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example.com0 points · 0 comments · 16 years ago · patio11
That said, you can learn an awful lot from school. You say it is tedious -- that suggests to me you're underchallenged. Have you tried learning a foreign language yet? Like, really learning a foreign language, rather than learning to say "Yo quiero una cerveza" like I assume your high school Spanish has taught you? It is incredibly rewarding, in all possible senses of the term rewarding, and you'll never get a better opportunity than the next four years. (Dedicated instructors, plenty of time not occupied by the demands of job and family, social push to complete studies, possibility of study abroad bankrolled by someone else and unrestricted by visa concerns, etc etc etc...)
You can also learn quite a bit about programming during college, even if actually doing it is a much better teacher. (Although, again, we're subsidizing all your activities for four years -- you show up for 3 hours of classes 5 days a week, the rest of the time is yours, program as much as you want to program.)
Incidentally, I hate to sound like An Official Adult, but just trust me on this one: the job market for young Americans sucks right now, and you absolutely do not want to be facing it without a degree. Degrees are not just for boring megacorps coding Blub: even cool companies which code Lisp look for people who can carry tasks to completion, and not possessing a degree when we hand them out like candy on Halloween suggests "I am insufficiently motivated to do clearly beneficial things when they require non-trivial amounts of actual work. Please employ me -- you will find me excellent at everything you assign me to do, provided none of it is actual work."
noonespecial
sam191
I'm already fluent in Russian, and I am learning my native language, Armenian, at the moment.
And I wouldn't say that I'm under challenged. College seems like a lot of work, but that thrill of a challenge is missing. It's also a tough time for my family, so I'm also working as much as I can. I guess my main dilemma is the lack of free time. It might have been unclear in my post, but I was thinking that my time would be better spent coding than trying to be an overachiever in school.
Nevertheless, I really appreciate the advice!
jhancock
I'm not sure what colleges only require 3 hours of class a day. I only went to one school...my week was a solid 60 hours of class, homework, labs, and test prep. I do sometimes recommend to others not to go to a tough as nails engineering school ;). When I compare notes with folks that went to other schools it does seem they had lots of leisure time.
I also don't know where your point of subsidizing comes from. Most colleges are expensive. I do think many are worth the cost but its not a free ride for most.
wdewind
At the age of 22 will I be a more valuable programmer by staying in school, or by entering the work force?
Couple that with the price of NYU and the choice was clear...
I've been working since I was 15, so I had/have a pretty decent resume to drop out on, so I wouldn't suggest it if you don't have significant intern (programming intern, not coffee xerox intern) experience probably stick with school: it's a safe path to at least a $60k a year job when you graduate. But since I've dropped out I've had a chance to work with really smart people and learn at a much faster rate, and I have a LOT more freedom. YMMV of course, but for me I just wish I'd done it sooner.
unperson
Not everyone can afford to go to college, much less go without a job. Even if you are able to secure loans to cover tuition and all living expenses, this would easily run 100k at a public university. I'm at a bit of a loss regarding your attitude towards the price of attending college...could you please elaborate?
jrockway
On the contrary; nobody has ever even asked me where I went to school. I do not have a degree.
mos1
On this point I disagree. I think that much of the value of college comes from things that don't really seem valuable at the time: sports, clubs, experiences with friends, or even study groups. As such, I'd really recommend limiting the programming a bit, and forcing himself to engage with other students first, and program second.
And as a corollary to that, I'd recommend trying to find ways to get to know students who aren't other people with identical interests and socioeconomic backgrounds. The more one stays in one's bubble, the less one is going to get out of school.
"I am insufficiently motivated to do clearly beneficial things when they require non-trivial amounts of actual work.
This is huge. Absolutely huge.
I have very little interest in hiring somebody who thought, at age 18, that he knew everything college could teach him; nor one who could not spare the time to give himself such a clear advantage.
As an American it might not be immediately obvious but if you ever want to get a work visa in another 1st world country, having a degree in something useful is just about required. With the current state of the world and the US in particular, this could turn out to be a very important thing.