I think the mistake a lot of people make is the split between you need a degree and degrees are worthless. Degrees are largely what you make out of them. I hav

I think the mistake a lot of people make is the split between you need a degree and degrees are worthless. Degrees are largely what you make out of them. I have been going through a bachelors of computer engineering and the curriculum/professors make every effort to provide as much value as possible yet most students do just enough work to get the grade they want in the class. In this same vein, students so often take the required courses, look for the easiest (instead of the best) teachers, and try to pick the easiest, lowest effort classes out of the in major classes they can choose between (tech electives) rather than focusing on building a useful base of knowledge for their future careers. Many students intentionally avoid useful classes because they are hard and don't want to risk damaging their precious GPA. I find this accounts for a lot of the grads with very high GPAs but with fairly limited knowledge outside of the basics. This ends up with students putting the cart before the horse by focusing on how to be best suited for getting a job rather than how to be well prepared for it. The true value of a CS/ECE degree comes from the classes that you take not the degree itself. Much of that material (particularly the fringe optional courses) can be very difficult to grasp on your own and having a professor dedicated to assisting in your understanding of that material is extremely valuable.