Future Undergraduate Students

Overview

Welcome to IGM! Interested in visiting us? Fill out our request form here. Any questions, please contact Erin Graham at emgigm@rit.edu

This is IGME

Video created by 2023 IGM Ambassadors: Alexa Amoriello and Kaelyn Beeman

Thank you for visiting our site to learn more about our academic programs. This video is intended as a virtual tour for prospective students to give them an overview of our school in the areas of: culture, academics, facilities, and more! We invite you to visit IGM through our tours and presentations that are offered throughout the year. You will have the opportunity to learn about our academic programs, see the classrooms and research labs, as well as ask any questions you may have.

 Interested in visiting us? Fill out our request form here. Any questions, please contact Erin Graham at emgigm@rit.edu

Why IGM?

The School of Interactive Games and Media is nationally and internationally renowned for innovative approaches to media-centric computing that merge the creative design of the interactive experience with the development of content, technologies, and systems that form the basis of such work. The School supports, wherever and whenever possible, multi- disciplinary work that fuses these elements in pursuit of its academic mission.

IGM is comprised of talented and motivated individuals from a variety of academic  backgrounds with a shared interest in computing as it relates to interactive and social media, new media, games, simulations, and media-centric systems of all varieties. Our mission is to provide a sustained educational environment that supports and encourages creative and collaborative academic inquiry by both faculty and students into these areas. IGM's programs, coursework, research, and development efforts provides students with the knowledge and skills to pursue meaningful and rewarding careers in this arena, while simultaneously advancing the field and helping to provide a well-rounded educational experience.

IGM's Game Design and Development degrees are currently ranked in the Princeton Review's Top 10 National Game Design academic programs. Additionally, we are the first university to offer a Bachelors Degree in New Media Interactive Development.

High School

Admission to the IGM Bachelor of Science programs requires strong math, science, writing, and communication skills. At a minimum, high school applicants should have taken pre-calculus. We recommend they also complete calculus and physics. Courses in computing or technology are desirable but not required.

  • We highly encourage you to submit a portfolio of sample project work (websites, programs, code samples, etc.), though it is not required.
  • Students interested in the BS/MS program in Game Design and Development must wait until their third (3rd) year at RIT to enroll.

Transfer Students

Please review RIT's transfer student information to learn more about joining RIT. Below, we post specific information about IGM's academic programs Please note that at this time the School of Interactive Games and Media does not offer part-time or online coursework for our degree programs.

Transfer admission to IGM's undergraduate degree programs (Game Design and Development and New Media Interactive Development) is available to students according to the following requirements:

  • Completed a year or more of study at a regionally accredited institution of higher education.
  • Minimum grade point average of 3.0 (specifically in math, science, and other technical coursework).
  • Enrolled in or completed an AS or BS degree program in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related computing degree with courses in programming, computer applications, math, science, and liberal arts.

We look closely at programming and math courses and grades. If possible, please include an online portfolio, which includes examples of your work (e.g., websites, programs, source code samples, and design/animation examples). Acceptance as a transfer student to one of our undergraduate programs is currently competitive due to the limited seat availability.

Visit Us

Different students have different needs.

For all accepted and future students, IGM provides additional small-group tours and presentations from 3-5pm Monday - Friday, which we have found extremely effective for students to learn about our programs. Please reserve your spot by filling out this interest form: forms.gle/hTKrCm2ipUNLQVC66. After making a reservation, you will receive specific directions on when/where/how to meet us.

Please contact us

If you have any questions regarding a visit, please e-mail Erin Graham at emgigm@rit.edu, and she will direct you to the appropriate resource and/or person.

Change of Program and Double Majors

If you are an undergraduate RIT student seeking a change of program or a double major, we have two undergraduate degrees from which you can choose:

Because of the popularity of these programs and capped enrollment, we have limited availability for students seeking either a change of program or double major. For students seeking Game Design & Development, we strongly recommend first considering one of our Minors.

Information about our Change of Program process, including deadlines and required application materials, can be found here.

FAQs

Here is a list of frequently asked questions as an additional resource. If you have additional questions not answered here, please contact Erin Graham at emgigm@rit.edu to arrange a conversation with an IGM representative.

See www.gamasutra.com (join the mailing list), www.gamedev.net, www.nmc.org (start with the Horizon Report) and www.digmedia.org.

Students take several programming courses and three math courses that cover discrete math, graphical simulation, and computing. In general, students seeking additional technical depth would take further courses as part of their free electives.  Students who want to focus specifically on writing, narrative, art, business, etc. should consider another degree program and a Minor in Game Design (which requires minimal programming). Note that entry-level jobs in design, writing, music, and production are fiercely competitive.

