/digipen/ - DigiPenitentiary

1) leaving as soon as my paperwork clears.
2) 8chan as far as I'm aware is anonymous unless you're breaking the law. This is supposed to be a safe place for us to air our dissatisfaction.

There are positive aspects to this school like its kickass cs classes, but this is not where you'd see much of that.

>>1431
Aas an employer, I would rather hire a complainer that wants to see things get better, than a fucking pushover that is willing to suck a superiors dick and fantasize all day about the zero engine.

Thanks for the concern, but this school's reputation as the best school for video game development is set by a low bar. It preys on the starry eyed high school grads with aspirations in the game industry, and artificially deflated students' grades. It takes vulnerable people with no baseline for college experiences and convinces them it's normal for professors to hide behind locked doors during their office hours, to be at school from 8 in the morning to midnight, and to work under a Stalinlike figure who tells them they are inferior while giving his stoned son a professor job which he inevitably gets bored with. It encourages us to never interact with our cafeteria staff outside of an anonymous board. It inflates our hiring rates with an R&D firm hidden away on the third floor. It refrains from offering us the use of its equipment (treadmills, mocap equipment, and 3d printers come to mind). It sends art students into serious depression with draconian laws about grading policy and petty professors. It shakes is head and goes tisk tisk at people who exhibit a life outside of the building. It pushes expensive food that becomes even more expensive when made in house. It lets professors like Morrison and Schafer and Clark and Portegys remain until loud angry students finally push back. It had to 'encourage' students to be on their best behavior when it's accreditation was to be evaluated. It rents apartments en masse and then rents them to students at double the cost. It claims to teach designers to make fun games when if you examine how it's graded, you'll see that a game being fun isn't even relevant.

Don't tell me not to ruin this school's reputation, it's doing that already.

>>1431
You stupid dumbass fuck. What the fuck are you even saying? I'm assuming you're staff, because I refuse to believe that anyone would have their head so far up their ass while simultaneously fellating Claude as to post something so ridiculously stupid.

>hypothetical me, DigiPen graduate, at job interview for mid-tier game development company
>interview is going well, got stuck on a tough whiteboard programming problem, but it shouldn't be a big deal
>show my portfolio of work to interviewer, he seems impressed
>wrap up interview, get assured I will be contacted whether I get the job or not within the week
>a week goes by, no word back from the company
>two weeks, still nothing
>three weeks, finally I decide to call to see what happened
>secretary puts me on hold for three hours
>finally get through to the person I need to talk to
>ask why I didn't get the job, or even hear back from them at all
>hiring manager replies "well… once we made the connection that you're a DigiPen student, there's no way we could hire you
>tell the guy wait what, I thought DigiPen students were held in high esteem in the industry
>he explains, "well yes, until we discovered that vile and filthy /digipen/ board on 8chan. sure, they all the posters are anonymous, and yes, it seems like many of them raise valid concerns about the school, its staff, its treatment of students, its ethics, and its validity as an actual educational establishment… but we decided from that day, we would never hire another DigiPen student, because what if they were one of the anonymous posters??????????"

Jesus fucking Christ, once you're done cleaning the semen off Claude's hairy dick, leave his office, ignore the signs that say you're not allowed to climb that ladder to the roof, climb the ladder to the roof, and fucking jump you idiotic faggot.

>>1431
Oh hai Rachel.

>>1436 amen.

Since we are paying this school a shit load of money, we have every right in the world to think critically about it OP.

1431

It's your line of thinking that made Hitler's, Stalin's, Mussolini's, Mao's and every other horrible person in the world's plan come true.

You're basically saying: Don't object to anything happening here. If you do, bad things will happen. Everything is perfectly fine. There are absolutely no problems here and, if you think so, you can take your 40k in loans and drop out.

People like you need to drop out or play in traffic. Either option is fine by me.

And to clarify my analogy, I'm just saying that appeasing superiors and ignoring problems does not make your education better. It will, in fact, make it worse and make your prospects of getting a better job worse as well.

If you want to drink the kool-aid, go right ahead. Have fun not getting a real job after you graduate with over 100k in student loan debt.

>Most of the shit you guys are posting just makes you look like fools
Like what? The concern for BFA's contemplating suicide? The fact that the first aid kits were understocked until very recently? The lack of a medical professional on-staff?

>>1436
I cannot agree with this more.

I already got a job and nobody cares about DigiPen. We aren't special. Get over it.

>>1469
OP is either one of the New Triad, someone who is sucking the collective dick of the New Triad, or a ridiculous troll pretending to be either of the former.

>>1471
Not 100% sure how but my post wound up in the wrong thread. That was supposed to be the one about digidrama

>>1436
This is the realest fucking Digipen post I've seen in a long goddamn time. Everything (and more than) I came here to say has been said by this guy.

