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Expanding on this: I believe the most important reason to attend university, aside from getting the piece of paper (which could even be argued is secondary to t

Expanding on this: I believe the most important reason to attend university, aside from getting the piece of paper (which could even be argued is secondary to this), is to interact with your professors as much as you can. My biggest regret about my academic career is that I didn't do more of that. There were some devastatingly smart people working in my CS department, and I wish I could have absorbed some more of both their domain knowledge and just their general life wisdom.

anonemouse145 9y ago
The purpose of university for a first timer is to build connections to get an internship or job offer. If you come out without a job offer in hand that pays more for your degree, you failed. If like OP you went back because you already had/have a job, then yes, working with professors and other students is a fine thing. You don't need real computer science theory until you're already a seasoned programmer, at which point you need a refresher anyway. Beginning programmers spend more time setting up environments and breaking down poorly written requirements, than traversing binary search trees by hand. I wish someone would have explained to me what it's like finding work in CS before I took the degree, how "entry level" positions can often mean 4+ years experience, how Interview questions often have little to do with the job and everything to do with memorization. Going to school to become a good programmer is wasting money. Going to school because you want to work a field that rewards having a degree, and starting relationships where someone is waiting for you to get your degree and hire you when you finish, is smart.
ajdlinux 9y ago
One of my bigger regrets of my undergraduate degree was not realising how you could interact with the faculty until my second and third years (when I ended up on the student club committee). Had I figured that out in first year, I think I would have gotten more out of my first couple of years, and I might have avoided some of the mistakes I made later on. First year students: go talk to your lecturers, starting from your first semester!

anonemouse145 9y ago

The purpose of university for a first timer is to build connections to get an internship or job offer. If you come out without a job offer in hand that pays more for your degree, you failed. If like OP you went back because you already had/have a job, then yes, working with professors and other students is a fine thing. You don't need real computer science theory until you're already a seasoned programmer, at which point you need a refresher anyway. Beginning programmers spend more time setting up environments and breaking down poorly written requirements, than traversing binary search trees by hand. I wish someone would have explained to me what it's like finding work in CS before I took the degree, how "entry level" positions can often mean 4+ years experience, how Interview questions often have little to do with the job and everything to do with memorization. Going to school to become a good programmer is wasting money. Going to school because you want to work a field that rewards having a degree, and starting relationships where someone is waiting for you to get your degree and hire you when you finish, is smart.

ajdlinux 9y ago

One of my bigger regrets of my undergraduate degree was not realising how you could interact with the faculty until my second and third years (when I ended up on the student club committee). Had I figured that out in first year, I think I would have gotten more out of my first couple of years, and I might have avoided some of the mistakes I made later on. First year students: go talk to your lecturers, starting from your first semester!