The Schools

Now that we've established the rules, let's plunge right into the rankings.

#10 - Full Sail Real World Education - Orlando, Florida

Population - 5,000

Geographical Location

Student Organizations N/A

Tournaments and LANs

Tech-friendliness

Internet Connection N/A (no dorms)

Curriculum


Welcome to the campus that never sleeps. At Full Sail Real World education, classes are held 24/7 and students partake in a rigorous work schedule to enter the game, music or film industries. The institution prizes ability over academics -- the only real admissions requirements for some of its programs are a GED or high school diploma -- and emphasizes the skills that will get you a job in the real world (hence the name). Don't get too excited, though -- when we say "rigorous schedule," we mean it. All of Full Sail's degrees are accelerated, so you get a Bachelor's degree in one-and-a-half years. And since it's a small school, Full Sail has no dormitories.

While you're there, you'll be working with a multitude of creative types and a lot of gamers who want to make their own entertainment. Toward the end of your tenure, you can attend Otronicon, one of the Southeast's largest gatherings of gamers and game industry professionals. Once a year, Full Sail sponsors a mini-E3 in Orlando attended by over 16,000 people. At Otronicon, you'll be able to play at over a hundred different game stations. But the highlight of the ten-day event definitely has to be the Video Game Championships. Players compete in 'Halo 2' and a multitude of other games for cash and hardware prizes. The finals take place on an eight-story screen in the Orlando Science Center auditorium.

After all that, there's a good chance of getting a job you really want. Recent graduates of Full Sail have gone on to work at Electronic Arts and Raven Software, just to name a few of the prestigious placements.

#9 University of Michigan, Dearborn Campus - Dearborn, Michigan

Population - 8,500

Geographical Location

Student Organizations

Tournaments and LANs

Tech-friendliness (no dorms/resnet, but hosts LANs)

Internet Connection N/A (no dorms)

Curriculum (elective courses at the graduate and undergraduate level, one graduate certificate)


The University of Michigan's Dearborn campus is sparsely populated, often bitterly cold and has no dorms. So why is it on this list?

Simple: MPCon. UMN-Dearborn hosts one of the largest LAN parties in the region, an event that has been going on for seven years. Approximately once a year, 100 to 250 gamers converge on Mary and Arthur Kochoff Hall on the UMN campus to play 'World of Warcraft' and exchange gunfire in 'Counter-Strike,' among other games. The best part is that MPCon is a fundraiser for the Association for Computing Machinery at Dearborn. Any university that hosts LAN parties is cool, in our book.

At UMN, you'll also be able to take a few elective courses in game design. But this isn't a serious school for that field of study.

#8 University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Population - 41,000 (Dorm population - 9000)

Geographical location

Student Organizations

Tournaments / LANs

Tech-friendliness

Internet Connection

Curriculum


With a large student body (41,000) and a dorm population that hovers around 9,000, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus is one of the better places to find frags. In fact, the Association for Computing Machinery on campus lets you do just that, holding monthly LAN parties where you can get your frag on. There's also free pizza!

At the dorms, you'll find your room supplied with a 10mbit ethernet connection and a ResNet compatible with your Xbox or (heaven forbid) PS2 for online gaming. There's also a treat for those that hope to live off-campus: the university, in conjunction with Qwest, offers subsidized DSL connections for interested students and faculty. DSL with download speeds of 7 megabits (and 896k upload) is available for $38 plus tax per month. If you're cheap, you can get 256/256 DSL for $13 a month.


Posted by Mahmood Ali on Aug 30 2006 3:59PM
 
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