Westwood College or UAT?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Mazer, May 18, 2005.

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  1. Mazer

    Mazer New Member

    I'm having a hard time deciding which school to choose because they both have online BA degrees in game software development (programming) which is what I want to obtain. I have heard some bad things about Westwood and its' past being accredited by the ACCSCT, but they seem to have a more extensive curriculum for this degree and they offer free alumni re-training so that is why I am thinking about going here. UAT on the other hand is accredited by the ACICS and I have yet to hear anything bad about that organization. UAT also seems to be more specialized in this degree and have offered it for longer than Westwood. Anyhow I'd appreciate any suggestions on which school I should go to, thanks.
     
  2. Murdok

    Murdok New Member

  3. Splas

    Splas New Member

    Am I mistaken or did most of the current programmers working in the industry not go through a "game development" curriculum. Most went through a software development and/or computer science type degree plan.

    I would think you would be much better off going one of those routes than a finite "gaming" degree.

    If you're interested in working in the video game industry you will need all the flexability you can get since most of the developers are revolving doors regarding employees. One year the company could be making hundreds of millions of dollars and the next year their gone. Its a crazy business that is anything but reliable and steady. So having a traditional background rather than a specific gaming education, to me, seems the better way to go.

    I highly doubt any developer will say, "We don't think a computer science degree is valuable"; however, I'm not so sure about the acceptance of an unproved discipline.

    Just my two cents.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 18, 2005
  4. guy_smiley

    guy_smiley New Member

    Ooops.. Heh.

    Well. I never wanted to discourage anyone. I was just sharing info.

    It's possible those students are lazy or have bad portfolios (read untalented). It's possible Westwood is doing nothing to help them find a job.

    However, what we do know is that the article aired and Westwood is not regionally accredited, which is usually important to people even when they don't know it is.

    I think the professors working for the school believe they're doing good work and they're probably teaching good stuff, but the world doesn't always judge you on what you know. Sometimes it judges you by the dipoloma you hold, which can be a hard thing to accept if you've just taken on a lot of debt.
     
  5. Murdok

    Murdok New Member

    Yeah that's true, I wasn't trying to discourage either I just thought that would be valuable information. I saw a lot of bad stuff about Capella but after reading I just ended up concluding it was just sour grapes and nothing more.

    Im sure almost all universities have some skeletons in their closet.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 18, 2005

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