Hi, I'm a CS graduate who always have wanted to work in a company that makes AAA video games (like Valve). My goal after that is to be an indie game developer. I have applied to some grad schools that teaches how to make video games and just got accepted from CMU ETC(Entertainment Technology Center) and UofU EAE (Entertainment Arts and Engineering).
I assume while UofU has a really good core curriculum about designing and building a game engine from scratch, CMU is more focused on designing creative stuff using tools like Unity3D.
It seems obvious that I can be a real specialist in UofU EAE, but the reputation of Carnegie Mellon University and rumors about Salt Lake City's boring atmosphere makes me agonize. I'd really appreciate any opinion. Thank you.