Carnegie Mellon's Pre-College Programs: National High School Game Academy

The National High School Game Academy (NHSGA) facilitates focused, passionate, and dedicated high school students to experience six weeks of video game development using current gaming industry best practices. Sharing methods and paradigms used in Carnegie Mellon's Masters of Entertainment Technology (M.E.T.) graduate program, the NHSGA teaches an innovative blend of hands-on team projects combined with in-depth traditional classwork, lecture, and discussion to “level up” a student’s skills and design thinking. The program culminates with each team creating an original game prototype which often serves as a portfolio-quality piece for the student’s college application. Every student accepted to the program can expect to contribute to every area of game development while maintaining their faculty-defined role on a multidisciplinary team. The summer begins with two weeks of intense class study. As a verification of competence, individual and team homework is assigned and evaluated as the student progresses through the curriculum. Students must demonstrate a viable set of skills and methodologies in order to advance to the team game-building phase of the program. It is essential that each team member is willing and able to fully contribute to the game-building process. With a curriculum designed to elevate a student’s rigor, working process, and discipline, the NHSGA prepares students for their transition to college. Students are encouraged to expand their own creative possibilities in a unique blend of collaborative college-level work.