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Is Devry worth the career?
tysonrss
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I found my way here because of a similar thread about Devry. So I decided to sign up and ask questions.
I signed up for Devry recently for Game and Simulation Programming. I've read(on this site) negative things about it.
Are there anyone here that graduated from Devry? Any tips or did you loathe it? What can the Bachelor's Degree in this field get me?
I signed up for Devry recently for Game and Simulation Programming. I've read(on this site) negative things about it.
Are there anyone here that graduated from Devry? Any tips or did you loathe it? What can the Bachelor's Degree in this field get me?
tysonrss on
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Your best bet would be to actually show that you can do the work. Make an indie game. Make mods. Make something. Basically the more you can do to differentiate yourself.
From what I have read from people that has taken the course, they seemed to enjoy it, and many people who has worked on something on their own time, got hired.
You are so much better off going to a state school offering a comprehensive programming major then you are going to Devry, it's not even funny. A state school will be much cheaper, give you a wider variety of skills, and you can STILL build your portfolio while you're going there.
Frankly, I consider Devry an in-person University of Phoenix.
The degree got me my job so I am not going to complain (actually last three jobs)
I'm not in the game industry either, but waaaay back I considered doing it. I was considering doing a program similar to DeVry, and from everything I read, talked about, like Sentry said, you'll be better of focusing on a state university and getting a computer degree than this.
Also, make absolutely sure that you want to do this. What do you want to do in the game industry?
Especially if you decide to go to Devry. Devry isn't cheap. As it has been said previously, you can probably get a better degree, for cheaper at a state school if you are a resident. Plus, I'd rather go to a larger state school with a better social climate and a better opportunity to network than Devry, which is usually a commuter school.
I want to design the art and program the game. Also, at times I want to direct the game as well.
Strange, from a lot of the testimonials there(not on that site partically)a lot of people said they enjoyed the courses. It seems like most of everyone here is against it.
How would getting a computer degree make things better?
I think you'd have a stronger background, and save money, if you chose a state school.
Anyway, I think your ambitions are very broad. Doing programming, art and management all at once is gonna be tough. You may want to consider learning either art or programming through school and then doing the other on the side. In a big company I'm not sure if you'll have the opportunity to utilize a broad background like that. And then in an indie dev context you will find yourself teaching yourself anyway due to a lack of resources and people.
This advice comes from a novice, not a professional, so take it with a grain of salt, but my thoughts pretty much align with everyone else's.
I thought they teach some of these thins, progamming and game design. I thought game design deals with the art side as well with other things..
The pricing structure is terrible (they're the most expensive - or were, anyway, maybe things have changed - post-secondary institute in Alberta), and their actual accreditation status is patchy at best. They also have a long history of fucking-up things like student aid, grants, direct deposit information, and the usual paperwork / bookkeeping aspects of business that you can expect a poorly run business to fuck-up.
I would recommend looking for a different place to get your education.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/148021/university_of_phoenix,_devry:_scams_that_leave_you_"dumber"_and_poorer/
the simple fact is, for-profit schools are not out to educate you. They are designed to get you as much student loan money as they can so they can take it. They have to scramble to keep their accreditation every seven years, their teaching quality sucks and their job placement rates are laughable. What makes this all the more horrifying is that you can get a better education, more applicable skills, and have a much better existence at literally ANY other state school in the country. Devry is only not a scam in that they deliver what they promise... a degree. But you'll be up to your eyeballs in debt when you graduate, to the point that an entry level position in the video game industry, which is insanely competitive and notoriously underpaid, wouldn't even begin to scratch the surface of those loans.
So I should go for what then?
well, I literally have no idea who you are or where you live... but I will give you generic advice I would give to any 18 year student just out of high school.
Go to community college to get your general education requirements out of the way and figure out exactly what it is you want to do. After you've done your gen eds transfer to the best school in your state for what it is you want to do. Since you want to do game design I would focus on majors involving programming, use your gen ed requirements to learn art as much as possible, and since you seem to want to be a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to video games (which as stated earlier screams indie developer, and even those guys tend to specialize) you probably should know how to craft a story, which would be creative writing.
but again, just my 2 cents. The best piece of advice I can give you is don't go to Devry.
CompSci is useful for much more than game programming, though, so you can just do that I guess.
First, make absolutely sure you want to go into game development.
Second, generally speaking, a "game design" degree will net you a tester job. Most actual designers get their jobs from previous works and are promoted to a position like that after being in the industry for a while.
