Pre-College Summer Programs

Registration for Summer 2023 opens in January.

Students in the Pre-College Program will get a feel for what it’s like to take college courses at DigiPen while also learning what it takes to be successful in the game industry. During this four-week program that starts July 2022, mornings are dedicated to learning core concepts from our faculty-level instructors, and afternoons are spent in the project lab, where students get to immerse themselves in the roles of programmers, game designers, artists, music, and sound designers.

 

Students receive grades for their Pre-College classes, plus a final transcript that can be included in their application to DigiPen. Any student who successfully completes the Pre-College Program and matriculates to DigiPen Institute of Technology within three years will receive a credit equal to the Pre-College Program tuition to apply toward their first-semester tuition as a freshman.

 

Prerequisites:

Participants must be at least 16, entering their Junior or Senior year of high school, or have graduated high school within the last 18 months.  In addition, Game Programming students are expected to have successfully completed Algebra 2, and it is recommended music students have some experience playing an instrument.

 

Click through to individual courses to view technical requirements and additional information.

 

For more information on Registration & Tuition, Campus Info & Policies, please see DigiPen Academy Main Website.   


Game Design

Pre-College Game Design

To be a good game designer, you must understand the fundamental principles of game design, the computer science that goes into designing a video game, the art and animation production process, and the storytelling and character creation skills necessary to bring video games to life.  Having strong knowledge with all technical and creative aspects of the game development process is important in order to create the type of engaging interactive experiences today’s players expect.

During this four week program, you will get to experience what life is like for DigiPen college students who are working to complete their Bachelor of Arts in Game Design. The students in this track will take three (3) core academic classes plus the game project lab that involves all of the students from all of the Pre-College tracks to work together to complete a game:

  • GD: Principles of Game Design
  • CS: Applied Computer Science for Designers (includes Lab)
  • GAT: Interactive Narrative and Character Creation (includes Lab)
  • GAM: Game Project Lab

Ages: 16 years - 19 years

$2,895.00 Pre-College Game Design - (07/05/2022-07/29/2022)

Program dates: Jul 05, 2022 - Jul 29, 2022

More Details & Register

Art & Animation for Games

Pre-College Art & Animation for Games

Even with all the amazing advancements in digital art tools, the key to success for production artists is still a strong visual development process and the foundational art skills to execute that process. This track prepares students for the rich and rewarding experience of being a production artist for video games, animation, and more. Within your Project Lab, students in the art track serve as the game team’s resident artist, developing characters, backgrounds, and other essential components for their game.

During this four-week-long program, you will get to experience what life is like for DigiPen college students who are working to complete their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Art and Animation to become game artists. The students in this track take three (3) core academic classes plus the game project lab that involves all of the students from all of the Pre-College tracks to work together to complete a game:

  • ART: Art Foundations
  • ANI: Animation Techniques (with Lab)
  • CG: Computer Graphics Tools (with Lab)
  • GAM: Game Project Lab

Ages: 16 years - 19 years

$2,995.00 Pre-College Art & Animation - (07/05/2022-07/29/2022)

Program dates: Jul 05, 2022 - Jul 29, 2022

More Details & Register

Game Programming

Pre-College Game Programming

Programming software for today's gamers requires a deep understanding of computer science, advanced mathematics, and physics. During this four week program, you will get to experience what life is like for DigiPen college students who are working to complete their Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. 

The Pre-College students in this track will take three (3) core academic classes plus the game project lab that involves all of the students from all of the Pre-College tracks to work together to complete a game:

  • CS: Applied Computer Science for Games
  • MAT: Applied Math for Games (with Lab)
  • PHY: Applied Physics for Games (with Lab)
  • GAM: Game Project Lab

Ages: 16 years - 19 years

$2,895.00 Pre-College Game Programming - (07/05/2022-07/29/2022)

Program dates: Jul 05, 2022 - Jul 29, 2022

More Details & Register

If you have questions or need assistance, please call (425) 629-5007 or email [email protected].