Princeton Review Names Top 50 Games Schools

[Hevva]

Princeton Review Names Top 50 Games Schools

After a year of surveys and interviews, Princeton Review has released a list of the best schools for game design in the United States and Canada.

For those in the position to do so, choosing the right college or university to attend can be a lovely feeling. You've got a menu which you can peruse at leisure. Don't think about that nasty part where you have to send applications off and then wander around in a haze of self-doubt for the next few months. Nah! Just think of the good part.

But which choices are best for aspiring game creators with designs on a college degree? This year marked Princeton Review's third annual survey of game design courses in the US and Canada aimed at answering that question. Administrators from over 150 institutions offering courses in game design responded to 50 tailored survey questions as well as submitting information about graduate employment, faculty credentials, and scholarship availability to the final review.

The list is as follows:

Undergraduate Courses

1. University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
3. University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT)
4. DigiPen Institute of Technology (Redmond, WA)
5. The Art Institute of Vancouver (Vancouver, BC)
6. Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY)
7. Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, OH)
8. Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah, GA)
9. University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM)
10. Becker College (Worcester, MA)

Postgraduate Courses

1. University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2. Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) 4. University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL)
5. Southern Methodist University (SMU) (Plano, TX)
6. Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA)
7. Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah, GA)
8. DigiPen Institute of Technology (Redmond, WA)
9. University of California, Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, CA)
10. Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA)

You can see the full list, including extensive "honorable mentions," over at Princeton Review's website [http://www.princetonreview.com/game-design.aspx]. It's a diverse list and could make a useful tool for getting a feel of where you might like to study if a formal education in the practice of making videogames is something you're considering. If not, at least now you're armed with the knowledge of which institutions - roughly - stand to best prepare aspiring designers for work. What? It might be useful one day.


Source: GamePolitics [http://gamepolitics.com/2012/03/01/princeton-review039s-2012-top-schools-video-game-design-list]

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[maddawg IAJI]

Huh...never figured Massachusetts as one of the go to states for game design >_>

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Alright MIT #3 and #2! Massachusetts represent!

Huh...never figured Massachusetts as one of the go to states for game design >_>

http://www.skyecastlekennel.com/images/Choose_your_next_words_wisely.jpg
May I ask why?

Umm, ughh...uhh....SMOKE BOMB OUT!

Wait, I don't have smoke bombs >_>

OT: It was simply because I just never viewed it as one that was rather popular with game development. I imagined states like California, North Carolina and New York would have a few more schools up there. Besides, I'm from Massachusetts! I'm not trying to insult my home state D=

 

[Korten12]

Luckly RIT is like... 10 minutes from my house. And it's were I want to go.

 

[Alufear]

Same here, and I'm in my second year. ;D

 

[Beautiful End]

This is a heaven-send!

Just one question, though. For those of you out there smarter than me, what is the difference between undergraduate and graduate programs? In theory, I know what they are (It's pretty self-explanatory). But does that mean you can't get an undergraduate title if you already have a, let's say, bachelor's degree in...Fashion design? Or some other title? I don't know, I'm just giving out random examples.

I'm not even near that level of education, but I just wanna know. That's always been kinda hazy for me and no one can give me a solid answer without going into a whole lot of stuff that's irrelevant to the topic. And THIS, well, this interests me. I do wanna study Game Design. :[

 

[Nouw]

The chances of a guy with above-average grades from New Zealand going to one of those universities...very low >.>. At least I can aim for a place.

 

[Krion_Vark]

Alright MIT #3 and #2! Massachusetts represent!

Huh...never figured Massachusetts as one of the go to states for game design >_>

http://www.skyecastlekennel.com/images/Choose_your_next_words_wisely.jpg
May I ask why?

Umm, ughh...uhh....SMOKE BOMB OUT!

Wait, I don't have smoke bombs >_>

OT: It was simply because I just never viewed it as one that was rather popular with game development. I imagined states like California, North Carolina and New York would have a few more schools up there. Besides, I'm from Massachusetts! I'm not trying to insult my home state D=

I have been looking at Becker for a while. I just need to get out of this funk I am in and actually want to DO my work once again so I can get good grades at the CC I am at right now. I am actually just as surprised as you about Mass having schools up there. I believe that Game Design last I looked Becker was 10 on this list but I think for programming was somewhere like 3 but then again I haven't looked in like a year.

