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I used a similar idea for my YC application answer to the non-computer hack question. Basically, I hacked the traditional education experience and graduated in

by bobf 16y ago

I used a similar idea for my YC application answer to the non-computer hack question. Basically, I hacked the traditional education experience and graduated in 2.5 years, with ~$8500 of loans (without any scholarships/reduced tuition), and with lots of great work experience (I worked full time during school). Although I wouldn't advise this route for everyone, it worked out extremely well for me. Here are a few tips towards hacking the undergraduate experience: 1) As the author says, attend a high quality, low cost state school. If you're going to get a masters, undergrad institution doesn't matter beyond being able to get you into the masters program of your choosing. If you aren't going to get a masters, I would wager it doesn't truly matter what undergrad school you choose. 2) Determine your major before your first semester begins. 3) Plan your courses out meticulously, and don't take courses you don't need to. 4) Take as many classes online as you can. 5) Many professors lectures are fairly useless as they just regurgitate their powerpoint slides. Use this to your advantage -- do homework, work on your online classes, do freelance/telecommuting work. 6) Use a service like RateMyProfessors to find sensible professors - there are huge variances in amount of homework, number of tests, etc. between professors for the same course. 7) Night classes are generally easier and have less homework, because they are designed for non-traditional students with full time jobs during the day. 8) Take as many credits per semester as possible - for most majors, 15 is pretty easy for smart/dedicated people, even with working a part/full-time job. I took 24 my last semester, while working full time. It was basically hell, but you can do anything for 3-4 months of your life. (I probably wouldn't have done that, except an older guy I worked with said he had done 24 in his last semester of his masters program, working full time, and with a pregnant wife.) 9) Go year round, but take less classes in summer and get great internships/work more. 10) Books: a) Make sure you need to buy the book. Lots of classes don't really require buying the book. b) Make sure you really need the most recent edition, 95%+ of the time, the last edition or two editions ago was fine for me. c) If you have to buy a book, get used on Amazon marketplace, half.com, etc. and resell them there after the class is over. 11) Get a job. This will help pay bills and reduce the amount of debt you take. Ideally, get one which will benefit your career path and allows you to work on homework. (I was a systems administrator in a generally not very busy swing shift - among other jobs.) 12) Change jobs as often as you can find something that looks better on your resume or pays more. Every job I took paid $10k+ more than the previous, except when I took a pay cut to do a summer internship at Goldman Sachs ($50k to $40k).

dxq 16y ago
These points all individually look like good advance, but I can't stress #8 enough. GET. A. JOB. I'm a full-time college student attending a relatively cheap state school. I work nearly full-time as a software developer (full-time summers, every chance I get during school). I can afford to live on my own and pay my own tuition. Though I can't tell you where I'll be five years from now, I'm sure that having zero debt and years of work experience won't hinder me.
ubernostrum 16y ago
All of this raises the obvious question: what thing of lasting value did you gain from doing this?
- bobf 16y ago
  I'm not sure if you're referring to getting a degree, or approaching it in the way that I did. I won't try too hard to convince you that a degree is important, but it introduces you to think about things in different ways than you otherwise would, lets you meet people you wouldn't otherwise meet (girls, networking opportunities, etc), provides opportunities for internships or jobs you wouldn't have otherwise, forces you to live in a place you might not have lived otherwise, etc. Doing it in the way I did taught me a lot of incredibly valuable lessons -- probably more than I actually learned in class. I really learned time management and how to prioritize. I gained a lot of work experience, which translates into increased skills and income. Perhaps most importantly (although this will sound very cliche..), I realized that I can achieve anything I truly want, even if it seems physically impossible.
  - ubernostrum 16y ago
    I have a degree in philosophy, so I'll use a story from that field to relate what I'm getting at. The usual lead contender for the title of "first philosopher in western history" is Thales of Miletus. There are a bunch of probably-apocryphal stories about Thales; for example, it's said that he once was gazing so intently at the stars that he failed to look where he was walking, and fell into a well. For this and other similar incidents, Thales was ridiculed by some of his fellow Milesians, who felt he never did anything productive. So, using his observations of the weather as a guide, he predicted an unusually good season and bought up all of the island's olive presses, making a fortune when the harvest came. Having proved his point, he went back to the things which actually interested him.

by bobf 16y ago

dxq 16y ago

These points all individually look like good advance, but I can't stress #8 enough. GET. A. JOB. I'm a full-time college student attending a relatively cheap state school. I work nearly full-time as a software developer (full-time summers, every chance I get during school). I can afford to live on my own and pay my own tuition. Though I can't tell you where I'll be five years from now, I'm sure that having zero debt and years of work experience won't hinder me.

ubernostrum 16y ago

All of this raises the obvious question: what thing of lasting value did you gain from doing this?

bobf 16y ago
I'm not sure if you're referring to getting a degree, or approaching it in the way that I did. I won't try too hard to convince you that a degree is important, but it introduces you to think about things in different ways than you otherwise would, lets you meet people you wouldn't otherwise meet (girls, networking opportunities, etc), provides opportunities for internships or jobs you wouldn't have otherwise, forces you to live in a place you might not have lived otherwise, etc. Doing it in the way I did taught me a lot of incredibly valuable lessons -- probably more than I actually learned in class. I really learned time management and how to prioritize. I gained a lot of work experience, which translates into increased skills and income. Perhaps most importantly (although this will sound very cliche..), I realized that I can achieve anything I truly want, even if it seems physically impossible.
- ubernostrum 16y ago
  I have a degree in philosophy, so I'll use a story from that field to relate what I'm getting at. The usual lead contender for the title of "first philosopher in western history" is Thales of Miletus. There are a bunch of probably-apocryphal stories about Thales; for example, it's said that he once was gazing so intently at the stars that he failed to look where he was walking, and fell into a well. For this and other similar incidents, Thales was ridiculed by some of his fellow Milesians, who felt he never did anything productive. So, using his observations of the weather as a guide, he predicted an unusually good season and bought up all of the island's olive presses, making a fortune when the harvest came. Having proved his point, he went back to the things which actually interested him.