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I'm clueless. I admit it. I need to apply soon :(

I want to go for computer science(so I can make the programs and the games). I wouldn't know the difference between a scam and a real college unless someone told me. Recommendations?

SAT scores: Critical Reading: 590, Math:570, Writing: 500

Colleges I'm considering:
http://wheatoncollege.edu/
http://www.asu.edu/
http://ww2.uri.edu/

I'm in Massachusetts, but going out of state shouldn't be an issue. Of course staying close is good too.

Well, I dunno if it'll help, but I can tell you my experiences thus far - I'll be attending a university in August. I've also been completely clueless about college.

About two thirds through my senior year of high school I was like "oh hey, I should probably apply to a college." I had no idea which one to go to, so I visited one as a school activity and another on my own time (both were state schools). They both seemed fine, but what eventually convinced me was that I got to spend an hour or so with a post-grad computer science guy and he told me some of the cool stuff he did throughout school (internship at IBM, some really cool classes, game-making competition).

I eventually chose that school because...why not don't say debt. It's a really big school with lots of connections from what I can tell, and something like 99% of computer science students get a job offer within 6 months of graduation if I remember right. I don't think I'm going to find "better" - and I wouldn't even be able to tell.

Since it's a state school (at least in Iowa), as long as you have decent grades/test scores, you're pretty much guaranteed to get in if you apply in time.

I've noticed that state schools tend to be quite good, at least in countries outside the US :P

They're easy to get into, they don't really care that much about profit (so fees will be reasonable), they're not scams. They've got plenty of resources, normally really good facilities as well.

Hmm, thanks for the help guys, I'll go pick out a few more :)

I finished my bachelor's in CS here in Denmark last summer and I'm about to start a new master's in Japan this summer.
Here's my advice:

Definitely do college/university if you can. It's the best thing I ever did, and I've learned lots. I could write a book about all the good things about it :)

Of course I can't tell you much about American schools, but there are a few things I usually look at when choosing a school.

The best metric is probably peer reviews. Talk to students or former students and hear what they think of it there.
Second to that might be reputation of the school. But don't put too much weight on this. If the school has a good reputation, but the teaching there is crap, then it's as good as useless.

The second big point is what they teach. All schools should cover all the basics, so what you want look at is what extra and master courses they offer. Are they relevant and interesting to you? Do they have enough for you to choose from?
A good indicator is also what research they are doing there. If they have people working on the area, then you're almost guaranteed professors who know and care deeply about the material. This is a huge plus.
A big part of why I'm now moving all the way to Japan for a master's is because of this.
I've taken all the courses I care about at my home university (including master's), and I now have to go there to find courses in the field I want to continue in.
Courses that interest you and passionate professors are all the motivation you could ever wish for when you're struggling with those super difficult courses.

Hmm.. I think those are the main points I can think of off the top of my head..

Good luck choosing a school, and even better luck with your future studies. :)

One thing I'd suggest is, if you don't have loads of money, to take your standard classes (math, science, etc.) at a state or community college, then go to a university where your credits will transfer and take comp sci.  It will be significantly cheaper and you'll still get a diploma from wherever you take comp sci.

Thanks for all the info Cskau.

Ev149 that seems really smart :D I'll bring it up with my parents.

Community colleges can sometimes also offer a better education in those standard classes than a university. Since the teachers there are interested, in, well, teaching, instead of research, they can often times be better at a community college. There are also smaller class sizes, which has its benefits as well. Basically, listen to ev149. Just be very careful to make certain that your credits can transfer.

I'm in the exact same boat as you JMStark poe, and not to hijack your thread or anything but I have a question. What are the differences between Computer Science and Computer Engineering? Should I favor one or the other?

I'm having a hard time deciding. From my research it seems that Engineering is more rooted in the math, whereas Science is critical thinking. I'd love if somebody with some experience could chime in.

I don't know about the Computer Science, but I can show you the general class schedule of my Computer Engineering Course:

Semester: Course
---
1: Object-Oriented Java
2: C++ and O.O.D.
3: Circuit Analysis, Digital Systems
4: Discrete Electronics, Microcontrollers
5: Embedded Systems
6: Computer Design
7: CONCENTRATION ELECTIVE
8: Random Processes, Design Project

That is what my University has me setup for. I start there this coming fall.

If someone posts a Computer Science itinerary, you should be able to see a generic difference.

Thanks,
EBrown

Computer Engineering is Computer Science plus Electrical Engineering, so there are electronics courses with the programming and algorithms courses.

