Need help finding uni pls ;-)

zanyzoey

Hello! My name is Zoey and i am currently 16 years old. I live in Egypt and i'm in Grade 10. I also take SAT. I want to study game arts/animation/etc. I've experienced what it's like to look at amazing scenery or get attached to that one character from that one game and i want to be the person that creates art wonderful enough to make that lovely emotion blossom into every gamer's heart!

I'm very lucky to be given the opportunity to travel anywhere in Europe/Canada from my family and i'd like to use that to go to the best possible uni i can go to. Although money is going to be a big big problem problem in countries that use Euro..depends on how much uni is going to cost there[And Britian is just simply unaffordable for us right now]. I've tried looking for good universities but i'm not very experienced in the matter and i am kind of lost and idk what i'm even looking for anymore. I want to find a university where the tutors know what they're doing. I've seen some very disappointing student reels and it turned me off a bit. I figured i should ask around maybe i have a much better chance that way, maybe grads or people working in the industry can give advice and suggestions?

Very sorry if this is a tad confusing to read, i'm very tired right now and i cba to proof read XD

Swizzle

First and foremost: http://polycount.com/discussion/108342/education-in-the-games-industry-yes-or-no#latest

That thread will give you a good overview of experiences people have had with game art education. 

To summarize it:
The vast majority of formal game art education is terrible. The instructors are often people who couldn't make it in the game industry and have no experience, most of the faculty and administration only know about standards from the late 90s or early 00s (meaning you may have to waste your time on things like making a demo reel for modeling and texturing), and you aren't going to get the kind of focused critiques and feedback you need. The worst part of most game art programs is that they do not actually focus on art fundamentals, and instead focus on teaching what the buttons in do in one or another modeling program.

Judging by conversations and information I've received from coworkers and other people I know in the industry, you should probably not pursue game art as a degree. Instead, if you want to get into the arts, you should go to a traditional art school and focus on things like drawing, painting, illustration, figure drawing, traditional sculpting, drafting, architecture, or product design. These are all areas which will directly benefit you as a video game artist by giving you artistic toolsets that are easily transferable to other artistic disciplines including 3D art.

It's very possible to do traditional art as your main educational focus and teach yourself 3D art on the side.

If you are interested in pursuing traditional art education, you should look into universities as well as ateliers, workshops, and online tutorials. A degree is not necessary to be an artist in the game industry. I and many other people I know in the industry do not have degrees of any sort. The one case in which you may need a degree is if you want a visa to work in the US or a few other countries, but even then you may be able to get sponsorship from a company if your art skills are good enough.

Bek

It's also worth pointing out you're not limited to art-related degrees, if you have other interests you can pursue then you could study those at university while working on art in your spare time. The internet is an excellent resource for game-art and as Xavier points out there are some visa perks for having a recognised degree.

You might even find that your other interests have excellent online courses. I finished my (non game/visual art) degree last year and just started taking an online course by edX because I want to keep learning. Luckily there's a tonne offered online, so whatever your interests may be,  explore all the options for studying them. So don't feel too limited by what university courses you can attend.

huffer

I can vouch for choosing Product Design if you want to pursue environment art, it's very helpful, you'll develop a keen eye for form, functionality, light, you'll learn to draw, 3D is used a lot, and you might even be able to take some courses of figure drawing or anatomy to complement the rest.

 If being a character artist is more appealing, I think a more artistic degree might be better suited - like Sculpting or Illustration. And also, no one what they're doing better than people working in the industry - not college teachers, so you should try to learn from them - take internships, get involved with projects, make connections, etc.