>>1436
I am going to write this to counterbalance the negativity. I am a senior RTIS student, and what I'm saying may not apply to other degree programs. Your post, and many others like it on these boards, does not reflect the experiences that I've had at DigiPen.

First, Portegys was hired less than a year ago. The fact that he's still here doesn't really speak to what DigiPen's plan is for him, since he's only been teaching two semesters. I haven't had the other professors so I can't speak to them.

Second, I transferred from another college, and while the workload here is certainly higher, the fact that you're on campus from 8 until midnight means, in my eyes, that you're doing something wrong. I'm RTIS, so maybe it's the difference in the degree programs, but I spend around 40 hours a week on school on average. During the busiest weeks, I spend 50. I have never had a problem with the workload, and I've always felt like it was fair. You also state that grades are artificially deflated, but I have relatively easily maintained a 3.5 GPA and have never gotten below a B- in a class.

Third, DigiPen does have a good reputation, at least for its RTIS program. Microsoft hires a huge amount of RTIS students. Others go to top gaming companies. Very few of this years graduating class aren't already employed. Personally, I am graduating to an amazing offer making far more than I ever thought I'd make, and many of my friends are too. I interviewed at several top companies, some not in the games industry but all local, and all of them knew about DigiPen and its positive reputation.

From where I'm standing, this board speaks to a very vocal minority of students who have not had the same success as me and my friends. I am an RTIS graduating in a few weeks, and I am incredibly happy with the education I received at DigiPen. You, and a lot of people on this board, are acting like this university is some scam bordering on a conspiracy, but please don't act like your experiences reflect the experience of most students, because I know most of my friends' and my own opinions are totally different than what you've described.

This board has raised some valid criticisms. I know for a fact that professors are reading these boards, and I really believe that many of the things you are writing about will be implemented in due time. But I don't regret going to DigiPen for a second.

>>1502
I appreciate the counterpoints, and am glad that you feel you got your money's worth here. I'm sure that my long angry post does not reflect the experiences you've had, but it was composed of complaints I've had coupled with those of MY friends, so obviously we keep to very different circles.

Portegys was only one of four professors I mentioned. I didn't know how long he'd been here, only the trainwrecks of classes I've been in with him.

8 until midnight are just the standard campus hours, which Claude himself has said that he thinks every student should fully utilize. I room with a BFA who goes into school at 8, works there until midnight, and then goes home to work until 2, rinse, and repeat. Again, results are not necessarily typical, but the fact that it's a routine for someone seems to be a major flaw in the system.

The artificial deflation of grades can be most prominently seen in GAT and GAM classes. Getting penalties for design aspects of your game as an RTIS is simply not justifiable in my eyes. I can understand the need to keep it in the rubric, but even at 1/2 value the design CR's are still too weighty in my opinion. If you exceed 90%, they start logarithmically scaling your grade so that you can't earn a 100%. If you score a 110%? I believe that's a 98 on your final grade. (Don't quote me on that for sure, because I'm not looking directly at a GAM rubric presently, but it's something to that effect). Design classes like GAT250 will dish out severe grade penalties at the end for art and sound requirements, and GAT210 and 211 will force you into a frantic arts and crafts project in order to submit on time. (If you're smart about your board games' components, you'll likely be able to get away with less hustle and bustle, but often Professor Holcomb will tell you that your components simply aren't workable quality or need to be changed).

DigiPen's RTIS program? In my opinion, it's gold. (I'm a BSGD and sometimes myself wonder if I should've switched to RTIS) I'm not going to lie, the best way to get your money's worth here is with the RTIS degree. However, the hiring rates for the other degrees swings wildly(BAGD is the riskiest, since nobody wants to hire someone as an "idea guy", and BFA is a tricky one since it requires an immaculate portfolio for hiring purposes). Congratulations on your hiring offer - I really mean that.

I'm not 100% sure if the board is a minority, and it's near impossible to gauge statistics there since a lot of us are posting from DigiPen, meaning we often ID as the same user. On top of that, it's explicitly a board to complain about how we feel this school is run. That said, I feel strongly that everything I've written is a genuine concern. I don't feel *scammed* so much as disappointed. A school for making video games was my dream as a kid, and I've been let down so many times here in so many ways. I've had to say goodbye to so many talented friends over the last 3 years as they dropped out, not because of any lack of dedication or work ethic, but because they just couldn't catch a break. One of my best friends here is now attempting GAT210 for the *third time* and I simply can't fathom why, when I look at the amazing quality of work he does for the class. One dropped out and tried to commit suicide because he felt like a failure after he couldn't get through his lightest semester of classes.

I'm glad that you don't regret going to DigiPen - people like you are the reason that the school isn't irredeemable. But please don't think that because you never encountered people struggling in this place that nobody should ever struggle here.

>>1510
My biggest point is that many of the posters on this board across the various threads here act as though the problems they are mentioning are systemic and representative of the average student's struggle. Maybe they are, but it certainly isn't the case with my group of friends.

