University this September - questions!
Hi all,
Firstly, sorry if this Question has been posted before, I'm sure it has!
I will be starting a Games Design bachelors of science degree this September. It's a very good course according to my college tutors. They teach us 3D modelling, animation, a bit of programming and let us specialise after the first year.
I'm really starting to wonder if this is the right thing to do. It's a 3 year course which will leave me with a £40k-£50k debt. I wish to be an environment artist. I've been teaching myself how to texture, model etc for 3 years and have been studying Art & Design for 3 years with 2 diplomas in the subject.
Do you guys think this bachelors of science degree is a good idea? Should I apply for an art degree in game design? Or should I stay away from game design courses and do something completely different?
I have dreamt of working in the industry since I can remember, and I'm now at the stage where I'm making big decisions that can effect my future. I'd say I have a pretty good all round knowledge of environment game related art. I just feel the only way to get myself into the industry is to get a degree. I'm currently 20 years old, in my final year studying Art & Design diploma.
Thanks for reading!
Firstly, sorry if this Question has been posted before, I'm sure it has!
I will be starting a Games Design bachelors of science degree this September. It's a very good course according to my college tutors. They teach us 3D modelling, animation, a bit of programming and let us specialise after the first year.
I'm really starting to wonder if this is the right thing to do. It's a 3 year course which will leave me with a £40k-£50k debt. I wish to be an environment artist. I've been teaching myself how to texture, model etc for 3 years and have been studying Art & Design for 3 years with 2 diplomas in the subject.
Do you guys think this bachelors of science degree is a good idea? Should I apply for an art degree in game design? Or should I stay away from game design courses and do something completely different?
I have dreamt of working in the industry since I can remember, and I'm now at the stage where I'm making big decisions that can effect my future. I'd say I have a pretty good all round knowledge of environment game related art. I just feel the only way to get myself into the industry is to get a degree. I'm currently 20 years old, in my final year studying Art & Design diploma.
Thanks for reading!
Replies
cause there is a lot of them- good luck on your decision.
It also pays to remember that you will be paying that debt back for a long time under the new fees sytem; to the tune of 9% a year for what would probably be the majority of the rest of your career - and that's discounting inflation and the rest. 9% might not sound like much, but consider that rent in some parts of the country rent alone can constitute as much as 60% of your take-home pay, and that you'll want to pay into a pension scheme before you retire (to the tune of around 5-10% of your take home pay) - you'll be left with something like 15% of your salary to live on, rather than around 25%.
On a starting salary of 15-20k, you'd actually be better off flipping burgers for MaccyDs after tax and loan fees come out.
With all that negativity our of the way however, there's no replacement for good, directed hands-on tuition and there are some excellent tutors out there with a genuine interest in improving your skillset - and of course you come out of it with a tangible qualification, which is essential if you expect you may want to work somewhere like the US in future.
You get what you put in to a degree. Do not fall into the trap of thinking 'Im doing a degree, Im guaranteed a job afterwards so I dont have to put any work in'. So many people on my course had that attitude, and now they don't have a job. You need to put in SO much work to further yourself and you need to have that passion for games too.
That said, you seem to be looking forward to university, so just go, fuck the debt, who cares! It's just money at the end of the day, and the amount of money you pay back is miniscule when you look at your take-home pay when you finally get a job.
I'd also like to know which uni you're going to! Is it Staffs by any chance?
I agree that there are some pretty bad courses. I applied for Leeds Metropolitan University & London South Bank. They both cover essentially the same aspect (a broad approach). I'm not sure if this is a good thing. I want to be an artist of games. Like I said, I've spent 3 years in art college and I'd say I'm pretty good at it, I should probably be studying specifically 3D art/modelling/texturing.
@PogoP, No, although that course looks very good and aimed at what I feel I should be doing. I hope it's not too late to reapply! I don't think I've chosen the right course!!
I'm going to post some links to the courses I have chosen incase anyone is interested. I've really had no guidance other than from my tutors and they're clueless.
http://courses.leedsmet.ac.uk/gamesdesign
http://prospectus.lsbu.ac.uk/courses/course.php?UCASCode=G451
I have conditional offers from both of these universities. Like I said before, am I picking the wrong course?
