The SIA pre-college is a small, highly selective, and rigorous program intended for high-school students who want to make games and study game development or computer science in college. Classes are provided on Saturdays and weekday afternoons at the Manhattan office of Urban Arts Partnership. SIA has the strongest results of any program of its kind. Our recent outcomes include:
SIA is a multi-year pre-college program for New York City high school students who demonstrate high achievement in one or more aspects of game development. We provide instruction in game programming and design on Saturdays during the school year and weekdays during the summer.
Our curriculum focuses on pre-professional game development skills with the goal of enabling you to create original, polished projects in two years. In year 1, you'll learn the fundamentals of Unity Engine usage and C# programming. Our design curriculum teaches the usage of real-time game mechanics to deliver stories interactively. In year 2, you'll use these technical and design skills to build games for competitions and your portfolio. While learning programming, you will also have the opportunity to develop your skills in other game development disciplines, including art, animation, music, and narrative writing.
We have a high-caliber faculty made up of professionals who have sold hundreds of thousands of copies of their creative works. Our library of games and consoles is available for any student to use and browse. Test prep and individual, private school-style college advising are provided to all our 11th and 12th-grade students to ensure that seniors earn admission and scholarships to elite colleges.
SIA is free, underwritten by grants from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Adobe Foundation, and the AT&T Foundation. Our tuition-free model allows our admissions process to focus exclusively on recruiting the best students, regardless of family income.
Send us an email at sia@urbanarts.org indicating your interest in pursuing the program. We will get back to you within 48 hours with a link to the application process, which involves the submission of a portfolio piece showcasing either your art, music, writing, or programming skills, or your high school transcript. Upon receipt of your materials, we will schedule a 15-minute phone interview with you, and your admissions decision will be given the next day.