I'd like to respond to a few things:

>The artificial deflation of grades can be most prominently seen in GAT and GAM classes.
The lowest grade I've got in a GAM class is a B. While I can see how it would be frustrating to be graded on design as an RTIS student, it is a team project, and you are expected to work cross discipline, and even a fairly mediocre design will get you in the B range. CRs are a pain, but I don't think they're really that bad, and I haven't really had a problem with them. If your grade is lower than what you feel you deserve, you should talk to Ellinger. if you can show that your contribution as an RTIS went above and beyond what the final grade reflected because of design issues, it would surprise me if he wouldn't work with you (he did this for me one semester).

Many of your other points seem like they more pertain to the BSGD degree, which I cannot address. From what I've read on this board, a large portion of the posters seem to be non-RTIS. That's probably the difference in our experiences.

>>1512
We don't particularly have a good way of measuring overall student morale, unfortunately, so the two camps just don't get one another.

Like I said, I think the RTIS degree is relatively solid. Of all the degrees, it's been around the longest and had the best track record. I think odds are the people happiest with the degree tend to be RTISes, who are also the must numerous degree IIRC.

I've gotten nowhere from talking to Ellinger, to be honest. What really matters is how much he likes your game, and he plays favorites. Hard. He has explicitly told my team our game is not worth playing(but waited to say this until Alpha, despite us showing it to him on a SEMI-WEEKLY BASIS).

Most of my points do pertain to BSGD, because again, I am a junior BSGD, though also from BFA's and BAGD's. I don't know many MSD's or CE's, so I can't speak much to their experiences at the school, but I feel that I am at least familiar enough with my friends' issues with the school that I can safely talk about them without being inaccurate.

>>1502
>First, Portegys was hired less than a year ago. The fact that he's still here doesn't really speak to what DigiPen's plan is for him, since he's only been teaching two semesters. I haven't had the other professors so I can't speak to them.

Here's the thing about him, he was hired something like ~2weeks before the semester started so I can see why he was awful for the first semester. The 2nd semester? Not so much, he clearly could have planned so much better. He isn't that bad of a professor, but his teaching level of quality is far different from the rest. Does Volper sees promise? I don't know, maybe he's just someone that could have filled in the gaps on such short notice that Jeff Jeff used to teach. Maybe he's teaching too many courses as once so he can't plan very well? Maybe he's just bad overall? Who knows, but based off my experience in the fall it was not worth spending money to take a course from him. Then again asm with Woo? Wu? whatever his name is wasn't any better from what I've been told.

> Personally, I am graduating to an amazing offer making far more than I ever thought I'd make
Since we're all anonymous, do you mind me asking how much your offer(s) are/were?

>>1562
The offer is 6 figures. Would rather not say more.

>>1566
Well holy shit, congrats! I would like to point out that a 6 figure offer is pretty rare, and most people here would be happy with a 5 figure salary to pay off their loans. You're one of the lucky ones(and of course skill is a factor).

Please don't view this as any sort of attack, but don't forget that your case is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to leaving.

>>1431

>> Don't ruin the schools reputation, or yours for that matter. Be smart.

It's not bitching that is ruining the reputation, it's the poor management that is ruining it, in my opinion. Rubrics that change over halfway through the semester, awarding honors to a pretty but technically broken game like subray, the feeling that we need to make things artificially "hard" because we are known for being "hard" and stuff like that.

>>1566
Damn dude, congrats on that. I'm really happy to see other students getting insane offers as their first job. Funny enough I personally would be happy with 50k after taxes. Any tips you'd suggest to a current junior rtis that'll be job hunting next year? [spoiler]Unfortunately no internship ;_; maybe I should have tried harder.

>>1629
Not >>1566 but I've been out for a couple of years and had learned some stuff I wish DigiPen would have taught me about job stuff:

> Growing skills
Make sure you do stuff beyond what normal classes have you do. Look at jobs now, see which ones interest you, see what the requirements are, and focus on having the skills those jobs require.

>>Job fair
A lot less important than I would have thought, but some people did get jobs from it. Don't show off something everyone has done (I once saw someone showing off their CS 300 assignment; all it made me think was "this person hasn't done anything that would make me want to hire them over any other of the 150 RTIS grads")

> Resume
Recruiters will not take long to look at these, so make it short and sweet and easy to read. 1 PAGE ONLY! I really wanted to make mine 2 pages, I just felt there was a lot of stuff I wanted to show. That only hurts you; the recruiter is almost certainly not going to go beyond the 1st page. Tailor it per position.

> Cover letter
Don't just repeat your resume. Hit key points as to why you would be good for that specific position. Talk BRIEFLY about why you want to work at that company.

> Interview
Practice a bunch. On an actual whiteboard, with someone interviewing you (like a roommate), with a time limit. Use questions you find online or from a book. Make sure to walk the interviewer through your thought process as you attempt to solve the problem.