Thanks EBrown, that's very informative. It seems that Computer Engineering is a mix of science and actual engineering.

Yep, seems like this confirms my thoughts.

In that case I may go for Engineering since it seems to be the more well-rounded route, however I'm worried it might be a bit over my head. I will probably consult a counselor soon.

You aren't hijacking at all and now I'm not sure which of the two I want to do...

Ever thought of UIC(I go there...)

You'll hang around for nerd poontang for a few months, realize that what they are teaching you is bullshit, and then drop out with an outstanding student loan.

I'm in computer engineering, but I'm basically self taught as far as programming goes. The problem (at least, at the school I'm at) is that... none of my peers learn shit from the programming courses here. Almost everyone has a lot of difficulty wrapping their heads around core concepts, and the professors have trouble explaining them. I don't know who's at fault here, but there seems to be some fundamental issue with how programming is taught. Maybe it's different at other schools? I doubt it, though. I'm guessing success rates are more tied to the school acceptance policies than different teaching methods.
    
I have trouble recommending CS majors for people, because of this, but a degree is a basic requirement for quite a few CS jobs. This is more true for engineering jobs. I think for most of your college choices, though, you'll have to teach yourself if you want to actually learn anything. And I'm at a school with small class sizes; if you're in some lecture hall type setting, good luck learning shit from that. Might as well not show up to class for those, imo. You cannot expect to actually learn things from lectures and class assignments alone.

If you want a college that's not a complete scam, maybe look at public unis? I don't mean for this to sound insulting, but those SAT scores are going to hurt you as far as the major private schools go, unless you've done a lot of extracurricular stuff or you can write an amazing application essay or something. (Probably still worth applying, if you want to, because who knows?) Plus, private schools are fucking expensive, and they simply do not care about undergrads for the most part. Undergrad at most private schools is basically a fucking joke, and it seems like they only bother with it because they have to. (They make their income from research / postgrad stuff and alumni donations, etc.)

Finally, the difference between computer engineering and electrical engineering is that computer engineering tends to focus more on computer architecture type stuff, integrated circuits, micro controllers, and so on, while electrical engineering has a variety of things you can choose to focus on. (Most of the EE majors here focus on power, probably just because the jobs pay well.)

Not offended, I understand my scores are nothing special :). Hate to sound like a broken record but thanks for the info this is all helping a lot.

I think a lot of schools don't teach programming all that well. Well, languages and compilers and thing might get covered, but I've always been more or less confused by software architecture design. I don't know how many colleges actually have you complete full real-world  projects that have you tie everything together instead of just doing piecemeal learning of programming languages and data structures and things.

The university I go to has a sort of wall that people hit a lot in the Computer Science department as well.  It's mostly two - CS236 and CS250 - One is "Intro to Computational Theory" and the other involves computational language and grammar structure and building a "Datalog" data-basing engine.

There's also a third issue that is affecting a lot of people - the CS department decided that instead of starting out teaching Java and switching to teaching C++ after the two hard classes, they should instead do the complete opposite and screw over anyone caught in the middle of this.  Taking the class involving programming a data-basing engine that merged and split unrelated tables and evaluated search results that assumed you took all previous classes with C++ when you've only learned Java did not go too well.

It's great that you're going for a real CS degree.
I understand why many people might thought college was useless, but in the long run, it will help you.
Completing college with good grades shows a certain quality about yourself, which will help landing your first job. But most importantly, your friends in college will most likely be the ones that can help you the most, both professionally and socially, for the next 70 years of your life.

And man, all the girls... If I didn't have to work I'd definitely go back to college for a couple more years...

Things to note:
Computer Science != Programming
Programming is a component of computer science, but there is just as much, if not more, of an emphasis on hardcore logic and math (varies by school). 

As for real vs scam.  Avoid for profit schools, those are scams (there are exceptions to the rule, but it's a pretty good rule).  Look up potential schools at Princeton review (http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings.aspx) or U.S. news and world report (http://www.usnews.com/rankings). See what fits your lifestyle/workstyle.

Visit schools.  You are going to be spending a lot of money and a lot of time, you want the decision to be a good one.

Blademasterbobo makes a great point about the public universities.  You are in Massachusetts, so you have a good school in UMass right there (well, a lot of places since there are like a thousand different branches).  School is what you make of it.  You can spend 40,000+ a year, waste your time, and come out no better.  Or you can go to a less expensive public school, take every opportunity that presents itself, and learn a lot.  Or anywhere in between the two. 

