Only 35 credits left to go.. but why???

#1 By school I meen community college to clarify

#2 Edit: Deleted post because of clarify /EDIT


I would say go for what you want...

#3 No, no such colleges are nearby, I'd have to move to western washington for such

#4 What i've noticed is that the most succesful people are getting off there bum and making things happen for themselves whether they have the qualifications or not.

#5 Finish. Having a degree is better than not having one no matter what the field. Only student loans will kill you in the long run. Or maybe until you get that promotion. My personal experience, I learned more on my own at home than I ever did at school. I have a cousin who recently earned a BA in IT, and doesn't know a thing about computers, but he can give one hell of a presentation and write the best damn 1,000 word essay you've ever read.

You get out of it what you put in. In MOST cases school doesn't teach you anything you can't learn on your own. And most of your learning will be done on your own anyway. You just need that paper so that employers will look at you more seriously. And so you can brag that your smarter than anyone who doesn't have a college education, even though that could never be the case (I hate people like that). That's about all it's good for. But it's enough (the employer thing). So yeah, definitely finish school and get that degree.
-Ajari-

Edit: I agree 100% with John's comment too. It's just that these damn companies are asking for a doctrine in 3D art, and music, and about 25 years in the industry (realistically a BA and 5 years industry). With those kinds of demands it's hard for even someone with a BA to land a job fresh out of college, or even someone with only 2 years in the industry. Sometimes it seems like the only way to have a chance is to start up your own. But even that...

#6 John and Atjari has an excellent point. Absolutely everything I've learned to date has been on my own. To excel in the market, the odds are great you'll need some kind of diploma or certificate from a certified school. Definately get that education! On the other hand, the wealth of things you can learn on your own can be tremendous. The Garage Games community is by far one of the best communities I've ever belonged to, the people here are (in my eyes) the best in the world.

I would finish up the course I'm on, but I would follow my dream as well. It will be time consuming and frustrating, but you can make it happen.

#7 Next to Army.ca these guys are brilliant(GarageGames, agreeing with last poster). Oh and I was going to wite the same thing as the last two posters. I know many in the military field(aviation), who have done better, or just as good at their job as someone with a degree.

#8 Get a degree by all means if you're not totally over it that is. However, if you're ready to take the plunge then go out and make games. Whatever you do though get a back up plan.

When I graduated high school my choices for the game development path were Engineering or Computer Science (I wrote and asked Sony what they look for). As for game schools Digipen was the only game in town at the time. It wasn't until a couple of years after that the other schools started popping up.

Furthermore Digipen only offered an Associates degree which consisted of nearly the same courses as my local Computer Science department + some physics courses. So I just took a lot of physics and computer science which gave me basically what Digipen was offering minus their game design stuff. However, I was involved with my own game design efforts so I got plenty of practice anyway.

After I got my Associates in Computer Science I began on my BA but I had also started working on larger and larger projects of my own. The CS program wasn't going in the direction I wanted (games) so I stopped and went after my own game dev ambitions full time instead. I would have either had Aerial Antics under my belt or a Bachelor's Degree in CS with those two years.

So far I am completely happy with my decision. The way I look at it ...

Number of People with Degrees > Number of People with Game Demos > Number of People with Completed Games > Number of People with Published Games > Number of People with Completed Games that also Make Them a Living > Number of People with Award Winning Titles

Basically, getting a game published by Garage Games is a much more difficult feat than getting a college degree and much more valuable experience in my eyes at least.

A college degree is great ... don't get me wrong. However, the most successful people are the ones that just go and do it. Many of the super successful tech/game guys either dropped out of college or just never went.

I also mentioned a back up plan. Although I've been offered some jobs for game companies ... that's not the direction I want to go with games. I'm independent through and through ;) My back up for game development is a hardwood flooring business that I run simultaneously and learned from my family. Running that business is great money, few hours, and no workplace headaches. I highly recommend starting a side business of some sort which you can live off of should your independent game development efforts fail. Of course even failed independent game development efforts could land you a job at a game company if that's the route you want to take.

