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Guildhall at SMU Game School -- How is it?
Needanewnick asks: "I heard and read about the Guildhall, and I was wondering if anyone could relate their experiences from it? I've heard that many so called Game Development Schools don't really do much for preparing the student for life in the industry. Does the Guildhall address this very well? What are post graduation job possibilities? Basically, is this worth the tuition?"
I was asking around Dallas to see if people knew anything about success ratios in the program. From what I understood there was a pretty high pickup of people out of the program (something like 80-90%), course I have no idea what the pay was like as for it being "worth it", not sure anyone can answer that but the person asking. What are you looking for money? fun? prestige?
Okay, I have been reading the posts and it seems there is no real information about Guildhall being posted, only opinions, and not opinions related to Guildhall, but the industry in general. So here we go... 1) Guildhall is not a guild or a hall, as one poster seemed to infer. 2) Guildhall is not a college degree or only a single course of study at some specialty school. Guildhall is: 1) A "graduate certificate" program sponsored by Southern Methodist University in Dallas TX. 2) It is a joint venture between the world of academia and major players in the game industry to create a program to foster game development and create programmers and artist that are better suited to enter the game industry. That is not to say you can't do it on your own, it simply means that game companies are tired at looking at thousands of applicants a month that have no chance of getting in. Through Guildhall, the hope is to create people with the exact skills and portfolio needed in the industry. Amazing concept huh? lamens might call it "vocational" training or apprenticeships. 3) Anyone who says they know the success or failure rate of Guildhall is sucking wind to hear themselves suck wind. Guildhall opened its doors in the summer of 2003 and is not even done with the first COHORT group. Therefor there is no success or failure to report. 4) If you want to know the names of people associated with the program, industry or academia related, check out the website. www.guildhall.smu.edu Everything I said can be backed up with a little research on the website. In fact, I am not even a student at Guildhall, but I am considering it. I have also finished a BA in the Dallas area, and am very familiar with the program, even back to its inital inception. If you really want a viable source for game development information or information on getting into the game industry, check out these links: www.igda.org (International Game Developers Assoc. they host the Game Developers Conference every year. They have a local chapter in Dallas at SMU as a matter of fact. www.gignews.com a game recruiting website, based in dallas and hosted by the Cambron sisters. If you want to get to know someone in the industry that already has their foot in the door, and is keeping it open for others, talk to one of them. www.gamasutra.com go here for all things game dev. www.gamedeveloper.com part of gamasutra. Order the magazine and read about Guildhall or anything else you want to know about. Also, for 6$ download the 2003 Game Career Guide. I did, and its packed with good stuff. Hope this clears up confusion. mp
I'm a student at the Guildhall, on the Software Development track. I'm in the first cohort (group of people going through it) and we will be exactly halfway done this coming Tuesday.
As with any new program, there is both good and bad. I'm at GDC right now, and don't really have time to expand on each, but to sum it up, it's my opinion that the positives outweigh the negatives, and it's worth it.
The most recent press release in the news section mentions one internship that's currently underway as a result of the program. It's not the only one, nor the most impressive one. I'd say more but would like to wait for a newer press release announcing it. It's an opportunity that I doubt would have been available without the connections the program has with the industry.