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[Fallsburg]

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 or U.S. news and world report. 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.

[aschearer]

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.

[cskau]

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.

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 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.

Completing college with good grades shows a certain quality about yourself, which will help landing your first job.

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

[Fallsburg]

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.

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.

[cskau]

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.

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.

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 )

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).

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.

[Fallsburg]

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.

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. 

[cskau]

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.

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

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.

[poe]

No problem at all.

[phubans]

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.

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.

[sigfarter]

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.

[sigfarter]

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

[Fallsburg]

@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.

[iffi]

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

[cynicalsandel]

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.

[Muz]

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

[sigfarter]

Not going to college is unamerican.

[crowe]

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.

[Blademasterbobo]

you linked a political cartoon, your points are invalid

[Fallsburg]

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

[Nix]

I only drink coffee from independently owned coffee shops.