more easily?
A. A solid portfolio and an internship.

Gshonk · 06-15-2008, 02:30 PM

Sounds good. Just make sure that you actually get to make games.

Adrir · 06-15-2008, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gshonk

Sounds good. Just make sure that you actually get to make games.

Could always get a group of friends together and make games in your free time too. My lecturers are, unfortunately, very stingy about coursework topics. At least I get to propose my own FYP

Gshonk · 06-16-2008, 06:43 AM

Well make sure that the Digital Games Research Center actually makes games. And if they don't start a game maker club.

mpittman17 · 06-16-2008, 07:19 AM

Yeah there are several student groups that use the DGRC to make games from what I've gathered. R. Michael Young, the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Game Development, is one of the co-directors of the facility, and he seems like he's really interested in making video games.

Gshonk · 06-16-2008, 07:10 PM

Cool, sounds good then.

mpittman17 · 06-16-2008, 08:17 PM

Alright, thanks for the advice guys.