Accepted into DigiPen

[Iced_Eagle]

Yesterday was such an awesome day

Not only did I get my PS3 (which I just sold for $1,381 woot) but I also got accepted into DigiPen!!! :bounce: http://www.digipen.edu

That is the school which the Portal guys came from and a lot of other Valve employees.

I will be starting in the 07-08 Fall Semester.

Can't wait!!!!!

 

[zleppelin]

how many hours did you wait in line to get your PS3?

. Though there are some liberal arts classes also in the curriculum, all required courses are pertinent to game development.

I wanna go to that school.

 

[hool10]

Congrats Iced_Eagle!

 

[hungryduck]

good job!

 

[Dog--]

Can I have your babies?

 

[Ravioli]

Awesome, me and my friend are applying for it when we graduate high school.

May i ask what classes u took that made it possible for you to be accepted?

 

[zleppelin]

Awesome, me and my friend are applying for it when we graduate high school.

May i ask what classes u took that made it possible for you to be accepted?

I looked Digipen up and apparently you need a 3.0+ GPA and pretty much any SAT/ACT score. Other than that, they want you to have Calculus and Physics.

 

[Ravioli]

It depends what type of education you apply for. Its different for different areas. Im just gona apply for Animation/Design which doesnt need Calculus etc. Im taking all areas in Animation/Design/Engineering/architecture which im sure will give me a place at digipen. Also Algerbra and Geometry courses.

Thats all i need i guess...

 

[WhiteZero]

Wooooah! Sweet.
Did ES2 make you a shoe-in with Digi?

 

[Jintor]

Es2?

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Nice one Iced Eagle, good luck in your future endeavours! Don't forget us will ya?

 

[Ennui]

I'm psyched for you!

 

[WhiteZero]

Es2?

Eternal Silence 2?
Ya know, the HL2 mod he works for.

 

[63]

Awesome, congrats Iced! What kind of portfolio did you have to put together?

 

[AKIRA]

Nice dude!! Let's hope you become the next John Carmack

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Well, I'm going to be a programmer (like John Carmack, but not quite as talented as him... yet ) and so I've just taken many years of math.

The next thing is just make sure you get involved with the gaming community in modding and shit like that. Show that you are commited to games. There is a difference between being able to play games and be able to make them. Show that you can make them.

What's sweet is that Valve actually decided to call the school to tell them the things I've done for them and to give me a good rep on Thurs and I got the packet on Friday... Obviously that means I was accepted before the phone call, but I'm sure it re-assured them to know that game companies like me

Oh, and start networking early! Get friends within the industry! Even though I'm sure a lot of you guys are <18, that doesn't mean there are things you can't do to help people with or you could even just talk to people and be a good friend.

For art, I have no idea... DigiPen requires like a shit load of drawings on the first day of school (like 500 small sketches or something) so if you want to be an artist, get the fundamentals right!! Don't just dive into 3DS Max because that won't help. Get a pencil and paper and just start sketching and reading up on how to be a good 2D Artist and then once you've learned those skills add the 3rd dimension and you could start using some 3D programs.

An artist without a fundamental understanding of art (2D and such) is useless. Even though you will use programs like 3DS Max, Maya, and XSI to do your work, you still need an understanding of what's the best practices to make things look good. Those are the skills you get from drawing.

My only advice to people is never say anything is out of your reach. Shoot for the moon! Even though sometimes you may crash, you can always pick yourself up and keep moving. It's worth it in the end.

Thanks for the support guys!

*Edit* I waited 30 hours in line for my PS3.

 

[hungryduck]

30 hours?
wow....

 

[DigiQ8]

Congrats Iced
Enjoy Your Life


And you sold your PS3 for 1,300 ?
Thats goooood

 

[clarky003]

Iced_Eagle you are my new hero : D I'm doing something similar at Wolverhampton University next year except more design orientated, programming makes my brain exshplode!

 

[Majestic XII]

Congrats Iced!

How big is the school?

 

[hool10]

You know I think you may be the first person to go to Digipen that we know in the community. In fact you may be the first consumer affairs/Valve coder that everybody knows if you get a job at Valve. So please do take some pics or something!

 

[Azner]

Yeah. w00t for you, Good Luck with your programming! I never heard of digipen before though.

 

[zleppelin]

Judging by the admissions requirements of that school, it seems that you would have been accepted there even without the recommendation from Valve. I mean, who ends up with a high school GPA lower than 3.0!??!

 

[Kyorisu]

Congrats and all that, as he said get the social networking going. Otherwise computer science and an arts degree is all you ever need.

 

[AKIRA]

Hehe, well looks like my game development dreams are over I can't program/map for sh1t and the tutorials out there are all so vague. Besides all my friends have no interest in the development of gaming, just playing them lol.


But anyways, good luck Iced_Eagle!!!

 

[JNightshade]

That's awesome!

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Hehe, well looks like my game development dreams are over I can't program/map for sh1t and the tutorials out there are all so vague. Besides all my friends have no interest in the development of gaming, just playing them lol.


But anyways, good luck Iced_Eagle!!!

TBH, there is such a huge difference between making games and playing them.

I have such a hard time finding games which I can sit down and just enjoy... When I play games, I analyze it and find where they could make it better and such... Annoying habits but I guess it's good for my career choice.

If YOU want to make games, go for it. You don't need friends to help push you along if you are extremely motivated. For example, none of my friends even know about half of everything I do. Just keep going and just set your bar high and try as hard as you can.

My best advice to everyone is never leave your life saying "What if..." This motto so far has worked out pretty far with me grabbing every opportunity I can!

hool10: Here's just two shots I have from August (taken with my shitty camera phone)

The school logo on the front of the buildling.

About ten feet away and connected to the same building is the Nintendo Software Technology Group.

About a half a block away is the main Nintendo of America campus and I get to see this car every day in the parking lot... Yes it's supposed to be everyone's favorite yellow creature.

When I go back out there in the upcoming summer I may take a few more pics.

I will be moving in sometime in August of next year, and from then it will be 4 years of hard work

 

[lePobz]

Congrats, seems like you had a pretty eventful happy day.

My day consisted of staying in bed till 1pm, having a full Sunday roast, then watching TV and playing on the 360. Tough days, sundays.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

man that's awesome, glad to here it!

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Woah, congratulations Iced! It would be kickin' if Valve hired you.