College! advice?

[Outrider]

Interns aren't paid in most cases.......you're there for the experience, not the job hence the term intern and not employee.

That's... not entirely true. If you're interning but doing the work of a regular employee, they generally have to pay your or they're violating labor laws. (The vague but general rule I've read is that if the company gets more value from you than you do from the internship, then they need to pay you.)

I think my company pays ~$15/hour to interns, but most of the time they have some level of relevant experience (albeit sometimes minor) from doing projects in classes or on their own time.

Then again, the first place I worked after getting my degree was an unpaid internship in which I was doing a 45 hour-a-week job and only getting a small, monthly stipend. On the one hand, it did lead to my current job, but on the other, much more important hand, it was completely exploitative and illegal.

I would recommend NOT doing an internship like that even if you're not in need of the money. Your time and skills have value and you should be getting something out of it if you're giving it away.

[Shadownami92]

It's a bit late but Polycount has tons of threads about choices with college and working the the game industry.

The general consensus is that it's a horrible idea and overall it's a waste of money (unless you plan to work in another country.)

Keep in mind that the game industry is extremely volitile and that long term jobs aren't as common as they used to be. Many of the top game artists I know expect to have to move around quite a bit to where the jobs are.

Furthermore if I recall Pasadena Art Centre is a great place for school but its better to get a traditional art degree rather than one in game art, game art degress aren't as flexible and can often be of poorer quality than the classes focusing ont he fundamentals.

On the bright side, you are going to California Art Centre, so at least you are going to a good school. I know too many artists in the industry that went to Ai and left with $80,000 in student loans, a degree that was actually unnacredited and without a job until they learned everything they needed at home using feedback from proffesionals on various art forums and just practicing in their off time.

Here is one of the Polycount threads I remember on the subject. http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100413

Keep in mind that a large portion of the people that are posting in that thread have jobs in the game industry.

Personally, I went to community college as a starter and through a friend that went to Art Centre actually recommended me profesors there that worked at both. With research you can actually get the same profesors in community colleges as bigger universities at a fraction of the cost with the only downside being that you don't have the degree. But when it comes to getting work it's all about networking and your portfolio.

[strikerhunter]

That's... not entirely true. If you're interning but doing the work of a regular employee, they generally have to pay your or they're violating labor laws. (The vague but general rule I've read is that if the company gets more value from you than you do from the internship, then they need to pay you.)

I think my company pays ~$15/hour to interns, but most of the time they have some level of relevant experience (albeit sometimes minor) from doing projects in classes or on their own time.

Then again, the first place I worked after getting my degree was an unpaid internship in which I was doing a 45 hour-a-week job and only getting a small, monthly stipend. On the one hand, it did lead to my current job, but on the other, much more important hand, it was completely exploitative and illegal.

I would recommend NOT doing an internship like that even if you're not in need of the money. Your time and skills have value and you should be getting something out of it if you're giving it away.

Well if you're doing the work of an employee then no doubt you should get paid.

[Noblewine]

Study hard and create a system to balance out how you spend your money. Hobbies like playing a game every once in a while is a good way to relax.

[Fusionxglave]

yeah I can say right now that studying hard is what makes the dough.

it is okay to quite and you can always comeback when you have a want to join the game again. Also there could always be better versions of this game or even newer versions.

Phantasy star online 3.

pretty far but still getting studying is very important.

[macrobreaker]

Be kind to your roommate, don't mess with their stuff, and don't fall into peer pressure.

[Noblewine]

A job is a good source of income though the problem is balancing out your work and school schedule.