Abertay University

Computer Games

Game Design and Production

Overall experience

Abertay is a launching pad for game developers.

Abertay is a mixed bag. I've heard terrible things about the Psychology, Criminology and Biology courses (although I can't vouch personally for those). And the student Union closes a little more every year. And the management seems intent to run the university like a business, not a school.

But the computer games degrees are definitely worth it if you really believe you want to work in the games industry, but don't know where to start. 
The course content is often aimless, however. And for a design course, we learned little to no actual game design. We did learn the production pipeline, QA skills, enough programming to get us started, worked with people in cross-disciplinary teams to actually MAKE games, and had ample opportunity to network with the industry and academia. There's even opportunity to work directly with clients in your 3rd year, like Microsoft, or other internationals or game studios. And personally, I was able to show a game at the UK's biggest games industry expo by the beginning of my 4h year through their program, Dare Academy.

However, Abertay won't teach you everything you need to know. It's not a magic ticket to the job of your dreams. You will HAVE to supplement your education with other resources. Whether that's online tutorials, readings, or simply consuming content from the GDC Vault. However, that's not a bad thing. With games, you need to be driven enough to get up and go out and find what you need to know on your own, to a certain extent. Nobody will hold your hand.

If you lock yourself in your room and play WoW throughout your course, just shooting for Ds, you won't do well once the course is over. But if you engage with the content, use the courses as simply a jumping-off point, and network with your classmates, lecturers, and local games scene, you stand a decent chance of breaking into the games industry.

Abertay is the place to go if you want to take those steps. But don't expect them to do it for you. 

Abertay is a mixed bag. I've heard terrible things about the Psychology, Criminology and Biology courses (although I can't vouch personally for those). And the student Union closes a little more every year. And the management seems intent to run the university like a business, not a school. But the computer games degrees are definitely worth it if you really believe you want to work in the games industry, but don't know where to start. The course content is often aimless, however. And for a design course, we learned little to no actual game design. We did learn the production pipeline, QA skills, enough programming to get us started, worked with people in cross-disciplinary teams to actually MAKE games, and had ample opportunity to network with the industry and academia. There's even opportunity to work directly with clients in your 3rd year, like Microsoft, or other internationals or game studios. And personally, I was able to show a game at the UK's biggest games industry expo by the beginning of my 4h year through their program, Dare Academy. However, Abertay won't teach you everything you need to know. It's not a magic ticket to the job of your dreams. You will HAVE to supplement your education with other resources. Whether that's online tutorials, readings, or simply consuming content from the GDC Vault. However, that's not a bad thing. With games, you need to be driven enough to get up and go out and find what you need to know on your own, to a certain extent. Nobody will hold your hand. If you lock yourself in your room and play WoW throughout your course, just shooting for Ds, you won't do well once the course is over. But if you engage with the content, use the courses as simply a jumping-off point, and network with your classmates, lecturers, and local games scene, you stand a decent chance of breaking into the games industry. Abertay is the place to go if you want to take those steps. But don't expect them to do it for you.

Psychology

Overall experience

Waste of Four Years!

Long, long overdue!  Just finished a four year Abertay Psychology degree (2.1) and it was a joke. We only started to study mental illnesses in the final year and we only did that for one term!!  Not only did I learn most of the degree from Youtube, I could have the done the entire degree in 3 years and spent the 4th year learning the actual skills that I need t work.  When I took my Abertay degree to another Scottish University down the road, I was told I would have to take a "generic" version of a post grad program because the degree I took at Abertay did not include enough relevant study for me to take their Psychology Post grad program.    For the extra £5,000 in student loans + living costs, I had to endure an extra year of useless extreme far left propaganda, which is really just included to keep a bunch of unemployable far lefties in work at Abertay. There is a reason Abertay was rated by students as the second WORST university in Scotland and it is the far lefties who are to blame for that disgust. The lead Psychology lecturer told us in 1st year that 80% of us would not get a job in Psychology. 14 of the class tried to transfer out to other Uni's there and then. With a good 2.1 Abertay degree, you will struggle to get into a postgrad program at a proper Scottish Uni so to get the NHS/private post grad skills one needs to get a good job, don't get done, don't get Dom just get into any other University besides Abertay to get that proper degree and a proper future.    Abertay is the "Poundland University" of the UK, you get what you pay for so don't be surprised if your Abertay degree becomes "faulty" a few weeks after you have it.  No returns, no refunds!

Long, long overdue! Just finished a four year Abertay Psychology degree (2.1) and it was a joke. We only started to study mental illnesses in the final year and we only did that for one term!! Not only did I learn most of the degree from Youtube, I could have the done the entire degree in 3 years and spent the 4th year learning the actual skills that I need t work. When I took my Abertay degree to another Scottish University down the road, I was told I would have to take a "generic" version of a post grad program because the degree I took at Abertay did not include enough relevant study for me to take their Psychology Post grad program. For the extra £5,000 in student loans + living costs, I had to endure an extra year of useless extreme far left propaganda, which is really just included to keep a bunch of unemployable far lefties in work at Abertay. There is a reason Abertay was rated by students as the second WORST university in Scotland and it is the far lefties who are to blame for that disgust. The lead Psychology lecturer told us in 1st year that 80% of us would not get a job in Psychology. 14 of the class tried to transfer out to other Uni's there and then. With a good 2.1 Abertay degree, you will struggle to get into a postgrad program at a proper Scottish Uni so to get the NHS/private post grad skills one needs to get a good job, don't get done, don't get Dom just get into any other University besides Abertay to get that proper degree and a proper future. Abertay is the "Poundland University" of the UK, you get what you pay for so don't be surprised if your Abertay degree becomes "faulty" a few weeks after you have it. No returns, no refunds!