The game industry is a growing industry, and as such there are many opportunities, but there is also fierce competition. You have to have drive and initiative to succeed, and never stop learning.
C++ is probably the most widely used language in the game industry. Don't bother with Java unless it's a required course; any C++ programmer can pick up Java very quickly, and you won't get bad habits from starting with Java. Lua and Python are also widely used for scripting, and C# is starting to be used, mainly for tools or for XNA games.
Once you have a handle on C++, get Effective C++ and Effective STL. They will make you a better programmer. There are other books about how to be a better coder, but I haven't read them yet, so I can't give my endorsement yet. 
Since it sounds like your chosen college has a game development program, you'll probably be doing large projects which you can use as demos. Demos are required by pretty much all game companies, so that's useful for you. If you end up going for a more traditional degree, for whatever reason, make sure that you make games. You'll also learn the most actually working on games. Learn as much as you can from your classes, but don't stop learning outside of the classroom. Play games and think about what makes them fun. What could have been done better in the game? As a coder, you'll probably also naturally be thinking "how did they get that to work?" It really doesn't matter where you get your degree or what the degree is in, as long as you are dedicated to learning your craft. Our newest developer that we hired has a degree in English, but he's a great developer.
When you go to apply for a position at a company, do research on the company so that in your cover letter you can talk about why you want to work for that company specifically, what interests you about that company. Write a unique cover letter for every company. Use spell checker, and get someone to look it over to look for grammar mistakes. Your resume must be easy to read and should also be spell checked. You should include on your resume any large programming projects that you have done, either in your spare time or for school, with a description of what kind of game it was and what your responsibilities were on the project (if a group project, what you worked on specifically). By large, I mean that it should take you at least a half the school year to have done the project, unless your class was only a quarter long, but it should have taken you a lot of effort. List your skills at the top of the resume, so that the HR people can quickly scan for buzz words. Underneath skills should go work experience if you have relevant experience, otherwise your projects can go first. You want the information listed in the order of its importance: skills, projects, work experience, education, etc.
www.gamasutra.com and www.gamecareerguide.com have a lot of good articles about how to get into the game industry.
