Could use some Input.. (in Off-topic)

Well.. I've been debating about possibly trying to attend Tribeca flash point media arts academy in the fall of 2011. I even have a tour setup on October 23. My field of choice will be "games and interactive media".

Now this is why I"m so iffy about it. The tuition will cost around $25,000 per year, on top of that I will need to come up with cash to live on also, and the worst part I don't qualify for financial aide.

Is there anyway I can feasibly make this dream of mine a reality?

I'm not familiar with what it takes to get deep into the gaming industry, but I will say for most technology related stuff that starting by doing it on your own is a must. Trade schools in general are a scam, this doesn't sound like that kind of place, but I'm fairly certain the same idea applies.

One of my best friends owns a very large Video Game Company up in Canada.

Two things he tells me that he looks for are: University level Computer science or related.

.....and a massive passion for games.

These two things are not specifically required. just very very very very handy to have. He told me he has hired people based solely on the passion for games requirement alone. They dont monkey with coding mind...but the do alot of game design, technical writing, production and advertising. with little to no education. Seriously. If I had not got the job I got right now...I'd bug him for a job.

My recommendation is to go to a State University, (if you are American) you can almost always qualify for some sort of aid from state schools.

and if you still dont...you can usually pay 13-15k a year for tuition at a mediocre state school.

weee more posts.

forgot to say AND concentrate heavily at university in CS and maybe some Art and Design classes.

Then build a portfolio of projects, artwork, games, you've made and worked on. then pitch yourself to whole industry all over the place till you get hired.

word for the wise. The Gaming Industry employment index is currently 50-60% unemployed. So study hard, build a rock solid portfolio and do a lot of praying.

My question is why limit yourself this way? I'd imagine if you were attending a place like this you could attend a decent college with a decent CS department, no? I currently am attending RIT for a degree in CS, while I have an insane passion for games and aspire to work in that industry, I chose the CS field for a number of reasons. On top of the gaming industry being pretty difficult, computer science is just much more robust. Every company I have talked to, or looked at their job ads, have asked for CS grads. Bethesda, Bungie, Activision, Zynga, they're all looking for CS students, although they like GD students too. Although, Zynga at a meeting the other day mentioned that they prefer CS students of GD student, simply because they have found them to be better at what needs done in that field. So, this is my take on the situation. Hope it all works out.

I highly recommend reading the comments on this page before making a decision: http://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/10/06/0438203/Best-Education-Path-To-Learn-Video-Game-Programming