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We don't even know if "don't go to college" is good advice for the long term (15+ years) in software engineering, let alone the fact that you're completely forg

We don't even know if "don't go to college" is good advice for the long term (15+ years) in software engineering, let alone the fact that you're completely forgetting about other fields. Seems incredibly short-sighted to me.

valuearb 9y ago
Unless maybe you are going to a top 1% CS program, there is little need for a degree in software engineering. Even if you go to a top 1% school, it's unlikely you will be taught by anyone remotely as good as this guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdAfILoJWcI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdAfILoJWcI And his lectures are available for free. If you get a degree, lots of what you learn will be outdated fast. The most important things you learn will be on the job actually making things.
- throwaway613834 9y ago
  >> We don't even know if "don't go to college" is good advice for the long term (15+ years) in software engineering > Unless maybe you are going to a top 1% CS program, there is little need for a degree in software engineering. I think you missed what I just said. You say there "is" little need. But I'm not looking at the present. We still don't know if we do for the long-term. (Well, lots of people think they do, but they're only guessing, not going on evidence obviously.) Note that it's simply not true that people would learn the same material independently that they would learn in a classroom. Yes, it is theoretically possible, and some people can pull it off, but it's not at all universal or even common. A lot of people need the environment to learn better. Online lectures just don't cut it for everyone. So yes, "you need to go to college" can be true regardless of how good online lectures are, and we still don't know if what people get out of a CS degree will on average give them an advantage compared to those who don't get one in the longer term (though I don't really have statistics for the shorter term either).
- turk184 9y ago
  I grew up lower middle class, but because of where I went to school and who I met along the way, I'm quite wealthy now. Things in life don't always play out linearly. Just sayin'.

valuearb 9y ago

Unless maybe you are going to a top 1% CS program, there is little need for a degree in software engineering. Even if you go to a top 1% school, it's unlikely you will be taught by anyone remotely as good as this guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdAfILoJWcI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdAfILoJWcI And his lectures are available for free. If you get a degree, lots of what you learn will be outdated fast. The most important things you learn will be on the job actually making things.

throwaway613834 9y ago
>> We don't even know if "don't go to college" is good advice for the long term (15+ years) in software engineering > Unless maybe you are going to a top 1% CS program, there is little need for a degree in software engineering. I think you missed what I just said. You say there "is" little need. But I'm not looking at the present. We still don't know if we do for the long-term. (Well, lots of people think they do, but they're only guessing, not going on evidence obviously.) Note that it's simply not true that people would learn the same material independently that they would learn in a classroom. Yes, it is theoretically possible, and some people can pull it off, but it's not at all universal or even common. A lot of people need the environment to learn better. Online lectures just don't cut it for everyone. So yes, "you need to go to college" can be true regardless of how good online lectures are, and we still don't know if what people get out of a CS degree will on average give them an advantage compared to those who don't get one in the longer term (though I don't really have statistics for the shorter term either).
turk184 9y ago
I grew up lower middle class, but because of where I went to school and who I met along the way, I'm quite wealthy now. Things in life don't always play out linearly. Just sayin'.