/digipen/ - DigiPenitentiary

>>3581

I wouldn't take 8chan shitpoaster's view of DigiPen without a grain of salt as well, what do you expect from a board like this

>>3581

You're better off asking and browsing answers on the subreddit. Also, speaking as a member of some of the diversity groups at DigiPen, it's not like we go and argue for students to come here all the time. We also don't tell people not to come here. We just sort of exist, and we all have our own opinions on what sucks, and what we like, and why we came and why we stayed.

digipen isn't that corrupt (no more so than any company really), but it does have a few transparency issues that you can't really talk about anywhere else but here. Take everything you read here with a grain of salt, but don't disregard it either.

In the end this is the only place you can criticize some of the things this school does. Take that as you will

>>3581

Publicly we're all SJWs, but if someone gets triggered they are pretty much universally laughed at by the student body

Take what you read here with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary, etc. etc.

That said, I transferred away from DigiPen after my freshman year(I got a scholarship based on academic performance so I only have to pay off student loans for DigiPen since it was a for-profit school), and most DigiPen students are honestly smart enough to be able to get a CS degree elsewhere without wasting their time or money with the RTIS program, but the proximity to the industry is a HUGE selling point, and for some folks this point is mistaken for enough of a reason to go to dp.

For current students afraid of leaving, since there are some of you posting I think, a word from someone who left: Make your own decision and don't forget that you can change your mind, whenever the hell you want. You are paying THEM to be there, so it's always YOUR choice. Don't let it get in your head that this school owns you. You owe Comair nothing other than your tuition for what you've taken.

tl;dr Make your own choices, both incoming and current students.

From the degree itself? A solid foundation on knowing how to program. RTIS has been mostly the same for 20 something years whereas the other degrees are relatively new which most of the bitching comes from. If you have any specific questions about it, I can help you out. Graduating this semester so I believe I know what I'd be talking about.

As for SJW? Everbody needs to be nice otherwise you burn a bridge that'll bite you in the ass later on. Nobody, at least in my experience, is in your face like the anonymous posts full of essays on 8ch.

>>3587

>most DigiPen students are honestly smart enough to be able to get a CS degree elsewhere without wasting their time or money with the RTIS program, but the proximity to the industry is a HUGE selling point, and for some folks this point is mistaken for enough of a reason to go to dp.

Yeah that can be said about every degree at digipen without ever going to any college. Working with people on a daily basis on your projects is the selling point of your resume.

>>3583

>>3584

>>3587

Thanks for the input guys, glad to see 8chan rant posts aren't the majority

>>3588

I've heard people give a ton of shit to certain courses for the teachers being incoherent, did you take any courses like that?

>>3588

Also, how much free time do people usually have?

I hear criticism on the GAM project for being too time sensitive, and that it (along with the workload) leaves students with zero free time

>>3589

>I've heard people give a ton of shit to certain courses for the teachers being incoherent, did you take any courses like that?

Unfortunately yeah. To be fair though, those professors were replaced since my time. Networking was -that- class in which everybody hated and it was reasonable since the professor and his TAs were power hungry ready to fail you for something you should have researched on your own for some obscure check that not even the tutorial Microsoft had posted.

>Also, how much free time do people usually have?

All depends on you(and the classes for the semester) and your team. If you manage your time well you can do your assignments without ever stressing out over time during a particular week. If you're not an all star team, you'll have plenty of time. Some teams work the minimum hours which is 14 hours(5 credit hours + 4 hours of lab) and you have some teams that end up pulling 40 hours a week. Personally speaking I jumped around 25 +- 5 hours which still allowed plenty of free time. How much? I dunno never actually kept tracked, but it was almost always weekends.

>>3590

BSGD here.

Free time is relatively reasonable. I mean you work a lot too, but I go out to shows and events in seattle all the time. As long as you actually do your work you'll be fine.

>>3585

Triggered someone last spring. Everyone was uncomfortable and nobody wanted to talk to the person or engage them in any way

Seriously. If you have to leave the room for a half an hour to compose yourself before nearly breaking into tears talking to the teacher (completely ignoring the person who triggered you in the process) I think you actually have mental problems and should see someone.

>>3590

Fucking this >>3593

The people who say they have no time are absolute shite at budgeting time and anticipating workloads

"Oh I spent all day playing videogames and masturbating so now I have to stay up all night to finish this assignment the night before it's due."

Although I'm a BFA so maybe it's different. But I doubt it. We're worked pretty hard too

>>3595

To be fair it's not just digipen, colleges everywhere are having this issue. They coddle young adults from "harmful" ideas. Zero critical thinking skills.

I mean it's one thing to be dropping racial slurs all the time and saying faggot like you're on a Chan board. But FFS if you can't have a civil discussion without having a mental breakdown how are you gonna make it in the Real World (TM)

(A different) BSGD here. I've taken a fair chunk of what this school has to offer (coding, design, some art classes, etc.) and this isn't my first college so I have an idea of what else is out there too.

As a DigiPen student coming in Fall 2016 (I presume?) expect a relatively (but not overly) crowded school. The students aren't all SJW, socially inept, etc., but they do exist and aren't rare. Not everyone is hygenic and not everyone gives a crap about any of their work (which is rather typical for college). I will say that this school has a lot more bureaucracy going on behind the scenes than any other school I've been to, which is a problem. This board makes it look worse than it is though since a lot of people come here to complain first and shitpost later. It's not Orwell's 1984 in here, don't worry.

