I'm an ASIC engineer. I still like it despite going through some tough times. It pays well too. I've worked at Matrox and as a contractor. College prepared me fairly well. Better than some others think they were prepared. It mostly seems to be based on what electives I took.
Logic design classes are very important for front end designers. I wish I had gotten some exposure to synthesis and place and route in school though. Most of those classes were graduate level at my school so you might need to go for a masters degree in order to learn the overall process. You'll likely only learn the part you need on the job. I.e. front end or back end. Actually I've noticed more and more jobs are looking for masters degrees as a filter item on resumes.
Other things that are valuable to know are C++ and Perl. In the US Verilog seems to be used more than VHDL unless you're in the defense industry.
