Its that time again. Apply via qtac to enter into qantm...for me its $38.50 but anyways.
http://www.qtac.edu.au/Courses/courses/061012.htm
Well people is it worth it?
So if I get offered is it worth doing? This an investion that is approximately $14,985. (usually unemployed 18 year olds don't have this type of cash on hand - all the time)
Seriously, if I complete this what kind of job would I realistically get?
OK while your post didn't mention it, I noticed the header specifies the Graphic Design diploma as opposed to the Software Development one. Same basic concepts apply though, especially regarding job prospects and the "industry" night. Alternatives such as the Computer Graphics College (http://www.cgc.com.au) are a much better alternative to Qantm, with MUCH better odds of scoring a job through them and, by all accounts of past students, a well-organised course with no real complaints.
Just don't let yourself be bitten on the arse by Qantm like so many others. Consider all options, and don't be a sucker to savvy marketing. Either way, good luck.
For a programmer, yes it is. For an artist, don't completely dismiss it on count of my opinion because I didn't personally do the art stream. Be sure to ask around first... see how other people who completed that course feel. Maybe it might offer you something worthwhile. Just don't base your decision on what Qantm tells you, and DEFINITELY don't go into it with the expectation that Qantm will help you get a job.
well to me qantm is probably the closes place for anything art related.
I've looked at all the tafes (in brisbane) as well and they are certainly cheaper than qantm by miles... let's say 1:15. I just want to do something to get into arts in university.
I don't know anyone who has been to qantm and did graphic designs...well not that I've noticed.
I just don't want to relocate at the moment.
Any course you only get out what you put in, and in an industry as competitive as game dev, you can't expect to walk out of a course and into a job just because you have a piece of paper saying you completed a course. When you have so few graduates it tends to be mroe up to individuals rather than institutions that will affect the employment rate of graduates.
CYer, Blitz
Hey, I managed to get the website.
http://www.qibt.qld.edu.au/dds.asp
but you need a good GPA to be able to get into 2nd year Bachelor of Design at Griffith.
QUT has a Bachelor of Creative Industries which you can major in heaps of different things like Art and Communication Design (multimedia). [url]http://creativeindustries.qut.edu.au/studyopt/creativeindu/index.jsp[/u…]
Good Luck with whatever you choose!
If you get into ANY uni and do it for a year its really easy to upgrade. My OP wasn't up to scratch for what I wanted to get into after year 12 (well I don't know what my OP was but my UAI was 82). So I did Arts at UQ for a year and ended up with a GPA of 5.25 (credit) for that year, and that gave me a rank equivalent to an OP 2, so now I'm doing IT/Comm Design at QUT.
So yeah, my advice is if you want to go to uni, just try to get in ANYWHERE, after that its a lot easier to do what you want! Good Luck!
quote:Originally posted by Leviron
Seriously, if I complete this what kind of job would I realistically get?
Realistically? You won't get a job from it - it's just another bullet on your resume. It's a course, not certification that you've got the skills and talents that an employer seeks. However, you -will- know the next batch of peers to be entering the industry, you -will- have that extra bullet on your resume, and you -will- have the opportunity and resources to work on those all important skills; same as any other course in this category.
If you have what an employer is seeking, then you'll get a junior graduate position - some companies have higher base salaries for graduate than for green juniors.
I believe that it's not the course itself, but what your willing to do with it (meet people, talk to your peers, make contacts, learn industry info, spend time developing your own skills, etc etc)...
but of course, it's all just my opinion [;)]
I've just told qtac that I want it as my first preference. By all means I'm not expecting to get a job right away and get my $14,985+ back right after...I'll probably pour another 20 grand down somewhere else 8 months after qantm. I am only trying to see if this is a worthwhile bullet point. Its not like I'll struggle with this course... I'm sure I can handle it because its not accounting.
I see you are quite against it.
So anyone interested in drawing skills like:
[img]http://www.uchiha.net/leviron/web/liv_small.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.uchiha.net/leviron/web/artwork.jpg[/img]
I am writing to this thread to provide a counter point to ferret's view's about QANTM. An active thread currently underway will allow people to view both side's of this story and can be found [url="http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=430&whichpage=1"]here [sumea.com.au][/url]. In particular, the counter points are provided from [url="http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=430&whichpage=3"]page 3 [sumea.com.au][/url]. I am happy to discuss any issues anyone may have on sumea, or in person. I can be contacted through QANTM by telephone, or by email at dbostock@qantm.com.au .
Darren Bostock
Quite frankly this thread is about Graphics Design. I went to the qantum forum... I still know jack nothing about it...other than a very brief course outline and the cost of the course which is $14,985 AUD.
Say if someone does the course and gets the degree.... where do they go? More uni or work?
Will this course let graduates go into second year fine arts at university?
Well Brisbane doesn't really offer a lot of college art options... the only other Major art college is at SBIT Morningside campus and I don't really want to go there.
quote:Originally posted by Leviron
Quite frankly this thread is about Graphics Design. I went to the qantum forum... I still know jack nothing about it...other than a very brief course outline and the cost of the course which is $14,985 AUD.
