Get a degree or not ?

[von*ferret]

I took out loans to go to a private college. Yeah I'm in debt now but it also secures me a higher income so I can pay it off and be better off in the long run.

[Pericolos0]

This is a very interesting thread for me because I'm currently at a point where I'm considering quitting college and giving up my master's degree. The subject matter doesn't interest me much at all anymore and I have pretty much zero motivation (I don't feel like I need the degree anymore to find work now, and in the future). If all goes right I'd still get a bachelor so I wouldn't end up without a degree at all. I'm doing communication and multimedia design btw.

I don't regret college at all, it has been a GREAT experience and I recommend it to everyone. I learned so much useful things here and met so many different people, it's an experience everyone should go through really.

You may be the most talented level designer or texture artist in the world, and have no trouble finding an industry job, but without good writing and people skills you won't get too high on the ladder, and college or university is the best environment to learn these.

I just regret not choosing a different education, something more graphical related. I might go for another bachelor in a few years, animation or something like that. It depends, right now the industry awaits .

[Alf-Life]

I tend to agree with what most people seem to have posted; Uni is not about the degree... it's about UNI

It's a great time to learn to be more independent and have a great time, but as people have said, having that piece of paper does not any longer guarantee you a job.

A good modder/mapper is still a better candidate in most cases to someone who has a degree but no maps. A graduate with a degree AND good maps, though... Well...

The only thing I'd add is, personally, after doing a "(Ba) Computer Games Design" degree is that you should try to widen your scope and do something not so blinkered and games-related.

Looking back I wish I'd done English or Architecture or something 'proper' - something that also helps you in the long if you're not sure you want to be making games all your life.

Having said that, let's be realistic, most (if not all) people here do want to be making games all their lives. And maybe it is greener grass... maybe doing 6 years in Architecture would be more frustrating if you just wanted to spend all your time learning/making/playing games.

[Bic-B@ll]

blah this thread is making me want to get into major debt and move out

[Patrick_H]

There have been times when I questioned the value of my degrees, but lately I have realized how much they have allowed me to grow as an artist. The higher education is really just a great set of tools. What you do with those tools relies on your own efforts. I agree with ferret about the financial trade-off. On a technically relevant note, I wouldn't have been able to do level design work in another country without it.

[st0lve]

Hopefully, I don't have to get a degree before "testing" the industry, to see if it's worth getting a 2-4 year education.

Right now at school, I'm in vocational school (is the the right word? ) which focuses on design, illustration and commercial (it's advanced Media and Communications, so it's mostly CG related, very little by hand). So I have atleast another option if I fail or hate the industry.

[purerage]

Another angle that I've not seen mentioned is that right now, getting a visa to work in the US is hard, and will probably continue to be so for the foreseeable future. A degree helps get you that visa.

So if anyone is living outside the US, but thinks that they may want to eventually work for a game developer here, getting that degree will help make it easier to get you into the country. I'm not 100% certain on this, but I'm pretty sure it makes a difference.

Also not mentioned: on average, college degrees equal higher pay. Obviously it's merit based in the game biz, but you're likely to start at a higher pay level with a college degree then without.

[Patrick_H]

Yeah, that's what I encountered. Without a degree, the US and Canada won't issue a work permit for video game work. So it also depends on the options you want in your future.

[ReNo]

That was one of the reasons I stuck out fourth year to get my Honours Degree rather than just the Degree - you never know what opportunities might arise in the future

[Ginger Lord]

I always thought in Scotland you never got Honours and the 4th year was just the Masters?

I know pretty much everywhere in England degree courses are 3 years and unless you are a retard you get a Hons at the end. To just get a "degree" these days I think in an Honours course you have to get between 35-40% i.e just not failing.

[Defrag]

I've no idea how it works in England, but in Scotland you do three years for your basic degree, then a fourth to obtain honours. If you leave after third year and get something like >60 or 70% I believe you can get a degree with distinction (or something along those lines) but most people stay on 'til 4th year to get an honours classification.

>70% = first class

>60% = upper second class

>50% = lower second class

>40% = third class / bare pass

I think I'd kill myself if I got anything worse than upper second class because, in all honesty, even a pleb can can get a degree so long as they stick it out and put in the work. So if your degree classification is lower second class or worse, then it doesn't really say much about you other than you managed to finish the course and achieved a basic level of proficiency

[Schmung]

I should have gotten upper second, but I turned up drunk to a number of exams and forgot to submit my bibliography with my dissertation. I was still only 3 marks off.

My uni debt makes me shudder whenever I think about it, but it was good fun, so sod it. Never again in my life am I going to get money for nothing and such copious amounts of free time to waste.

[KoKo5oVaR]

Never again in my life am I going to get money for nothing and such copious amounts of free time to waste.

Well that all depends on the kind of studies you are doing, cause in my case i'm doing scientific studies in electricity and i hate mathematics, (there's also 95% of dudes in that field. ergh), so basically i'm at a point where i think that going to work and having a job will be heaven compared to university, but yeah i could have made something like "history of art".. Screw me

[Schmung]

I did computer science, which was no picnic in places, but there was a lot of stuff I could breeze through and even with study I had loads of time to burn. The only exception to that was my dissertation, where I spent 3 weeks locked in a room with naught but caffeine and my PC. I blame the sleep deprivation for me forgetting the bibliography.

But yes, some subjects certainly give you more time to dick around than others.

[Fletch]

I guess a good way to recap some of the sentiments is: investigate it for yourself. There are good uni's out there, and some really bad ones. There are also good ones with shitty computer science departments and bad ones with excellent computer science departments. If you're event thinking of going, then do the research, request some brochures and materials, visit the campus, talk to students and faculty, and decide if its a good fit.