The thing that an expensive school buys you is the name on a resume.  It's stupid, but it's a real thing.  But good internships and possibly a publication will do just as much, and probably more, in helping you out.

I second Fallsburg's advice, you need to review what the top schools are in your area using reports such as those linked above. Personally, I majored with degrees in computer science and philosophy and can say with certainty that getting the compsci degree has opened up opportunities. However I think it's important to approach school with reasonable expectations. Don't simply sit through your classes for four years. As a student you will have tons of free time. Use that time to make games, learn new technologies, and generally better yourself. Second, try to use the opportunity to meet people and establish lifelong connections. If you're fortunate you'll graduate with strong practical skills, a solid theoretically base, and partners interested in working with you.

This is true to some extend, especially if you do Computer Science.
I think a lot of places emphasize the Science part, which is why for a lot people actual coding seems to be under represented.
Any good CS program will include, as mentioned, purely theoretical courses like Computational Theory and advanced maths.
It has often been discussed in tech crowds like Hacker News (http://news.ycombinator.com) whether it's even CS's job to teach you basic skills like coding and project management. Some would in fact say that that has more to do with Computer Engineering or the likes.

But that whole discussion aside, simply be aware of this trend and plan accordingly.
If you're already a decent coder then I bet you won't have much trouble picking up the rest as you go along with your CS degree.
If you aren't then you should either prepare for a lot of catching up in the first year or so, or probably even start getting in to coding now. The sooner the better.

Don't expect to learn to code in college. You might, but don't hinge you academic success on it.

Now again with the anecdotes..
When I started my Bach in CS I knew how to code to some degree. I'd started out in Visual Basic ages ago, slowly gotten started with C++ later on and finally fallen in love with Python.
I briefly worked with Java in high school but always hated the thing.
I think the most important thing I learned from working with these things beforehand was not getting too tied down to a single language/environment. This is a skill you'll absolutely need later on.

During your studies you will invariantly have to work with different things you've never worked with before, so having the skill to transfer things you've learned in other languages is absolutely invaluable.
One day you'll be writing a calculator in Java, the next you'll be modifying the scheduler in the Linux kernel using low-level C, then the day after that you'll be writing an interpreter in Scheme's functional programming style.

Once you've got a bit of experience if different languages, syntaxes, environments and paradigms, you'll slowly get a more high-level, abstract understanding of the mechanisms at work.
And the more programming becomes simply a tool, the more you'll be able to focus on what you're using it for. You should be learning how to build awesome calculators not learning Java. You should be learning how schedulers work not learning C. You get the picture..

I know this might sound intimidating, but all I wan't to say is really just that I've always felt incredibly lucky that I knew at least a little programming before starting my Bach.
It meant I could focus on solving the task at hand, while my classmates were struggling with Java.


Now enough of those ramblings..

The last point I'd like to get through is how this again highlights the importance of knowing the schools focus and course catalogue.
I've been incredibly lucky to go to a school that had both the theoretical as well as the more practical courses. I'm really not a very theoretical guy.
The theory is important, but despite knowing programming well enough I enjoyed the Software Architecture course immensely for being a course that included managing a big project. (We did a Civilization clone from scratch)
Before taking it I had no idea how to structure and manage a big project so I learned lots. I even ended up TA'ing the class later on just to be able to "take" it again.


I hear it's slightly different in the states but at least for me grades haven't played that much of a role. And any reasonable intelligent employer will look more at your skills than your grades.
What good are skills in ace'ing exams when there are no exams out there in the real life, only the job at hand? :)

For measure my "career" so far has been:
- Doing open source in my spare time.
- Part time job as a Web Developer (PHP) the first year and a half on my Bach.
Utilizing my network (fancy wording for asking my friend) I then moved on to:
- Part time Backend Developer (.NET) for a startup which was more up my alley.
Then using the skills and credit I'd built over the years I applied for and got:
- Internship in Japan at that big search company .. you know which one.
Finally utilizing all of the above I managed to get myself accepted into:
- Master's at a top university plus a government scholarship.

Now bear in mind that my grades really aren't that great. They're rather mediocre if I should say so myself.
Skills on the other hand mean everything when you're doing technical interviews.
Pay attention in the theory courses, hone your practical skills and get your hands dirty with some real world projects be they open source or at a company. And don't mind too much if your grades aren't straight As.


