So I want to get into a College/University for game art...

jinglesjosh

I just finished high school and have been doing 3d modeling for a good portion of my life. I was looking for a college or university to maybe see if I can perfect the current "skill" I have but I don't know the first thing about getting into such establishments.

On another note, if you did or still are getting an education, what was your skill level like when you first started because I want to know if I should really sharpen the knife or take another job to start massing funds for doing so.

I don't want to go to full sail if I can help it and I'm not looking for any online classes although feel free to post them if you know any good ones.

Thanks for the input! 

sacboi

...online Digital Tutors and Gnomon.

Alchemical

TL;DR at bottom. Sorry for the rant.

Im currently studying at a tertiary school that focuses on training you for the industry. Graduates seem to have gone places and it was across the world so it was good to get some world experience on top of it. Im an amateur at best but I hope my perspective will count for something, but it goes without saying that its coming from someone young and inexperienced.

I don't regret it, but a lot of it is pure knowledge of the current versions of programs, a pipeline, how the industry works with workshops and demos on how everything is made. Your personal skill and competence is cultivated at home; seeking feedback from teachers and other artists outside of that.

When I first enrolled I had 3 years of program-knowledge and basic pipeline-knowledge from high-school (you pick majors at HS where Im from) Sometimes I figured out what the teacher was gonna teach beforehand and was way many steps ahead.

So when school started, I had no difficulty with the curriculum but I was learning only a few neat tricks occassionally, how to better maneuver programs and it felt stagnant for me. I thought I was gonna come here and the school was gonna make me good. It helped me keep a clear road, but most progress was done at home.

There's worth to it, but the only perfecting of your skills the education can do is teachers giving you feedback. Make sure you really want to take a huge loan and make sure its a decision you wont cave in on. Despite the negativity my experience seem to exhume I will point out: I've improved a lot since I came here and I have no intention of stopping. 

TL;DR
Very little of it is perfecting your skill and instead is teaching you about programs, pipeline, how the industry works, creative flow and how to create all things that it includes. If you got basics down, things may feel very stagnant for you.
Most progress will be made by you putting in the hours in your own time, use teachers to keep you on the right path.
Make sure to do thorough research before you apply anywhere, check where students who studied there and where they are now.

Sorry I can't give you a solid school to recommend but I think hands on how it works and what to expect is better. Good Luck!

jinglesjosh

It might be against the rules to post to this but in case anyone sees's this. I am now going to Academy of art university San Francisco. I'm doing it online for now and I'm not sure where I'm going to go afterward but alchemical was totally right. Honestly. I'm just paying them to keep me focused. It sucks but that's the truth. I love the commentary and the input from the teachers. Plus this is the most basic way to get known. You can network through your teachers. 

Taylor Brown

I can confirm its pretty similar for Think Tank online. No school is going to get you to a professional level, regardless of industry. It completely depends on you. That being said, you can definitely be taught the WRONG way of doing things and that's worse than nothing at all. I had that come up at my community college but havent felt it at TT.

edit: just realized you were responding to your own thread from a year ago. was on mobile earlier - my bad!

Alex_J

jinglesjosh said:

Honestly. I'm just paying them to keep me focused. It sucks but that's the truth.

Nothing wrong with that at all. Unless you spend all your money and never get a job and starve.

 Knowing yourself and working with your self rather than against is the apex of wisdom! Good luck.