Personally, I'd take making games independently over anything else. However, at the very least I want to remain independent no matter what I do.

#9 I learned more about passing exams at Uni than i did about anything else :)
That said, I agree its better to have a qualification than to not have it.

#10 And to be fair, Epic Games requires talent; nothing else.

#11 I'd recomend not taking classes in game design specifically. broaden your horizons a bit, get a feel for what other types of classes are there for you to take.. some business classes would probably be a very good idea (along with math if you havent been taking that)

the big problem i see with vocational programs is it doesnt give the students a feel for the 'big picture'... so try not to get stuck in that rutt.

#12 My real job is on the business application side so this may vary a bit for the game industry..

A college degree gets you past the HR person when applying for a job.
In theory it also rounds you out a bit with the history, sociology, rhetoric, etc.. In practice most everyone forgets the stuff before they get their degree.

I highly recommend finishing the degree. BUT, use the time to study up on what you want to do.. Be that on your own, ACM groups, online projects, etc.

The degree will get you to the interview.. But it won't get you the job or keep you the job once you have it.

As a matter of fact I just went through an intense interview process last month.. 3 phone interviews (1 hr apiece), 5 in person interviews (1 hr apiece).. College didn't come up.. My knowledge of design, languages, patterns, user interfaces, databases, etc did though. I feel it was judging what I knew, how I reacted to pressure, how I approached solving problems and how well my personality would fit with the existing culture.

I got the interview because a former co-worker recommended me to his new employer. My knowledge got me the job. But since I only have 2 years of college with no degree it's the first serious job offer I've had in about 6 yrs. I have a friend who is also in the computer field without a degree. He has been out of work since 2000. He is going back to finish his degree at 40 yo.

-Jerry

#13 FWIW... I think you should finish your degree, but finish it in an area that interests you. If your current school does not offer such a degree, change schools. I attended 4 years at a university, and was not in an area that really interested me. All of my professors recommended that I switch to computer science (mainly because I excelled at the programs I wrote, while I sucked at Chemistry...) After 2 1/2 more years (yeah, 6 1/2 total, hehe) I got an enginering degree in computer science, and have worked in the industry ever since. There were three things that I learned from my time in school, and the time since:

1) The very most important thing: Work at something you are interested in. While you can earn a living doing anything, but it is a LOT easier to get up on Monday morning if you like your job... It is a WHOLE lot easier to get a raise in a job you love. You need to eat and live somewhere, so you may have to take a job you don't like... use that job to enable your efforts to attain the job you do want, and never give up.

2) Get a degree. I have worked with several people without degrees who were really great at their jobs, and really knew their stuff. To this day, I make more money than they do; largely because I have a degree. Sometimes you have to be mercenary, and making more money while you pursue your dream job is better than making less. You may not get the job of your dreams immediately, but you still need to eat. I was fortunate that my education really helped me, and still does to this day. There were a lot of things that I learned that were useless after school, but there were a lot more things that I could apply. College/University is an endurance event, and completing it at least lets prospective employers know that you can deal with some unpleasant sh** to attain a goal.

3) Really exceptional people don't need school, education, help, or experience to be great. The become great because they are great. They endure hardship, trial and tribulation and still come out on top (emphasis on hardship, trial and tribulation in most cases). The rest of us need something to fall back on in the interim.

I love building software, even when the application is mundane. I get paid for it, and I don't dread monday mornings. I get to create new things, breathe life into them, and make them mine. I'm using my job to provide fuel for my life... and that's all a job really should be. Do whatever it takes to set yourself up to live your life. If you want to design games, a software discipline is probably not the correct choice, but there are several different liberal arts programs that would be. If you want to build games, software is a good bet... and a healthy dose of engineering makes ALL of the physics and math a lot easier.

Sorry for rambling, and hope that might help in some small little way.