Anyways, if you've got more questions don't hesitate to ask and feel free to PM me if you'd like more anecdotes ;)

Well, all I know is that my company won't even consider someone unless they have a 3.5/4 or higher.  Obviously, that's not enough to get you a job, but it is necessary to open the door.

I personally don't find skills to be THAT important.  What I do find to be important is the ability to learn.  Skills fade, become outdated, etc.  The ability to learn means that you will always have the skills necessary to do the job.  And that is actually what I think college is best at, teaching people how to learn (or at least, that's what a good college does).

As for majors, the actual major doesn't matter too much for a lot of careers.  If you are looking to go into a technical field, you are going to need to learn 3 things:
1) Math -- I heartily recommend a decent level of calculus (up through Diff Eq is good), linear algebra, and probability/statistics (at a level that incorporates calculus).  Those 3 will cover your ass for 99% of the math done in the real world.
2) Programming -- As I said earlier, Computer Science != Programming.  And the converse is true, Programming != Computer Science.  You will program in just about any technical field.  It might be in SAS or Matlab or whatever, but most technical fields use programming these days.  So don't worry too much about what major you take, because you will probably learn programming.  That isn't to say that CS isn't valuable.  I was a CS/Math double major, and CS was great for learning how to approach problems systematically and logically.
3) Research -- Learning how to research is important.  Reading papers critically will help you a ton.  There are a lot of smart people out there, doing amazing things.  Learning how to leverage that will make you all the better.

Wow I'm always amazed when I hear this sort of thing. Grades seem to me like such a bad metric for actual skills.
Around here most exams are oral with ~15-20 min presentation of a randomly drawn topic in the course. The outcome I always feel are normal distributed around your actual skills in the course. Sometimes you're lucky, get a good topic and win. Other times you're unlucky, get a bad topic and lose.
And unless you completely fail the exam you can't redo it for a better grade later on.

I managed to dig out an old estimate of my GPA which is about 3.0. (though we don't have GPA around here)
So to think that my application would be binned right away makes me think about what other stupid hiring decisions they make at a place like that. Why would I want to work at a place like that?
(I'm just being extremely opinionated of course, so take no offence. I'm sure you're a great hire with both grades and skills, Fallsburg :))

I hope this is what I was also getting at.
And by skills I don't mean being able to operate Microsoft Word or even being able to write a programs in Visual Basic.
I mean the kind of skills that don't go out of fashion next year like having a feel for complexity theory, understanding that there are more than one paradigm in programming and being able to manage a project, to name a few. :)

Well, my stance is that good grades aren't a good indicator for future success, but bad grades are a pretty decent indicator for future success. 
In my opinion, it's pretty easy to get good grades (at least in the U.S.), but you have to fuck up pretty hard to get bad grades.  And if you are fucking up that hard, then we probably aren't going to consider you.  Most schools want you to succeed.  It doesn't look good for their statistics if students are failing. They will do everything in their power to help you not fail.
Most schools have TA's, office hours, and even one on one tutoring.  That's in addition to study groups, the library, the internet, and just good old fashioned hard work.  So if you aren't able to get above a B with all of these things available to you, then my belief is that you are either out of your depth or you just aren't trying hard enough.  Either way, we probably don't want you working for us. 

Ah there we have it then - I don't think grade inflation is as bad around here as it is in the states. An A is an exceptional grade, not something everyone is expected to get here.

For the interested I'll leave you this little chart of grades from the past 5 years of compiler course:
Grades 2007 - 2011 (https://services.brics.dk/java/courseadmin/dOvs/pages/dOvs#TABLE_110)

Note how the grades seem to be something like normal distributed around C or B, which is considered "good" and "remarkable" respectively.
I guess that only goes to show the uselessness of comparing across different scales.

I apologies if we're slowly getting off topic Poe, but I hope you at least enjoy the different perspectives. :)

No problem at all.

This. Most colleges are a massive scam. Make sure you get educated before attempting to get educated:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A75KERKwEQM

PROTIP: Portfolio is far more relevant than a degree in the game industry.

Game company: Tell me why we should I hire you.
You: Well, I made a game.
Game company: You're hired.

OR

Game company: Tell me why we should I hire you.
You: Here's my expensive degree.
Game company: K, I'll put it in the pile.

The reason most people go to college/university is because it will make their parents proud or they feel like they are expected to.