I know this thread is about Graphics design. Ferret chose to take it of topic and discuss the programming course and I am providing a counter point to anyone searching through these forums. My apologies if that offends you.
Were you Kaiser on the forum? I saw that thread and unfortunately it looks like there are no active Graphic Design students using the forum or answering your post. I do know that there are not a large number of GD students at QANTM so my guess if they have not seen your post. I will look at sending a group post to them tomorrow and ask they would mind providing some feedback to either this thread or the one on the QANTM forums.
quote:Originally posted by Leviron
Say if someone does the course and gets the degree.... where do they go? More uni or work?
Will this course let graduates go into second year fine arts at university?Well Brisbane doesn't really offer a lot of college art options... the only other Major art college is at SBIT Morningside campus and I don't really want to go there.
I do not have the answers to those questions but will pass them onto the relevant people to find out.
Darren Bostock
quote:Originally posted by Leviron
Say if someone does the course and gets the degree.... where do they go? More uni or work?
Will this course let graduates go into second year fine arts at university?Well Brisbane doesn't really offer a lot of college art options... the only other Major art college is at SBIT Morningside campus and I don't really want to go there.
Leviron,
I passed your questions onto Greg Chandler who is one of the instructors for the Graphic Design courses here at QANTM. His email is gchandler@qantm.com.au . He provided the following response.
quote:
Hi Darren,
The strength of Qantm's course is it covers print and screen design from both a creative and technical perspective.(more arrows in the quiver) The qualification (diploma) is enough to get you a job. All graphic design students need to be aware that the competition for jobs is very high and a strong portfolio is often the edge needed to land a job, not necessarily the qual, I guess this is similar to the games industry Not sure about accreditation with uni, I would assume it would get you into 2nd year or there abouts. Obviously a degree would read better on a CV, but won't necessarily make you a better designer
If I can provide any other assistence, don't hesitate to contact myself or Greg. I told Greg to expect contact from you regarding the course.
Darren Bostock
If you are considering a programming course- most definitely not worth it. If you're even remotely hoping to get a job out of the course you're kidding yourself. Out of the entire course last year, only one person was actually employed as a result of the course or the "industry" night (AKA- DIY Invite-Your-Own-Contacts Night). The artsy-fartsy people seemed to have faired proportionately better though in all honesty everyone I spoke to in the graphics-oriented course were already extremely talented and technically competent before they even started at Qantm so they were headed places anyway. I don't know how many artists actually got employed in game dev though. Most likely 3 or 4 at the most.
If you really want to do a game development oriented course, I'd suggest doing the one offered through Griffith. To the best of my knowledge it is taught by Dale Freya who was involved for a short amount of time in our course at Qantm. While his lessons didn't really fit into the Qantm course structure, it was clear he was a well-organised instructor who actually cared about the content he was delivering and given the reputation for better management of proper universities as opposed to private institutions like Qantm, I'd say that would be a REALLY good course to get into. His personal web site provided in his own time at his own expense for his students was always up to date and full of relevant content, while Qantm's "student portal" stopped being updated 2 months into the course, then they proposed a new one later in the year but it proved just as useless. I can't comment on the odds of getting a job out of the Griffith course being much better than at Qantm but I can say they definitely wouldn't be any worse, and you would definitely learn a lot more there.
Qantm's biggest (but certainly not their only) shortcoming is piss-poor management. Their biggest strength is their marketing department, but only so far as marketing itself to potential students and not when it comes to marketing it's students to potential employers where it suddenly becomes non-existant and students are left to do all the work. I'd suggest speaking to students currently studying but most of them will still be fairly optimistic. They still have the carrot of an "industry" night dangling before their noses and the belief that if they work hard enough, being at Qantm will open the doors to job opportunities. If you want to complete a course specifically for the job at the end, game development is the wrong avenue to be looking at first up. Places like Spherion (http://www.spherion.com.au) have a placement rate of well over 90% of it's graduates into IT positions, and while a lot of them are just help desk and tech support roles, just as many positions are programming related and they have enough industry contacts OF THEIR OWN (ie- not student-provided) to be able to offer a lot of otherwise unavailable traineeships to students. It's not game development but let's face it- the game dev industry demands pretty much cream-of-the-crop programmers, and if you have no commercial experience in programming at all you're going to have a hard time proving yourself. With this kind of option you are virtually guaranteed a job which complements your grades, you are getting paid programming experience, you can still apply your new skills to game development and learn new ones through the countless internet resources available, and ultimately if you still want to get into game development you'll have developed enough skills to be able to walk into a studio like Krome confident in your proven abilities instead of relying on a short course with a reputation for not delivering to impress the interviewers.
That won't really sound as appealing as the image Qantm presents. In an ideal world, yes you would walk out of the course with a solid understanding of all aspects of game development and would be able to walk into a job with one of the many studios who open their arms to Qantm's graduates. It's not like that though. I am somewhat more disgruntled than most students because I feel I was screwed over significantly more than other students for various reasons so before taking my word as gospel, speak to some other past students. This year's students will probably give a positive appraisal as past years' students would have (myself included) during the course itself, but once it's all over and they're serving burgers for a living (myself not included, just for the record) then see how they think.