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N0pearce
Participant
November 4, 2014
Question

Some assistance in picking a college.

Hi, I'm new to the community and was hopping for some advice.

Like almost every one here the rift has left a large impression, however do to my current occupation I didn't feel as if I had the time to do anything more than wait for the consumer version of the Rift to come out. That however has changed. I am now in a position to tailor my future around what I want to do instead of what I need to do. However I'm having a hard time narrowing down the way in which to accomplish my goals.

First let me give you a very quick idea on the types of things i would like to do with VR. First, like quite a few people here, I would like to design a game from the ground up for the rift. The second thing I would like to do is work on inputs for VR, such as haptics and motion controls.

Now I have found that the road ahead of me is wide open, and has a huge about of signs all screaming " go this way!". So which on do I pick? I know that regional colleges are better than national, but besides that I'm not sure what colleges are better than other. So I'm outsourcing some of my research, please tell me what college you went to, if any, and what you thought of there program. Of course I'll be doing my own research but any help would be amazing.

I plan on going to a college in either Washington state or California. The degrees I'm looking at are either Software Design, Computer Engineering, or Electronic Engendering.

Again thank you for your assistance.

    18 replies

    zork2001
    Inspiring
    November 4, 2014
    Ya well collage is good but my advice would be take a path that puts you as little in collage debt as you can get. Weather that means going to you community collage for the first couple years to knock off all your intro courses and then transferring credits. Look in to in state, online courses for the things you have not much interest in. Problem is with these degrees you cannot be assured a high paying job at the end or any job for that matter, it all comes down to you and what you have to show for your work a lot more than just the piece of paper.

    I went to the Colorado Institute of Art back in 2000. They had an Animation degree back then, a lot of people in that BA degree wanted to work in the game industry, do you think anyone would hire them if all they did was show they had a BA degree in Animation from the Colorado Institute of Art? No they had to put together their own demo reels from the work they have been doing for the last 4 years. Could just be quick takes of an animated character going through a walk cycle or a death fall, even small animated films. Internet was to slow back than so they put them on tape and mailed them out as there resume.

    Point is does not matter so much what school you go to, what matters is whatever you have something to show for it.
    N0pearceAuthor
    Participant
    November 5, 2014
    Thank you for the advice! So rather than the piece of paper, it's better to have something to demonstrate that you can apply what you learned over the past few years.
    saviornt
    Up and Coming
    November 5, 2014
    Full Sail University in Florida

    Expensive, however, it is the MIT / Harvard / Yale of the "Media Arts" world (graphic arts, movie production, game design, etc..)
    Current WIPs using Unreal Engine 4: Agrona - Tales of an Era : Medieval Fantasy MORPG
    N0pearceAuthor
    Participant
    November 6, 2014
    I didn't know about this college, admittedly I was limiting my self to my comfort zone when I searched for colleges. Thank you for the heads up!
    vijayyy
    New Participant
    November 6, 2014
    "saviornt" wrote:
    Full Sail University in Florida

    Reallly nice dude,and Expensive, however, it is the MIT / Harvard / Yale of the "Media Arts" world (graphic arts, movie production, game design, etc..)
    saviornt
    Up and Coming
    November 8, 2014
    After posting, I did a quick search on the school and VR, and they are currently working with the Rift, so you will get experience in the VR development field.
    Current WIPs using Unreal Engine 4: Agrona - Tales of an Era : Medieval Fantasy MORPG
    N0pearceAuthor
    Participant
    November 9, 2014
    Thank you for looking into it as well! I contacted the college and found out the same information, they use it in there simulations department rather than there game department, but using the Oculus seams more like a simulator than a regular game anyway.
    d3Fadder
    Up and Coming
    November 9, 2014
    Sorry can't help not from america
    N0pearceAuthor
    Participant
    November 10, 2014
    Don't worry about that, getting over seas would take a bit of work but its doable.
    Disdroid
    Up and Coming
    November 10, 2014
    I may be just a young idealist, but here's my view.
    If you're looking for moderate financial security or simply a job, you should go to college, it will be easier after you have a diploma.
    If you have a dream/vision, are willing to take risks and have faith in your abilities to withstand setbacks, you can start on that path right now where you are. You should be able to find out what to do next and how to do it.
    People tend to believe what they want to be true.
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