@sigvatr/phubans
That's true.  Except, the sad fact is that outside of a few isolated industries, the name of your school and what degree you get are by far the most important aspects (assuming you get decent grades as I mentioned before) for most employers.  Now, as I said earlier, good references/publications/portfolio can make up for a lot (or all), but those take a lot more work, so if you are willing to trade money for time, it can be worth it.

Well, college also takes time, so it's debatable whether you're really making a tradeoff between money and time.

Choosing not to go to college involves constantly being asked "why?" by people who are brainwashed into thinking college is the only path to success.

On grades, well, a "distinction" (75%) is about as rare as an A in America, with very few reaching a "high distinction" (85%). Where I graduated, you'd be considered doing well just to get 70+, and 75% average is first class.



Lol, my experience with getting a job. Had a very good degree too, top 3 within the region. But in electrical engineering, with lots of programming electives.


Though the good degrees actually help a lot, go for the kind where you're forced to program virtual memory for an O/S within 2 weeks, parallel to 3 other similar assignments :P

And the big benefit with degrees is that they teach you to program properly. Self-taught, you can do things, but you don't have any metric to compare yourself against other programmers. You won't know if you've been doing things wrong. I did C programming for 4 years without knowing about memory management, and C++ programming without knowing anything about how OOP works (aside from classes). Took a proper education to actually know what I was doing wrong.


One generation ago, the only way to really learn something was through college. No internet resources. University gave you lectures, not teaching you things. The lecturer was similar to a youtube video, no real student-lecturer communication. Things have really changed in 20 years; these days you can learn a hell lot just by idly reading Stack Overflow or Wikipedia (or TV Tropes if you're into the creative arts).

Plus the true purpose of a degree is to 'certify' that you've got basic knowledge in the field.

Not going to college is unamerican.

(http://raisinghomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/american-flag-1.jpg)

If you want to teach or do something like that, a degree is essential because employers have decided that a degree is essential, even though idiots shirk their way through college all the time without learning jack-shit to the point that a degree is more or less just a mark of having been able to go to college rather than anything else. It's a tool of privilege, allowing the upper and middle class to easily separate themselves from the lower class without having to feel bad about themselves. This is good, because class divisions are an American tradition, and thinking otherwise is class warfare which must be shunned at all times.

(http://o.onionstatic.com/images/17/17143/original/630.jpg)

you linked a political cartoon, your points are invalid

He linked a political cartoon from the Onion.  Point still stands.

I only drink coffee from independently owned coffee shops.

I would recommend taking a year break before going to college to teach yourself how to program and think about what you really want to accomplish in college. Stanford has programming courses and lecture videos you can download for free, and you don't have to be a student of theirs.

Pretty much every university (in the US at least) will let you change majors. Many don't even require you to choose a major until a few years in. So if you want to take a year off to soul-search, fine, but there's no real reason to take a year off to decide what you're interested in because you can do that while in school with a few more resources available (like professors) to help you decide.

As far as Private Colleges go, I took the ACT earlier this year, and the result pretty much set me up with a very good scholarship, as well as some other special funding, and then the FASFA did me some more good. Grades can definitely help you get some aid, and often they can help you get in, but they can't do it alone. It takes some other things to go along with it.

Nix is probably right about Majors. I know I can change mine any point during my Freshman, Sophomore or Junior years. I think a lot of colleges here follow the same idea.

As far as what Cyman said, it's difficult to take a year break after high school, and then try to go to college. A lot of people don't make it back into the mode of going to college. Many of them get a job, not necessarily a good one, but a job none-the-less, and just don't make it to college. Also, you lose a lot of what you learned in High School, and then when you have to take your general education classes, it causes you to fall behind.

I don't quite know about getting a job in the Game Development Industry though, as I have never really gotten one, but I am sure that having a Portfolio, and Mixing College Experience, will do you quite well.

Thanks,
EBrown

I can understand falling out of school-mode, but it may be good for some people:

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2010/07/20/8-things-to-know-about-a-gap-year (http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2010/07/20/8-things-to-know-about-a-gap-year)

I changed majors 4 times throughout college, and graduated on time with a double major.  That's not to say that it didn't result in taking more classes, but shit that's what you're there for. 
Actually, that goes back to my earlier point, if you go to college, take advantage of it.  The people that go and take 12 course hours a semester (4 classes) are inherently getting less out of college than the people who take more classes.  I wouldn't recommend doing more than 7, and 7 can be extremely shitty depending on the work load of those classes.

What did ya double-major as?