The pieces are begining to fall into place  

From what I can see, the elite design companies in the U.S. are looking for pure talent, to obtain I must have full understanding of the basics of computer graphics, and a background of achievements, so in turn my first priority is college, which one do I choose, from what I can tell there are the colleges that help you take shotrt cuts to get your degree (not interested), colleges that are well stocked for a good education, and colleges that every top C.G. designer has either been to or heard of, so I guess what I am asking for is a list of options and with the college you are listing a popularity rateing. And or those of you who know how often do you run into an employer who goes off of a good college bad college basis?
By the way I live near the art institute of seattle, is it one someone's going to look at and say wow great school or will the work I submit to future employers really be all that matters? and comparitably speaking how popular is the art institute of seattle against the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)? http://www.risd.edu/ Take a look

http://www.artinstitutes.edu/seattle/index.asp