What kind of universities should I look at for getting a career in programming in the video game industry?

Question

I'm not looking at a video game specific degree or university necessarily, I'm just trying to find credible schools with strong programming or computer science programs.

Answer 1

Here's a list of all the schools that offer a CS program:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/majors/brief/major_11-07_brief.php

I went to Virginia Tech and majored in CS. That was an excellent choice for me.

My advice would be to see where recent graduates are working. Most advisors from the CS departments keep this information. If you see places like Microsoft, IBM, etc. that means they are training their students to be productive in a work environment that's face paced and well regarded.

Also, see if they have an AWC at the schools. (http://www.awc-hq.org/) They are a great support group since there aren't many girls in this field.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

All I can think of is a writer for video games (since you said you like to write and think you have good ideas), but it depends on what type of writer you'll be for that industry. The other ones are video game programmers and developers (yeah, that's if you have really good computer program skills). Or a producer (which deals with marketing skills). You can check out video game industry on Wikipedia and check look at the activities and job section. All the stuff I listed though is pretty hard, so good luck to you.

Answer 3

University of Illinois has a top-notch program.

Answer 4

I heard good things about Stanford.