New York City College of Technology: Entertainment Technology Department

May 17th, 2021

Feb 23rd, 2021

As a working, self-sustaining adult student who is close to 30, after one year of being here I walked away with one feeling: disgust. Let me explain why: Having been a part of the Emerging Media Technology program (which is under the ENT department), I specifically went for the Game Design track. What I noticed is that the program is all over the place, and it's partially thanks to the bureaucratic process that the college follows. What do I mean? Well, a request for Windows laptops (all of the school uses Macs, making me wonder why??), it took nearly TWO (2!!) years to get it fulfilled. For one, if you're not dependent on your parents, you're going to (sarcasm incoming) love having to do a mandatory internship. There are many reasons why mandatory internships are not good. Internships are great if you've got no other responsibilities. They're also great if you're doing an internship in something directly related to work. They're NOT great if you're forced to do it in something not-so-related and as a result can't get that degree. I know several people who had difficulties with internships to the point that they had their current bosses simply sign off on the hours (I believe 120 hours is what they require). The problem went deeper with internships: there was one girl who would constantly miss class because the internship ate into her school hours ad the professor wondered where she was. The irony? The school itself set her up with it! The second issue (there is one other worth mentioning after this) is that professors have an inherent distrust towards the students. This results in patronizing behavior and bad life advice (e.g., if you can't get ALL the homework done, you should quit school and go work). One instance of this behavior was when the professor gave outdated information. The student tried to research it and got an answer much faster than the time it took the professor to explain, only to be told, "If the answer is on the internet, then you should study at home instead. Why are you in my class?" Or when another professor refused to admit her lack of knowledge and redirected a student's question to "you should follow the tutorial" instead of simply saying that she didn't know. Last issue is what/how you learn. I've learned more in my three (3) months at home at my own pace than I did in one year. There are several classes that one would think the ENT (MTEC, specifically) should have like game asset-creation: models, textures, UI, scripting, level design, etc. Some of these are "outsourced" to other departments. The reality is that bureaucracy of the college doesn't let the MTEC department have these classes even if there's a difference of focus. The theory behind what makes a good level never gets touched upon, what software and how to make textures never gets talked about, and how to make scripts from scratch for things like turning a character into a boat when he walks into a river (say, in a 2D game) never gets taught. And beware: if the program changes up, you're going to have to spend more time in classes because they'll force you to align your requirements to the new requirements (regardless of having met the previous requirements prior to the change). I've heard and spoken to people who had to stay extra semesters out of this reason. As for why it's a 1-star review, the main reason is due to the dynamics between the student and professor and the school, not what's wrong with the program itself. Had I felt that there was genuine care towards the students, I'd give this program around 3 stars. -2 would be taken for not being very organized (it's an idealistic view to see a college as being capable of being fully preparatory, I know).
Feb 1st, 2019