Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!news From: sosman@terratron.com (Steven Osman) Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.freetalk.english Subject: Re: Degree Advice Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 13:07:30 GMT Organization: PlayStation Net Yaroze (SCEE) Lines: 85 Message-ID: <3baf2c51.1453488926@www.netyaroze-europe.com> References: <9odcka$4fv3@www.netyaroze-europe.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: dsl092-099-074.nyc2.dsl.speakeasy.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/32.452 Rikki, Plan on the best school you can get into. In fact, it's always worth applying for one or two schools you can't get into just in case. Incidentally, before anyone asks, no, I'm not working in the industry but I am playing with the idea. When I first started school, all I could see is green. It was all about, go to school, get the degree, and then get a good job. Well, it turns out that after getting awesome jobs without a degree, your perspective gets a little skewed. I went to a mediocre school for the first 2 1/2 years, and all I was doing was chugging through -- looking forward to graduation, probably getting an MS (but more likely an MBA) and then going out to rule the world. I'm positive that if you get both a masters business degree and a computer science undergraduate degree you can pretty much take over the world. Anyway, after transferring to an awesome school, I've completely changed my perspective. Suddenly, I see where the "science" come from computer science. People complain that computer science is more of an applied field than a theoretical/scientific field (and so it should be computer engineering, not science). While my previous school was getting me prepared to go out there and get a job, this school goes much further than that -- they help you learn what goes on before the engineers get their hands on the stuff. Believe it or not, I'm looking at schools to get a PhD from now... I'm not in a hurry to get out any more -- I'm looking forward to all the cool research that I could be working on -- possibly for the rest of my life (in fact, I'm working on a research project now as an undergraduate). In short, don't be too sure of what you want to do -- you may find something that you really love when you're in college. Game writing can always be a hobby. A good school will also offer interesting classes for you -- that will and won't help with the gaming industry. I've chosen my electives carefully, classes that I fould interesting. I've taken artificial intelligence, I'm now taking computer vision, machine learning, and next semester I'm taking natural language processing. Just think: Not only a video game that can "think," but also one that can "see" and "listen/understand." Go for the best school you can: 1. Your resume will love you 2. You'll learn much more 3. Don't worry about a graduate degree -- you have long enough to figure out what you're going to do, don't pigeonhole yourself. If you want to get one, you've probably got at least one or two years of undergrad. to make up your mind. 4. If you really like it, consider a PhD. Lots of people freak out about how long it takes to get a PhD. Most people don't consider that if you're going for a PhD and get sick of it, you can usually leave and take a Masters degree with you. Sauce On Thu, 20 Sep 2001 19:24:59 +0100, "Rikki Prince" wrote: >Hi guys, hope you're all doing ok. > >I'm in the process of choosing unis to apply to, and I would like to >get into the games industry (though obviously I'd like something to >fall back on in case if my interests change or the industry's >particularly bad after I leave uni) so am basically decided on doing a >computer science degree. I'd just like some advice from anyone on >whether I should look at some of the games orientated courses, or just >the straight CompSci. Or maybe one of the combinations with maths, or >one of the courses with more AI options or the software engineering >courses. > >Anyone got any opinions on what would be most useful, or most >interesting (I don't like the GCSE and A-Level IT courses, which >concentrate on using MS Office and computer law and ethics and such)? > >Also, does it matter much if you have a Bachelor degree or a Masters >degree? Anything else I should consider? > >Basically, any input on these issues would be extremely appreciated :) > >Thanks, >Rikki >