next »

[Bree]

Now I realize that most of TIGSource is probably out of college, but I figured I;d start this for those who are still there or are heading there. I myself am looking for colleges; besides the expected in-state schools, I'm looking at Savannah College of Art and Design, MCAD, Columbia College Chicago, and Kansas City Art Institute. I've actually been accepted into SCAD, with a $5,000 renewable scholarship. Unfortunately, tuition's well over $25,000, so my current hope is on earning one of their portfolio scholarships.

So, TIGers, what was your college experience like? What colleges are you looking at? What scholarships would you recommend for artists that don't have a closet full of moneyhats?

[skaldicpoet9]

I am still in college. Unfortunately I don't really know of any scholarships. I am poor enough to get enough financial aid to go to my little podunk school (East Central University located in the great city of Ada...and yes/sarcasm). The only thing that I can say is good luck! Oh, and you might be able to get financial aid even if your expected family contribution is more then zero. At the very least look into it if you haven't already. By the way, so far my college experience has been pretty good, even if I live in a town that has a college but is not a college town because of all of the old farts around here who shut down all of the bars, yes, seriously they did.

[Melly]

I go to college. And work.

The experience can be summed up into this:

[deadeye]

Most?  Dude, there's a bunch of people here that aren't even old enough for college 

Anyway, my experience goes like this:  I had been going for two years and everything was going good.  Had a 3.6 GPA, things are looking sweet.  Then one day I had a meltdown during finals week.  Total failure.  I spoke to some folks about pulling out and taking a break for a quarter or two then coming back.  My financial adviser looked over my loan situation, and said that yeah, everything's square you shouldn't have any trouble.  So I dropped out.

A month or so later I get a bill from the school for thousands of dollars.  I called them up and asked wtf.  Apparently my financial adviser's advice was a load of shit.  Sallie May decided not to cover that quarter after all, and now I have to pay out the ass just to get back into school.    With my financial situation that pretty much means I'm screwed and I can't go back.  Yipee.

This was over a year ago.  They still send me emails every quarter to remind me to register.

[Powergloved Andy]

yeah a lot of TIG are high schoolers, I wish there was a place for older people to hang out and talk about game dev.

Dude, $25,000 is not a lot for college. I'm paying $53,000 and I'm just in an electronics engineering degree. Go for financial aid and then hit a private student loan that you can pay out once you graduate. Just watch those interest figures!

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

I went to Rutgers in NJ, it was okay. I didn't hate it or anything, and certainly a lot better than high school, but I think the best teacher is self-teaching and independent research, you can't rely on school to teach you anything. Learn everything on your own, and at most rely on school to refresh your memory.

[Chris Whitman]

The University of Victoria is beautiful and there are bunny rabbits everywhere.

No joke: walk around campus on an average day and you will just see lots of clusters of rabbits hanging out.

The honours math program is a lot of work, though.

[Melly]

The University of Victoria is beautiful and there are bunny rabbits everywhere.

No joke: walk around campus on an average day and you will just see lots of clusters of rabbits hanging out.

The honours math program is a lot of work, though.

Now that's awesome.

[handCraftedRadio]

I wish there was a place for older people to hang out and talk about game dev.

I hear nursing homes have some clubs you could join.

[Cagey]

Speaking of nursing homes, the indiegamer forums have a "more mature" crowd.

@deadeye: That's gotta suck. I live in Australia so im lucky that the government pays a large portion of my University fees. Also, life-time interest free loan on the stuff I do have to pay. Not a bad deal.

[Aik]

Yeah, whenever I read topics where Americans discuss their education system, it just makes me glad I live over here. Hope you all get a little bit more of that 'socialism' stuff soon...

Hmm, I should be studying.

[team_q]

yeah, thankfully the Ontario government is loaning me some cash so that my broke ass can finish the last year of college. So far its been cool, I like that it gives me structure so that I can get shit done, otherwise I would just dick around on forums.

[Gold Cray]

At the moment I'm not terribly worried about the financial stuff because I know a secret. There's a good school at the middle of New Mexico that basically pays its students to go there (as long as they keep their grades up). The downside is that it's also in the middle of nowhere, so your only form of entertainment is homework and the internet, but that's okay because there's plenty of that (homework, not internet).
Also, they basically accept everyone who applies and let the first semester do the sorting. I've heard plenty of stories about people dropping out because it was too hard only to come back later because UNM or NMSU was too easy.

[Valter]

I'm looking into colleges right now, but I've got a lot to worry about right now. I'm really trying to get through the application process, but I've got a lot to worry about in school too.

[Xion]

I'm going to community college right now to knock out my gen ed credits and maybe get my associates in fine arts. So far I've only had to pay materials costs 'cause financial aid is pretty cool. What's not cool is that materials are overpriced. I've also got a $10k CalGrant or something, which I'm saving for when I go to a real university. I'm wanting to go to the Academy of Art University for animation afterwards, and hope I'm only in debt for half my life after that, and not my whole life. It'd be sweet to go to Gobelins or something like that, but, you know...I don't know French. I also don't know anything about it except the student work I've seen on youtube.

[GregWS]

electronics engineering degree.

So unless I'm completely mistaken, this means you could from scratch create your own computer input devices that were as crazy and cool as you wanted!   

Enjoy that incredible ability sir, as I'm only able to dream/design input devices, not actually construct them! 

[Matt Thorson]

I did two years at the community college in Grande Praire, Alberta.

Now I'm in my third year at the University of Alberta.  It's pretty cool, but GPRC was better.

[Gold Cray]

So unless I'm completely mistaken, this means you could from scratch create your own computer input devices

And our own computers too!

[Soulliard]

I'm in my first year at Rochester Institute of Technology (and in my first finals week right now). It's a good school for a nerd like me. I'm minoring in one of the best game design programs in the country, and majoring in software engineering, so I can actually make money. 

As far as financial aid goes, I recommend taking the PSAT. If you're a good test-taker, you can get a hefty National Merit Scholarship. Without that, I'd be going to a state school.

[Movius]

Speaking of nursing homes, the indiegamer forums have a "more mature" crowd.

@deadeye: That's gotta suck. I live in Australia so im lucky that the government pays a large portion of my University fees. Also, life-time interest free loan on the stuff I do have to pay. Not a bad deal.

Calling HECS (or HELP as it's now called since the marketting police got at it) an "interest-free loan" is a bit of a misnomer/out-right lie.

a) HECS/HELP is indexed to CPI, so it will increase over time. Last year I had 'indexation' of 2.8% applied to my HECS debt.

b) The Interest is built into the loan. There are massive discounts for paying the debt off early.

*edit c) Not to forget that the payments are compulsorily extracted from your salary