Thanks so much for circling back and providing an update, @katiemeg1! Keeping my fingers crossed for lots of affordable acceptances!
Hahaha, we have similar kids! Mine loves game design but is not a coder – she likes the level design/narrative sides instead.
She also applied to RIT – but for New Media Design, as the game design major was too coding-heavy for her.
Also to Miami Ohio. She’s dragging her feet on the 2-minute video, but she’s going to finish it this weekend. She also doesn’t have much to show or talk about, but she’s currently in a STEM class where she’s building a mobile app, so the video is going to be about her ideas for that and the research she’s done for it, plus her design specs. (She hasn’t actually built anything yet – it’s a year-long project.)
Miami Ohio accepts 50 students into its Games & Simulation major, but it’s a lot easier to get into the Emerging Tech & Business major, in which you can take a bunch of game design electives. My kid is not totally sure she wants Games & Simulation, but she was told to go ahead and submit the video to apply, and then she can always switch out of it. But it’s much harder to switch into it if you don’t get in originally. (She did do their Summer Scholars game design program this summer and loved it.)
She was accepted to Pitt tonight for Digital Narrative and Interactive Design, and she’s actually really intrigued. We haven’t visited yet. Only issue with Pitt is the marching band is really big with no guaranteed spot – and she’d be pretty sad to commit to the school and find out she couldn’t march. (She’s fairly competent and is in her 6th year of marching, so I’m confident she’d be qualified – it’s more a matter of how many clarinets they already have, etc.)
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Congrat on Pitt. Great school. But won’t it be near double your budget ?
I’m not the OP on this thread – I don’t think I mentioned our budget. 
Sorry thought u were OP.
Missed that.
Congrats on Pitt.
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Yes it would be a great option but my oldest goes here and my HS senior doesn’t want to be at the same school as their sibling.
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Leaving a great open house at RIT. It has confirmed my kiddo’s interest here. Also went to an open house at Syracuse yesterday- very impressive school here too.
Both will likely be out of the price range unless they meet need for us and offer some grant money.
We also toured Shawnee state and I was more impressed than I expected. Top game design program in Ohio and 15th in the nation. Res halls are fully furnished apartments, they have a varsity esports team and lots of academic support. Definitely not as impressive as Syracuse or RIT but they offered free tuition so it’s worth considering.
Scheduled to go to Miami Ohio this week but may need to postpone due to bad weather coming our way.
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As a side note… the net price calculator for Syracuse estimates our cost at 30,000 and RIT at $52,000. Both estimate a grant- but very different amounts each.
Gannon has offered 31,000 in scholarships.
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Quick update- I think it is between RIT, Gannon, and Miami at this point with a maybe Syracuse. We have not been to Miami yet- thanks to weather and schedule conflicts but will go in April. In-state and some scholarship $ puts that the most affordable around $28,000 but I am not sure it is the right place for my kiddo- but visiting will help determine that.
Gannon has offered scholarships that put the bottom line around $29,000. My kiddo really liked Gannon for a variety of reasons but they do not have game design or an esports team. He did compete for a full tuition scholarship but he did not feel that it went well.
RIT gave some scholarships and grants- puts it around $44,000 before work study and loans. RIT is exactly what my kiddo is looking for in many ways so we will appeal the financial aid and see what happens. I do realize that appealing isn’t going to have a huge impact- but perhaps having 2 kids in college may help.
We are also waiting for a decision from Syracuse too - which I think just came in via email (but he has not looked at it yet).
Closer to a decision but not yet there…
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Good luck.
Yep, Miami is “rural” but like a big LAC - so your son will love it or not.
If he loves Gannon, great. But can they get him to where he wants to be? Do they have a track record? If not, not sure why it would get consideration.
Best of luck with SU and the final decision.
It’s tough, because we are debating some of the same things over here. My kiddo has actually been to Miami more than any other school – we toured, then she did a week-long summer program in game design, and then she was there for a weekend competing for their full scholarship.
She didn’t get it, but they did double the original merit plus added some, so the cost would be about $21K a year for us. Which is very reasonable, especially OOS.
Here’s the thing about Miami that’s hard. D26 REALLY likes their game design program. It’s flexible enough to not be too coding heavy (she’s more on the design and world-building and storytelling side), and the whole program and Emerging Tech department really appeals to her. She has gotten to know the director and a couple of the professors and really likes them all. The department as a whole is doing some great collabs and fun stuff, and I do think the graduates land in good jobs.
But Miami is missing the exciting “vibe” that she fell in love with at RIT. I think my kid needs to be at a tech school where the majority of the kids are into nerdy stuff, lol. Miami has a gorgeous traditional campus, but the location doesn’t appeal to my kid at all.
It’s interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever heard about kids being unhappy at Miami – most students seem to really love it – but the fit is not quite right for my kid.
So, she decided to move on from it, and her decision has come down to Georgia Tech vs. RIT. Both of these are a good fit, but it has come down to some nitty gritty details – and, well, one of these is less than HALF the cost of the other, so there’s that, lol.
I’m not at all familiar with Gannon – what did your S26 like about it?
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It is so funny that we have not been to Miami yet and it is in state for us! I have heard that people either like or hate it there. I want to visit because they did give some scholarship money, it is in-state tuition, and I have heard wonderful things about their facilities, program resources, etc. So we at least need to check it out. But I am not sure this is the vibe that my kiddo is looking for either. The vibe at RIT was spot on for my kiddo- the tech/nerdy feel of RIT was it.
Gannon is interesting because it is so different from RIT and Miami as well… but my kiddo loved it there. They do NOT have game design or esports- which I thought would rule it out completely. But - my kiddo has met with the computer science faculty and really liked that program. The iHack space was great too. And - they have dual degree program with a university in Germany- which my kiddo applied to and wants to do if he goes to Gannon. He also really loves Erie - and this is in downtown Erie right near the lake. It’s 2 hours from home, which would be his ideal location. When we visited, the president hosted a trolley tour through downtown Erie, and when his water bottle from a visit melted in the dishwasher, they replaced it with a full care package of Gannon swag. They also have a concert band and he’s talked with the band director there about that. So - the interest in Gannon is much more about the location, the town, the band, and the junior year in Germany.
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Well, those are all important things! I do think kids can be happy at more than one type of college – and location, town, band, etc. really contribute to quality of life and good mental health, I think.
Good luck to him as he considers his decision – and if you do tour Miami, sign up specifically for the Emerging Tech tour if he applied to game design. Mine was “meh” about the regular tour, but then really loved that department. (It didn’t hurt that the other family signed up didn’t show, so we got a private tour by the director, lol.)
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Thank you! And good luck to your kiddo with this important decision!
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don’t major in it - everyone I know tangentially related to the field or software says that for many reasons
Major in CS or SE
If you want to be near it though…
RIT has a big Game Design major and huge number of gamers and esports team - tons of academic supports - has popular pep band and a game symphony orchestra
Clark also has Game design major (they took over a niche university that focused on it) - good with disabilities too
Champlain has a TON of game design majors (like game music is a major, game art, etc). and has programs in Montreal where a lot of games are made. Dorms have game teams and standings are shown in dining halls.
None sound impossible for him to get in.
But go major in CS:)
HAHAHA I just saw this was a way old post and that it is actually 2026 and not 2025 
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My kiddo finally made a decision tonight at 11pm! He’s going to RIT! We did appeal the financial aid package and got a bit more money. My kiddo also qualified for work study and will need to work on campus once he gets settled to help offset some of the costs. Glad he’s finally made a decision!
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