The Leeds course outline looks like it may well be reasonable. I'm not so sure of the London course; it looks like it lacks coverage and direction. I don't know much about either though, so take that with a pinch of salt.
It's not miniscule:
Consider a starting salary above-average of £25k - here's your break down:
Tax: £2,500
NI: £1,500
Student Loan: £2,500
Pension (7%): £1,750
Take Home: £16.75k
Personally, my rent per-year is about £12k - I do not live in a lavish mansion, but I do live in a small two-bedroom place on the edge of cheapest area of town in an expensive town (that's where I work, not much choice in that regard). Council Tax comes in at around £1,750, then you need to consider annual gas electricity and water bills. The average bill there comes to around £1,250 (mine is certainlt less than that).
Lets drop the rent to a more reasonable £10k, then take all of that out of the take home pay and you're left with £3750 to live on for the entire year, or £315 a month.
If you're not paying the student loan back, you've a bit under £525 a month. The difference isn't miniscule.
The degree and tuition is there to develop your skills and get your first career roles; so you need to offset its value with what you're paying when you first get that role. After that first role your pay will rise, but the experience you're being employed for isn't directly related to your degree tuition.
It's not so much about the money for me, it's just doing what I love and have a passion for. I would happily live on scraps for a few years if it means I do what I love.
It's too late to reapply isn't it? Maybe I should give Staffs a call.
The university itself is extremely disorganised as a whole, but the course seems pretty decent from what I've seen of it (I haven't done year 1 or 2 and I've skipped half of year 3).
It's pretty generalist - it doesn't spend a lot of time focusing on any one aspect of game development. However, the modules tend to have enough freedom that you can bend them to fit whichever discipline you want to follow.
So yeah, as with all courses, you're going to have to do a LOT of work in your spare time to get anything good out of it.
Although I have to iterate with every one else so much of it is your own free time. If you constantly work at it out of class you will get a lot more out of it than if you just worked in classes. Tbh I don't see how anyone CAN'T work outside of classes to get there work done!
So yeah highly recommend Derby, good luck man
I stand corrected - that's much better than I thought. I pay back 7% a year full stop, and it amounts to a big chunk of change for me.
I wish I had come here before applying! If I'm honest, I was attracted to Leeds because that's where my girlfriend is going! I'm not a massive social person, so I bet 80% of my free time I'll be doing work. I can't wait to be honest
@Talon, do you recommend Leeds Met for someone like me? I appreciate your help!
It looks like I'll be taking a year out, unless anyone knows of a way to reapply onto these other courses?
It's nice to see other students here
Well if it helps I am in a long distance relationship as well, my girlfriend goes to Chester Uni.I still have time to see her and its working out well seeing her once every two weeks, we both get all our work done no problem!
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68766&highlight=university
Though i bet there the prettiest ones that come through and the dregs ignored. To be honest it wont matter where you go as long as you put the effort and time into it. I'm currently on a horrendous course where half the staff shouldn't qualified to teach. A 'revision' to the modules without informing us and then ditching the good half of the staff stings a little.
On the plus side we do still have two good teach's, though they don't teach 3D, no-one does at all, except me as it were -____-"
I'm breaking my back to get everything in order and ive managed to cope with all the stress from several sources so i should do well in a work environment aha xD. Just what ever course you go on, don't do the bare minimum, do background reading + projects. Make sure you have a decent portfolio and you should walk away pretty well off.
saying that ive met a decent bunch of people, be prepared to be exposed to wasters who just want to play games and contribute nothing.
as mentioned in countless threads a lot of extra work is needed to not only get good grades but a job afterwards.
As stated above, you should understand that university isn't about learning, it's about growing as an Artist/individual.
Everybody will have positive and negative opinions about every university. I went to Abertay and didn't have any issues. Pick a university which has industry involvement. Forget about the quality of their equipment and how good the resources are. Being in a good location around dev studios helps as well when it comes to getting noticed as well as networking. I'd also favour a university which had people studying other areas related to games, such as programming, audio, project management and design - this helps massively when you need to make a team. The chances are high that no matter which university you choose; the majority of people won't be as enthusiastic as you are. Coursework doesn't matter so much, since your portfolio should be stuff you created outside of university. The plus side is that the majority of UK degrees have industry input now.