 

[Krion_Vark]

This is a heaven-send!

Just one question, though. For those of you out there smarter than me, what is the difference between undergraduate and graduate programs? In theory, I know what they are (It's pretty self-explanatory). But does that mean you can't get an undergraduate title if you already have a, let's say, bachelor's degree in...Fashion design? Or some other title? I don't know, I'm just giving out random examples.

I'm not even near that level of education, but I just wanna know. That's always been kinda hazy for me and no one can give me a solid answer without going into a whole lot of stuff that's irrelevant to the topic. And THIS, well, this interests me. I do wanna study Game Design. :[

Undergrad is what you do out of High School. Graduate is after the undergrad is done.

 

[Beautiful End]

This is a heaven-send!

Just one question, though. For those of you out there smarter than me, what is the difference between undergraduate and graduate programs? In theory, I know what they are (It's pretty self-explanatory). But does that mean you can't get an undergraduate title if you already have a, let's say, bachelor's degree in...Fashion design? Or some other title? I don't know, I'm just giving out random examples.

I'm not even near that level of education, but I just wanna know. That's always been kinda hazy for me and no one can give me a solid answer without going into a whole lot of stuff that's irrelevant to the topic. And THIS, well, this interests me. I do wanna study Game Design. :[

Undergrad is what you do out of High School. Graduate is after the undergrad is done.

Ah, I see.
I just have an Associate of Arts and I'll probably get a bachelor in Graphic Design and a minor in Drawing before attempting to go to those schools. So I suppose Grad would be fit for me.

Dang, I was hoping to go to New Mexico.

 

[xyrafhoan]

The two schools listed in the Vancouver area are extremely expensive private schools. They have the money to hold expos and have mass marketing campaigns. I go to a smaller but highly respected local program with a very high rate of post-graduate employment. And I'm only paying $8000 for two years instead of $35,000/year. We have brand new facilities with a Cintiq for every student. My school only accepts students through a rigorous portfolio screening. I go to all my classes with the same classmates and we're all a tight knit group. We get scholarships from the top animation studios in Vancouver like DHX Media (the studio behind MLP: Friendship is Magic) and Atomic. The only difference is that I'm learning animation and design for TV, film, and games, not specifically "how to make games".

 

[Nu-Hir]

I guess I missed my chance to get a gaming degree when I was in Utah. I guess I'll have to look for Shawnee state now that I'm in Ohio.

 

[Kinguendo]

Luckly RIT is like... 10 minutes from my house. And it's were I want to go.

6th on Undergrad... Looks like, really, you should aim for SoCal.

 

[viranimus]

I guess I missed my chance to get a gaming degree when I was in Utah. I guess I'll have to look for Shawnee state now that I'm in Ohio.

Shawnee State is just outside of the Huntington wv, Ashland KY, Ironton Ohio metro district. And as someone who lived in that area for a decade I can tell you this is the first I have heard of Shawnee state supposedly having a better program for ANYTHING compared to the other local colleges between ACTC, Collins, and Marshall University. Also consider too, that while the school might offer the programs there are absolutely ZERO relevant jobs in that area so that creates a major conflict as you can do no local apprentice work, practical training or even find a job.

However its undergrad study, So you would likely have to relocate to an appropriate school anyway later. Also know, Portsmouth is a rat hole of a town, roughly 30 miles outside of the closest thing that even resembles civilization. Its an economically depressed area where just about the only entertaining thing to do is get drunk and wait for the local regattas in the summer so you can justify getting drunk in public and fall face first into the Ohio river.

 

[Eleima]

I so wish I had gotten this list ten years ago...

Okay, now I feel old.

 

[Korten12]

Luckly RIT is like... 10 minutes from my house. And it's were I want to go.

6th on Undergrad... Looks like, really, you should aim for SoCal.

6 out of 50 is pretty damn good. Plus not going to go to California. Sort of my hate, Cali is very overrated.

 

[krellen]

Dang, I was hoping to go to New Mexico.

No one should want to come to New Mexico.

Though seriously, I'm really surprised to see UNM on that list. UNM doesn't make many top 10 lists (rural medicine being the only other example.)

 

[Weaver]

Then you find out no one in the industry hires game designers.

 

[Ashhearth]

Woot! This is where I found out about RIT last year and have already been accepted into the program