GDD students take two courses in game design after their first year and may take several electives specifically related to design (e.g., level design, causal games, table-top games, etc.) These elective courses are also available to NMID students that take the pre- requisites.

In both GDD and NMID, students take two art and animation courses to learn how to work with students in art programs. NMID students have specific courses shared with New Media Design, which is the sibling program. Some IGM students seeking additional art courses to become technical/procedural artists take art courses from the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences via their electives.

Consider NMID, which is a broader field of interaction and software development. Receiving a degree in NMID offers exceptional job prospects. Some students may wish to take another RIT major along with one of IGM’s minors.

We strongly recommend that you do not consider double majors unless you can meet the following conditions: you have taken at least one year of classes, you have high grades, and you are bored/have a significant amount of free time. Usually, students should pursue a minor, filling as many elective spots with related courses in this other field. In time, students may discover even stronger interests and pursue a graduate degree. So, instead of spending 5+ years getting two undergraduate degrees and overloading yourself, consider spending the same amount of time and get a graduate degree, which will likely earn you higher pay and better professional development.

Investigate jobs for companies posted on https://www.rit.edu/emcs/oce/employer/creative-industry-day. These 60+ companies seek software developers that work in collaboration with designers, artists, user interface/user experience, and business & marketing. They build apps, websites, and others kinds of interactive software. In fact, many of these job titles are called interactive developer, digital media developer, app/mobile developer, web developer, UI/UX, and a wide-variety of corresponding titles for design and art.

Working on games can be an amazing way to motivate you to learn a vast set of technical, creative, communication, and collaboration skills—all coveted by a variety of industries. By considering the wide variety of games that spans society, IGM students have landed many outstanding jobs working on games. But given the fierce competition, some students will look to the general software industry, which has a multitude of creative and exciting opportunities—these students have gotten jobs with great pay, hours, and stability. In fact, many “non-game” companies seek GDD students because of their technical skillset and understanding of the user experience.

Although we do not require students to know programming before coming to college, we strongly recommend that they try it out—gain some exposure. Since you will be programming nearly every semester, the sooner you can discover that you would enjoy doing it (or not), the better. Try one or more online tutorials, e.g., csharp.net- tutorials.com, processing.org/tutorials, openframeworks.cc/tutorials. Consider also continuing with JavaScript/HTML5, Unity, and/or mobile development to get a taste of both NMID and GDD.

One way to demonstrate interest in IGM is to start learning something about interactive media and/or game development. For example, take a tutorial, create a small project, and post it on a personal website (e.g., screenshots, videos, source code). If you have some prior work, definitely include it in your portfolio. Include the link in your application, which might need to be inside your essay(s).

Take as many math (calculus, linear algebra, discrete) courses as possible, along with physics. Demonstrate that you can handle technical courses during the same term and that you have excellent writing skills. Ensure that you meet with an IGM representative before graduating from your current college—the earlier, the better. We cannot guarantee that RIT will admit you, but our guidance might help, especially if you discover early that you do (or don’t) like technical courses. For more information, see www.rit.edu/gccis/igm/transfer-students.

IGM students take two blocks of co-ops after their sophomore year. Although students usually take them during the summers, co-ops can also happen during the academic school year (Fall-Spring). Students on co-op do not pay tuition. In general, the first co-op tends to focus on general software development, given that students have just finished their first two years of courses. In time, students become more competitive, and they gain access to exciting opportunities. Design jobs tend to be more competitive, though some IGM students get them.

Yes! We are continuing to develop academic partnerships each year. Currently, we have plans for our sibling campus in Croatia and growing partnerships in Sweden and Germany. Many students have worked and/or studied in Japan, and the opportunities continue to develop. For general information and an overview for all programs at RIT, please see at www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/global.

At this time, IGM does not provide shadowing (following) of someone at RIT to learn about our school or the gaming industry, due to the disruption in our courses and student's studying.

To learn about IGM, the game industry, and possible career path(s):

  • Do your research at our webpage, this FAQ, or http://www.gamecareerguide.com
  • Attend our open houses, weekly presentations or attend events.
  • IGM occasionally hosts outreach events, and RIT hosts ImagineRIT and Kids on Campus.
  • RITx is a collaboration between RIT and online course provider edX. IGM has published several video game related courses to RITx and information about then can be found here: https://www.edx.org/school/ritx/.
  • There are regional events like RPI's "GameFest" and "PaxEast" that have game industry representatives.

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Title IX Coordinator

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Stacy.DeRooy@rit.edu
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