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My main problem with attending my university is a lot of my time is spent dealing with classes I can't care about. Right now my in major GPA is above a 3.2 whi

My main problem with attending my university is a lot of my time is spent dealing with classes I can't care about. Right now my in major GPA is above a 3.2 while my cumulative GPA is hovering around a 2.9; I just don't care about non-cs classes. This would be find if being at a university had any noticeable benefits, but it only has detractors. - No one will hire me for a paid position - I have to waste most of my time on classes I don't care about - No more time for my side projects that I use to learn.

Ologn 11y ago
My college had three non-CS writing courses. I would say they helped improve my writing skill, especially one of the classes. I would also say writing well is an important skill to have when working for a business - when writing documents and sending e-mails to other techs, and especially in communications with non-techs. CS is not the only thing you need to know when working for a business. Other classes folded back into CS or working for a business as well. For example, my psychology course was helpful in a number of areas, including as preparation for an AI elective I took.
- gravypod 11y ago
  I have to take two physics classes, ~4 history classes, and ~2 English classes. We also have a requirement for attending a philosophy class about ethics in computing or something.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
    My education as an EE was somewhat similar. Before starting any EE classes, I took 4 physics courses, two chemistry, three English/composition/Literature (would have been 4 but I tested out of Engl101) courses, and one History course (that I failed and had to repeat because I blew it off). Then we can get into the stuff I only know I took because it's on my transcript. Stuff I forgot all about because it was never actually "used" like Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, Linear Analysis, and Math, Math, Math. I think the only time I didn't have anything that looked like a math class was the semester right before graduation. Somewhere in there I took a few actual EE courses. Guess which ones had the most impact on my career? Hint: it ain't the EE stuff (although I worked as an EE for 6 years after graduation).
    - gravypod 11y ago
      The difference I see is that EE is a math field. The concepts of EE can only be represented as numbers and math. Computer science is only focused on logic and algorithms with state. It's not really math. But in the end I DON'T mind math classes, I like math classes. I mind stupid English, Lit, and Phil, classes. I'll probably go for a math minor. I like it. But I'm not going to for a English minor.
georgefrick 11y ago
My GPA was not awesome. You could be affected by any number of things (wrong university, wrong goals, wrong order of operations, in a hurry). Please don't be offended, I just mean that you might leverage your resources better and find classes you care about (I ended up double majoring in CS and Economics, but I didn't care about econ until I tried it). Here is a more plain and TLDR response. Pretend it's a new investment and write down/spell out what you are putting in and getting out. If it doesn't add up, don't make the investment. Finally, not caring is a problem. For some arguing in favor of degrees, this is a big part of their point. Why don't you care about those classes? Do you think you'll only ever get cool and interesting projects at work? An employer needs to know you'll spend two weeks finding some ridiculous bug that doesn't even affect anything if that is what they assign. Every third Sunday, the system crashes. Fix it. While your peers do greenfield work. It means sometimes putting effort into things you aren't interested in as part of the bigger picture.
HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
If you think of it as wasting time, then your attitude will come out in your work. All those classes you don't care about are there because university isn't trade school. The more interesting work goes to programmers who can communicate. 90% of programmers can get the job done; I want someone who can articulate what he's built, how it can be improved, when it will be ready, what needs to be changed, what we're doing wrong, etc. That's what all those classes you don't care about are for: giving you perspective outside heads-down coding that can be outsourced for $50/day. You'd be amazed at how many people I have interviewed that simply either can't, or won't talk (from the interviewer's perspective they are the same thing!). Again: most halfway decent programmers are adequate. The great ones are great not because they can write code, but because they can explain how that code works to someone else and, vice versa, they can understand someone who is trying to explain why the code doesn't do what they need. That is worth paying for.
- georgefrick 11y ago
  It actually bugs me every once in a while when I do an interview and I know the guy can code but he just can't articulate anything. It's like he's locked in there and he would be fine if I slipped tasks under his door in an envelope. But to your point it just doesn't work that way and those people get turned away not because they didn't have the technical skills, but because they demonstrated they couldn't be effective beyond the IDE. The other day I finally cut a guy off and said, "Yes, sure, you aren't good with terms and explanations. How do you have technical discussions with other developers? What do you do in code reviews?". Deer meet Headlights. I also realize your point is beyond technical communication, and you are right on that too.
jwhitlark 11y ago
Part of the signal of a degree is can you do a good job on things that are required but are not interesting. It's called work for a reason; you're not worth much to an employer if you can only do thing that you find fun.

