@sbjdorlo, I don’t know if the Digital Arts/Game Design major is a 4-year program – that is certainly something your son should find out. I have to admit that I find it disingenuous that it was never mentioned at Admitted Students’ Day or Orientation that some combined majors in Computer Science would be limited to two co-ops. I know that the parent who posted about the change to a 4-year program on the NU Parents’ Board was also under the impression that his son would be doing 3 co-ops. In hindsight, I now know that if a sample course schedule shows no summer classes, it’s a 5-year, 2-co-op program.
My son will have a BS in a combined major of CS and Game Design from the School of Computer and Information Science, so I hope that it will be considered a CS degree. I’m nervous that they’ve changed the requirements for the major twice in just the time he’s been there, adding 5 more CS classes. The changes don’t pertain to him, but I’m worried that he’ll be at a disadvantage without them. He has 4 electives remaining, so he could take some of them, but he’s thinking of minoring in math, which would use up 2 electives.
Your son should compare the classes required for the UCI (my alma mater) degree and the NU CS/Game Design Degree and the NU Digital Arts/Game Design degree. NU was very generous in accepting dual enrollment credits for my son (homeschooled like yours), so he had a lot of flexibility with electivies. It’s possible your son could do CS/GD and still take a lot of digital arts classes.
When exactly is your son going to be at NU? One of my son’s good friends is a Digital Arts/Game Design major. I will try to find out if he is happy with his program. Overall, ds has been happy with NU, though I don’t think he’s been particularly challenged by most of his classes. He’s worked as an on-campus tutor since his sophomore year (he was recommended for the jobs, not something he sought out), which has been a bonus for us/him. I know in the school of Computer Science they really offer a lot of support to the students. And it’s definitely great to be in Boston (though not so much with the snow this winter); ds refuses to drive, so he needs to be somewhere with good public transportation.