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Amen. Whereas graduate studies in certain disciplines can help advance your career, the basic undergraduate curriculum has become increasingly useless. Work ex

by dr_ 16y ago

Amen. Whereas graduate studies in certain disciplines can help advance your career, the basic undergraduate curriculum has become increasingly useless. Work experience is what counts for more than anything. Ideally you would attend a reasonably priced institution with good teachers and be given enough time to explore independent projects - business ideas or artistic pursuits depending on what your interests in life are. For tech, something like Y Combinator, sponsored by the University perhaps, should be a part of every campus scene and students should be given the time to launch projects on the side. Many will fail, but the lessons learned will still be invaluable in life. This is how we will remain an economic powerhouse and create the next generation of leaders.

arethuza 16y ago
"basic undergraduate curriculum has become increasingly useless" Why do you think that has happened? From my perspective (I graduated over 20 years ago) things like CS degrees seem to have been tried to become far more directly useful by becoming rather more like vocational training than pure academic subjects. [NB I'm largely interested because I have a son who is starting to think about what he might do at University].
- araneae 16y ago
  Well I think the problem is the way the job market has changed, not the way that the curricula have changed; they've remained remarkably static. It used to be that if you had a college degree in something you could get an entry level position in... something. Nowadays you have to have had some sort of vocational training in that field. If you have a degree in history there aren't many fields that applies to. And the problem in C.S. isn't that C.S. programs aren't teaching advanced algorithms well, it's that all the job listings want you to know RoR. Computer science != programming, as my C.S. Ph.d. friends like to frequently point out. You could (theoretically) get a graduate degree in C.S. without ever opening your text editor, if you're into proofs and the like.
  - arethuza 16y ago
    "You could (theoretically) get a graduate degree in C.S. without ever opening your text editor, if you're into proofs and the like." Other than to edit your LaTeX document files, or course! :-)

by dr_ 16y ago

arethuza 16y ago

"basic undergraduate curriculum has become increasingly useless" Why do you think that has happened? From my perspective (I graduated over 20 years ago) things like CS degrees seem to have been tried to become far more directly useful by becoming rather more like vocational training than pure academic subjects. [NB I'm largely interested because I have a son who is starting to think about what he might do at University].

araneae 16y ago
Well I think the problem is the way the job market has changed, not the way that the curricula have changed; they've remained remarkably static. It used to be that if you had a college degree in something you could get an entry level position in... something. Nowadays you have to have had some sort of vocational training in that field. If you have a degree in history there aren't many fields that applies to. And the problem in C.S. isn't that C.S. programs aren't teaching advanced algorithms well, it's that all the job listings want you to know RoR. Computer science != programming, as my C.S. Ph.d. friends like to frequently point out. You could (theoretically) get a graduate degree in C.S. without ever opening your text editor, if you're into proofs and the like.
- arethuza 16y ago
  "You could (theoretically) get a graduate degree in C.S. without ever opening your text editor, if you're into proofs and the like." Other than to edit your LaTeX document files, or course! :-)