As an RTIS student, you've chosen a good degree (if it turns out to be your thing). It's one of the better managed degree programs in the schools, and there's many good teachers for your classes. A lot of the complaining here comes from the GD programs, where the orgainization is poor, the teachers are hit-or-miss, and either the administration doesn't care or you have rather poor job prospects (though it's far from unfair or unusual for a college if you actually put effort into it).

Anyways, RTIS will still be a lot of work and if you can't manage your time you will be quickly swamped, but otherwise you'll just always be adequately busy and get used to it. It is more stressful than other schools in that regard, but you'll get a bit more out it than say Generica Community College's tech degree. Many state universities give DigiPen a run for their money in this regard though.

The main differences with DigiPen are that you get more thrown at you comparatively and the emphasis on projects. Getting in groups with people you probably don't know all that well in Freshman year is probably what generates most of the initial stress and ranting, but the group experience (and potential portfolio pieces for your resume) are of great value.

Also I don't eat here so I can't vouch for DigiPen's food (I hear it's hit or miss with a tendency towards misses) but Redmond has a number of places to eat at (besides the usual fast food) if you have money.

tl;dr Yes we have our weirdos and there's a lot of work, but if this school was a literal Hell it probably wouldn't be doing all that well financially. And it's doing quite well financially.

>>3603

food's a bit expensive in redmond, unless you want to eat at mcdonalds all the time.

>>3604

cafe generally has good food, with exception to some of the specials. I wouldn't trust that new vending machine with the microwavable food though.

>>3606

That's not true, there are plenty of tasty places in Redmond that don't cost a ton. Even more so if you're willing to go out to Kirkland or surrounding areas as well.

>Feed Co. is good and affordable if you're just getting a basic burger

>Racha Noodle is excellent Thai Food

>Blazing Bagel makes great breakfast sandwiches

Out in Kirkland you've got

>Kirkland Pho

>Milagro

>Coco Ramen in Bellevue is decent and open till like 1am or something

You of course have expensive options, but who goes to eat at Daniel's Broiler every night?

>>3581

For the RTIS degree:

Expect some extremely high quality CS classes with a stronger focus on graphics/physics than other CS programs but the advanced classes on stuff like databases or networking are optional. If you don't specifically want to program video games then you should strongly consider somewhere else. I'd reckon Digipen still has one of the best programs for general CS but you can get a decent CS degree for cheaper elsewhere. Don't be afraid of switching to the other 2 CS degrees too (general CS or Engineering and Sound Design but don't bother with BSCSGD).

Digipen in general:

I had some mild fears about the school being somewhat overrun by tumblr but that certainly isn't the case. I hear people talk pretty openly against "SJW" stuff to an extent so I wouldn't really say it's much of a problem. Anything the school does that comes off that way is more of a formality than anything (renaming a bathroom to the "All-gender bathroom", offering some kind of gender studies class, etc).

The only thing that consistently puts me off is actually other classmates, specifically the freshmen. There is a super high dropout rate freshman year which sounds like a bad thing at first but it actually seems to weed out the kind of students that would give the school a bad rep. Now everyone here is a nerd for the most part, but I'm talking about the awkward losers who are incapable of holding a normal conversation with someone else in person. The people that actually come to school wearing a fedora and sandals or don't take care of themselves (fucking shower holy shit). Of course some make it through freshman year but many don't so I guess that relieved me. Other than them you will always have to deal with pretentious BSGD students who are entirely useless but you can ignore them pretty easily.

Outside of that there's really not much to complain about, just make sure you get involved with at least something other than classes (clubs, senate, degree councils) to have at least some connections outside of your cohort and please fucking shower god damn. Also it would be wise to avoid housing, the "dorms" are just more restrictive apartments that cost more and have the potential to put you with one of the weird extremely autistic freshman.

It's one of the best schools for CS.

The whole school bows to the GAM department.

Most of the games that are made aren't that great because students have classes or aren't inetersted in game design or have a shitty designer on their team.

The experience of working on teams building something you have total creative control over every semester is worth it and prepares you way better for the workplace than normal classes would.

>>3628

any tips on where I should check for a non dorm living-space?

http://allenchou.net/2015/07/digipen-the-game-school-i-went-to/

As an outsider, most of the posts in this thread sound very shill worthy, like they came from a recruiter.

>>3668

Any in particular? Or just all of them in general? And why? Just curious.

It's probably like that because no one wants to be called out for whining. To be fair, all colleges have issues, so when you step back DigiPen isn't that bad even if it's problems might get to you sometimes.

>>3604 was my post here fyi (not posting from the same computer, because at school). I suppose I could shorten my point to something more geared towards for a first-time college goer (since I kinda forgot about the whole "just out of high-school" situation a lot of incoming students are in).

-Colleges give you degrees and a small amount of experience.

-Getting a degree takes work & effort. Period. For those used to high-school, this will suck until you get used to it.

-In general, compared to other colleges, DigiPen is a lot of work. This is a turn-off for many people who come here.

-DigiPen's strength are its projects, which get you valuable experience, connections, & something physical to show potential employers.

-Weird people, expenses, blah blah etc (welcome to college. Such things are the norm).

>>3673

It's probably everything said about RTIS is mostly positive overall. So naturally it does look like shilling, just like with any other service/product that you had a positive experience with. Meanwhile every other degree is filled with complaints overall.