School courses: Bad situation.. need some advice.

[Nerseus]

lol (both of you :))

 

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but although I have a BS (bachelor of science) in CS, it's not acredited (or however you spell that). The University I went to didn't offer an accredited (I spelled it the other way in case it's right) degree. In my 3rd year I looked into transferring to a Univ that *was* accredited but I ran into a similar problem to you - they wanted a bunch more classes that I hadn't taken, such as advanced Biology and Chemistry (I only had the basic 101 level versions). To be accredited with a Science degree you needed a bunch of science that I didn't have. I decided to stick with my non-accredited version. At the time I was in a total panic that I wouldn't get to work where I wanted. McDonnal Douglas (in St. Louis, MO) was THE place to work as they had ALL the latest and greatest stuff, government contracts so you would never worry about your company going under, and did I mention COOL jets and related computer stuff??

 

Well turns out that's the only place I applied to that cared about an accredited degree. I was kinda bummed at first, but a friend of mine that did an internship there turned me around. He told me about how all of the regular employees had to write reports every week and month explaining what they did and why there were valuable. They'd be used to downsize, determine raises, and more - the whole place was cutthroat (or so it sounded)! That was all 10+ years ago but still...

 

I didn't have any real experience coming out of college. No internship or part time work in the computer industry. My resume had Computer Lab Assistant and I did some data entry for Citi Corp (the closest I really got to computer exp. in the "real world"). It didn't really matter as all of my interviews were for entry level jobs and they ALL included using some language or tools that you would never learn in college. At the time, VB3 was big and every company using it had 3rd party controls. You weren't really expected to know VB at all since no universities were teaching it at the time. And forget about learning about 3rd party controls in school - almost impossible.

 

Anyway, the short version is that a degree *might* matter, but probably not as much as you think. It's really more about what you know, how fast you can learn what you don't, and how personable you are (easy to get along with, do the job right, etc.). In some cases it's even about who you know, but only so far as to get you an interview. I didn't know anyone but I still did Ok.

 

If you really want to get into Graphics and Games (in particular), I'd write emails to a few companies and see what they're looking for in programmers. Let them know you're in college and really want to get in, you're willing to learn anything but you need some guidance as to what THEY think you need.

 

-nerseus

[wyrd]

Ners:

I pay close attention to the GameDev forums, where every other day someone posts "what school to go to for game programming?" The common thing going around right now is go to a regular University and get a CS degree. DigiPen, etc. don't seem to hold as much weight as I originaly thought. When the time comes around next summer I'll do some hard fact research myself (ie; e-mailing everyone I can think of that's even remotely popular in the gaming industry.. which is a long list to be sure). But until then, I need to at least finish what I started, and that's my AA in CS and AS in CG. Never do I finish anything (or at least before now), and if I expect to make it in this lovely world of programming, I'll need to do just that. Like I keep saying, old habits die hard.

 

I will succeed, even if only for a brief second.

[divil]

Once you've written your 2D games (from tetris to platformers) send them in to those game companies along with your emails. A solid demonstration of your talents will make more of an impression than anything else you could send them.

[wyrd]

Ugh.. well, looks like I had to send in a petition so I could get into math 121. Because I'm not guaranteed that it'll be accepted, I need to study Trig/Geom so I can take a level 4 test and try to place into math 121 the hard way (just incase the petition is denied).

 

Gotta' do what you gotta' do. Looks like my game will have to be put on hold for a few weeks.

[wyrd]

My brain has officially melted. I've been reading this Geomatry/Trig book like crazy in preperation for my next test (just incase the petition is denied). I realized as I started the next chapter today, that I've forgotten everything I learned yesterday. Definite melt down. Someone please jump start my brain.

 

Soo.. today and tomorrow I'm going to print out a bunch of Algebra stuff from http://www.gomath.com and make sure I'm up to par on basic Algebra. I'll then go over my Algebra book, just to make sure. After all that, I'll go back over the 3 chapters of Geomatry.

 

Time is short, I have no idea how I'm going to learn Geomatry and Trig in 10 days. Not to mention SW KOTOR (Xbox game) comes out this week, which makes it even that much more painful. I can't remember the last time (if ever) I picked school work over a game. Hopefully I'm killing off my old slacker habits (finally).

 

Sometimes I think I can actually feel my brain growing as I learn more and more. Is that normal? I'm a freak...

[Nerseus]

Although I love the forums (great sources of info), I gotta recommend staying off of them for the next week or so, wyrd. Everything you're saying you want screams that you either get the petition through or pass this test. Now is not the time to be reading the forums if you really need to study. Are you going to remember these messages a year from now? I'll bet you'll remember the test/petition.

 

-Ner

[wyrd]

You're telling me that 8-10 hours of study a day isn't enough? I need more?

 

.. are you insane?

 

I need time to eat, sleep and relax. Not to mention I have my reading/english assessment test, and had to spend time driving back and forth to the school so I could get my petition submitted. There's also random other chores that need to be done.

 

There is a great importance of getting into Math 121, but one must also understand their limits. You can only force feed yourself so much information at a time before it becomes a jumbled mess. If I cannot get into Math 121 with 8-10 hours of study for a week then what's another 1 hour a day going to accomplish? I have no problems understanding the material, but I do have a problem remembering it. Remembering something comes from habit, which comes from time, something of which I do not have an abundance of.

 

.. and what does all of this have to do with these forums? I spend maybe 10 minutes a day here. 20 tops. Or is this your way of telling me to get lost? :p

[wyrd]

I took my placements for English/Reading. Placed in the highest possible areas for both.

 

As for math.. I think I'm going to give up with the insane rush job of trying to cram in Geomatry/Trig. Instead I'm going to restudy Algebra here and there, that way I won't kill myself. I think perhaps I should be concerned with quality over quantity. Algebra, Geomatry and Trig all within a 3 week period is just to much to handle.

 

It was my mistake in the first place that brought me into this bad situation, and if I have to live with it then so be it. But I still will retake a level 4 test to try and get into Math 121, I'll just be doing it without the knowledge of Trig.

 

Old habits die hard, but not at the expense of killing myself.

[psycho]

wyrd, allow me an advice for you, please...

 

I'm 30 yrs old, and I have started a lot of things (plans, projects,...), but just a few I have finsihed. The good point after all these years is those beginnings filled my knowledge and all I had to do was to crystallize it.

Keep coding !!

 

Daniel.

[wyrd]

Eh, doesn't matter at this point now. I found out that registration starts on the 22nd of this month, and I wasn't planning on retaking the Math test until the 24th. Now I'll have to push that up and retake it on the 22nd so I can get my results back the same week. If not, I risk the chance of having all the Math classes filled up, which means I may not get in. I'm not willing to risk that. In any case, there's no way I'll get through Geomatry/Trig by then. I was already risking it on Thursday.

 

Sunday and Monday I'll do some Algebra studying and try my best. Life is such, looks like I'll be in Math 90. At least I placed where I wanted to with English and Reading.

 

Thanks all to the boost of energy you all gave me (and a slap in the face). If it wasn't for that I probably wouldn't of gotten this far. I still have a long road in front of me. The only thing left to do is enjoy it. In the mean time, back to programming my game...

[Optikal]

Just a side note I wanna make. If you are serious about wanting to program games, you should know that they involve TONNES of math. Especially if you are involved in the 3D engine portion of it. Matrix math, calculus, vector math, advanced geometry, etc. It sounds like you are focusing on your math skills which is good. Just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.