Ologn 11y ago

My college had three non-CS writing courses. I would say they helped improve my writing skill, especially one of the classes. I would also say writing well is an important skill to have when working for a business - when writing documents and sending e-mails to other techs, and especially in communications with non-techs. CS is not the only thing you need to know when working for a business. Other classes folded back into CS or working for a business as well. For example, my psychology course was helpful in a number of areas, including as preparation for an AI elective I took.

gravypod 11y ago
I have to take two physics classes, ~4 history classes, and ~2 English classes. We also have a requirement for attending a philosophy class about ethics in computing or something.
- HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
  My education as an EE was somewhat similar. Before starting any EE classes, I took 4 physics courses, two chemistry, three English/composition/Literature (would have been 4 but I tested out of Engl101) courses, and one History course (that I failed and had to repeat because I blew it off). Then we can get into the stuff I only know I took because it's on my transcript. Stuff I forgot all about because it was never actually "used" like Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, Linear Analysis, and Math, Math, Math. I think the only time I didn't have anything that looked like a math class was the semester right before graduation. Somewhere in there I took a few actual EE courses. Guess which ones had the most impact on my career? Hint: it ain't the EE stuff (although I worked as an EE for 6 years after graduation).
  - gravypod 11y ago
    The difference I see is that EE is a math field. The concepts of EE can only be represented as numbers and math. Computer science is only focused on logic and algorithms with state. It's not really math. But in the end I DON'T mind math classes, I like math classes. I mind stupid English, Lit, and Phil, classes. I'll probably go for a math minor. I like it. But I'm not going to for a English minor.

georgefrick 11y ago

My GPA was not awesome. You could be affected by any number of things (wrong university, wrong goals, wrong order of operations, in a hurry). Please don't be offended, I just mean that you might leverage your resources better and find classes you care about (I ended up double majoring in CS and Economics, but I didn't care about econ until I tried it). Here is a more plain and TLDR response. Pretend it's a new investment and write down/spell out what you are putting in and getting out. If it doesn't add up, don't make the investment. Finally, not caring is a problem. For some arguing in favor of degrees, this is a big part of their point. Why don't you care about those classes? Do you think you'll only ever get cool and interesting projects at work? An employer needs to know you'll spend two weeks finding some ridiculous bug that doesn't even affect anything if that is what they assign. Every third Sunday, the system crashes. Fix it. While your peers do greenfield work. It means sometimes putting effort into things you aren't interested in as part of the bigger picture.

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago

If you think of it as wasting time, then your attitude will come out in your work. All those classes you don't care about are there because university isn't trade school. The more interesting work goes to programmers who can communicate. 90% of programmers can get the job done; I want someone who can articulate what he's built, how it can be improved, when it will be ready, what needs to be changed, what we're doing wrong, etc. That's what all those classes you don't care about are for: giving you perspective outside heads-down coding that can be outsourced for $50/day. You'd be amazed at how many people I have interviewed that simply either can't, or won't talk (from the interviewer's perspective they are the same thing!). Again: most halfway decent programmers are adequate. The great ones are great not because they can write code, but because they can explain how that code works to someone else and, vice versa, they can understand someone who is trying to explain why the code doesn't do what they need. That is worth paying for.

georgefrick 11y ago
It actually bugs me every once in a while when I do an interview and I know the guy can code but he just can't articulate anything. It's like he's locked in there and he would be fine if I slipped tasks under his door in an envelope. But to your point it just doesn't work that way and those people get turned away not because they didn't have the technical skills, but because they demonstrated they couldn't be effective beyond the IDE. The other day I finally cut a guy off and said, "Yes, sure, you aren't good with terms and explanations. How do you have technical discussions with other developers? What do you do in code reviews?". Deer meet Headlights. I also realize your point is beyond technical communication, and you are right on that too.

jwhitlark 11y ago

Part of the signal of a degree is can you do a good job on things that are required but are not interesting. It's called work for a reason; you're not worth much to an employer if you can only do thing that you find fun.