Third, find out what you want to specialize in: Programming, art, level design, sound, etc. Find a degree path that will supply you with the necessary tools and skills to accomplish your task.
Fourth, when looking at schools, don't be put off by regional accreditation: In a lot of instances, regional accreditations are actually a more difficult degree program than the national accreditation and will net you more growth (often) for less tuition money.
Fifth, beware "specialty" schools unless you are looking at the automotive field or trade. Schools like Fullsail, UAT, DeVry, Kaplan, or anything else that have television ads during late night Adult Swim marathons should be avoided.
This.
(Now get back to the CoH shoutcasts, you.)
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
This is the only thing that needs to be said.
For-profit career oriented colleges will saddle you with massive debt and no nothing special beyond what any other college would do to actually help you be employable, and perhaps even hurt.
This is not to say that you cannot have a good career after going to one of these schools. I did, and have, but I know with certainty that I could have had basically the same career and had about half the student loans had I tried other things.
If you are still very early in the process, like, first year, I would recommend, at minimum, looking into alternatives.
Well do you have a more specific idea of what you want to do? "Game design" is not something you go to school for. If you're looking for a degree to help you enter the industry then a computer science or art degree would be the way to go. Both of these degrees are very difficult and require either talent or dedication. A computer science degree will probably be the more marketable of the two. The demand for CS graduates is pretty damn high.
I think community college is a good starting point. It's an extremely cheap way to collect credits for general education courses that are required regardless of your major. You should also find a community college that has a program that can transfer easily to the state school. Community colleges often have agreements with four-year universities that guarantee smooth credit transfers.
Most importantly, figure out exactly what you're interested in doing and try a few courses in that vein. Try some intro CS courses, see if learning a programming language is something you can do. It's not for everyone. Also try an art course and see how you like it.
If you still want to be a game designer then take whatever skills you learn in school and either build a portfolio of games you've made or design your own scripted levels in the Source or Unreal editors. You can start doing the first thing during school and the second thing right now if you have the drive. Making Source or Unreal mods is also a possibility.
I pretty much am getting the same response. I wonder if there is a way to get the $40 fee refund. I doubt it, sounds like all they care about is money.
No, but you should feel that you got off easy: see, e.g. http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/161097/cant-go-to-university-because-devry-wants-money#Item_68
You know, there's more to the games industry than just game designers/programmers/engine makers. There are accountants, personal relations guys, administration work, marketing, among other things. You don't necessarily have to try to do one thing to be in there. Have you considered those options as well?
I still enjoy doing some modeling and stuff for recreation, but to get paid to do it means you need to be great at it, and you need to be extremely focused on what you do
For what it's worth, game design is actually becoming a fairly popular "sub-genre" of the com sci degree. My (state) college started having a game theory/design track in computer science the year I was graduating (which made me sad since I would have loved to have taken it. They had a couple though "tracks" or specialties though, Like robotics, web & scripting, game design, etc.)
A training class in something like flash (or the XNA stuff if you want to get more advanced) would probably give you a good taste of programming, and you would have a rough set of tools/skills to try building something. That way you could see if programming is really your forte, and it's probably something you could pick up as an elective or relatively cheap on the side.
When you find a college, start looking into internships as soon as you are comfortable (probably sophmore or junior year). I know there were actually one or two postings for game companies in the area which shocked me. Granted, they were unpaid, but getting your foot in the door is key. Getting an internship is just good advice for anyone in college though, and the one thing I make sure to tell EVERYONE who's going into college.
Do you want to be a programmer?
My advice? Find a cheaper school.
Xbox Gamertag: GAMB1NO325Xi
If you have a Computer Science / Software Engineering degree, you can make games or make business software. And people who make business software, while it might be more boring, typically work less, get paid more, and have less stress than the game programmers.
I wanted to make games going into college, because I liked programming in high school. I spent all my time in the computer lab making things like Solitaire, small games, and even simple things like simulators (for things like Magic: The Gathering). I knew I wanted to be a programmer.
I now work making business software, and I couldn't be happier, and have no plans of ever trying to go to a game studio. Things change over the course of college. If you are not sure what path you want to take, you really should strongly consider attending a community college to get your general requirements out of the way while you figure things out.
Then you can decide if programming is for you, or if you want to be an artist / designer, or something else entirely.
Also, consider that whatever you go to school for will give you marketable skills and the ability to grow; you 100% guaranteed won't be working for one company your entire life.
Alternatively, do something you like and make games as a hobby - there's tons of tools to make whatever idea you have, and you never have to stay till 3am tightening up the graphics on level four unless you want to.