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I lived down the block from that NYU makerspace and walked my dog past it every day. I'm also a self-taught dev who's wanted to go back to college and get a de

I lived down the block from that NYU makerspace and walked my dog past it every day. I'm also a self-taught dev who's wanted to go back to college and get a degree for posterity. So naturally applying to NYU made sense, get started on the education stuff I was putting off, get access to a really cool makerspace, etc. I talked to someone from admissions at the school, learned more about the process, but then we got to pricing and the fact I wouldn't qualify for assistance... well it turned out it was practically unaffordable for me, a senior SWE in NYC making a "FAANG-like" salary. I say "practically" because technically I could pay it, but to what end? I'd be looking at over 150k over the next two years for a simple bachelors with no appreciable change to my career trajectory. - It really blew my mind. I was making what their graduates can expect to make years out of school and the math wasn't working, how is it supposed to work for someone coming out of high school? The cynic in me would look at that makerspace that easily had *40k in Ultimakers that never actually seemed to be printing anything peeking out the window and think "is this what they're paying for?", but I guess on the flip side you get things like this post? * Actually I went and looked at an old picture, I only counted 8 or so in view of the window...

hancholo 4y ago
If I may ask... what specialization are you in? and is it the same thing you started off in? I've been thinking of pivoting and have narrowed it down to 1-3 niches, but also don't have a degree but currently working in a FAANG company.
- BoorishBears 4y ago
  My first paid programming gigs were on video games as a freelance Unity developer, but my "real career" was founded on embedded Android Embedded systems were a good match for my background tinkering with assembly for calculators and messing with MCUs, but it's a very "traditional" part of tech. Android in embedded is much closer to mobile in terms of culture, so my lack of a degree wasn't a problem getting started, and demand has only grown over the years. I currently work in HMI for self-driving vehicles these days but I've worked on everything from in-store interactive displays to prototype fitness equipment Bonus: You can also pivot to traditional mobile dev, which I've done for some stints over the course of my career
mmmlinux 4y ago
Take a look through the window during orientation time. all those machines will be running printing out crap to show how cool and trendy their maker space is.
rhacker 4y ago
What are you complaining about?
- _ea1k 4y ago
  Presumably the amazing high cost of education and how it isn't always being used efficiently.
- BoorishBears 4y ago
  The idea that schools get to use 18 year olds as unsecured loans to build out extravagant facilities. Then those 18 year olds grow up, can't pay back the loan, so the government uses bailing them out as a political bargaining chip.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
999900000999 4y ago
What's the point of this, you can easily go to cheaper school and pay about 10K a year. Software Engineering is a fields where you don't even need a degree to be honest. I know at least 2 colleagues who make much more than me without degrees. Just make side projects. Or spend a bit more , go to UC Berkeley and you can attend one of the best CS schools in the world. Just live in California for a year to get residency first
- BoorishBears 4y ago
  That's my whole point, I don't have a degree and it's been a long time since that came up. In my most recent position I got an offer before the recruiter found out I didn't have a degree: We were making small talk waiting for someone to join the call and they offhandedly asked where I went to school... I didn't. - So with that in mind, how are they justifying their value over those cheaper (or free) options? With an expensive makerspace? Pedigree? (as you point out there are cheaper schools of a similar calibre) To me it doesn't add up and something has to give at some point. I've long felt that if we get student loan relief, it must come with tightening the purse strings on the tuition side by downsizing how much the government is willing to finance per student. The schools are using the money for everything from vanity projects to real-estate plays, that needs to stop.
  - 999900000999 4y ago
    If people want to pay for prestige let them. For the most part you either should logically come from money or get a scholarship. At 18 your free to ruin your life in a variety of ways ,college isn't the worst.
    - BoorishBears 4y ago
      The problem is they (usually) can't pay for it. They take out loans for it, and as the now-in-jeopardy relief program shows they often can't pay those loans back. A lot of schools don't even have the prestige but have this pricing problem: if we keep letting colleges access "free money" on the backs of 18 year olds, they will keep taking that money and spending it regardless of if it benefits the students. - If you walk into a bank as an assetless 18 year old and ask for a $100,000 for "a big bet that will probably pay off just trust me", you'll be politely but firmly asked to leave. Why are we letting that happen just because some school offering 0 collateral happens to be the co-signer?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

hancholo 4y ago

If I may ask... what specialization are you in? and is it the same thing you started off in? I've been thinking of pivoting and have narrowed it down to 1-3 niches, but also don't have a degree but currently working in a FAANG company.

BoorishBears 4y ago
My first paid programming gigs were on video games as a freelance Unity developer, but my "real career" was founded on embedded Android Embedded systems were a good match for my background tinkering with assembly for calculators and messing with MCUs, but it's a very "traditional" part of tech. Android in embedded is much closer to mobile in terms of culture, so my lack of a degree wasn't a problem getting started, and demand has only grown over the years. I currently work in HMI for self-driving vehicles these days but I've worked on everything from in-store interactive displays to prototype fitness equipment Bonus: You can also pivot to traditional mobile dev, which I've done for some stints over the course of my career

mmmlinux 4y ago

Take a look through the window during orientation time. all those machines will be running printing out crap to show how cool and trendy their maker space is.

rhacker 4y ago

What are you complaining about?

_ea1k 4y ago
Presumably the amazing high cost of education and how it isn't always being used efficiently.
BoorishBears 4y ago
The idea that schools get to use 18 year olds as unsecured loans to build out extravagant facilities. Then those 18 year olds grow up, can't pay back the loan, so the government uses bailing them out as a political bargaining chip.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

999900000999 4y ago

What's the point of this, you can easily go to cheaper school and pay about 10K a year. Software Engineering is a fields where you don't even need a degree to be honest. I know at least 2 colleagues who make much more than me without degrees. Just make side projects. Or spend a bit more , go to UC Berkeley and you can attend one of the best CS schools in the world. Just live in California for a year to get residency first

BoorishBears 4y ago
That's my whole point, I don't have a degree and it's been a long time since that came up. In my most recent position I got an offer before the recruiter found out I didn't have a degree: We were making small talk waiting for someone to join the call and they offhandedly asked where I went to school... I didn't. - So with that in mind, how are they justifying their value over those cheaper (or free) options? With an expensive makerspace? Pedigree? (as you point out there are cheaper schools of a similar calibre) To me it doesn't add up and something has to give at some point. I've long felt that if we get student loan relief, it must come with tightening the purse strings on the tuition side by downsizing how much the government is willing to finance per student. The schools are using the money for everything from vanity projects to real-estate plays, that needs to stop.
- 999900000999 4y ago
  If people want to pay for prestige let them. For the most part you either should logically come from money or get a scholarship. At 18 your free to ruin your life in a variety of ways ,college isn't the worst.
  - BoorishBears 4y ago
    The problem is they (usually) can't pay for it. They take out loans for it, and as the now-in-jeopardy relief program shows they often can't pay those loans back. A lot of schools don't even have the prestige but have this pricing problem: if we keep letting colleges access "free money" on the backs of 18 year olds, they will keep taking that money and spending it regardless of if it benefits the students. - If you walk into a bank as an assetless 18 year old and ask for a $100,000 for "a big bet that will probably pay off just trust me", you'll be politely but firmly asked to leave. Why are we letting that happen just because some school offering 0 collateral happens to be the co-signer?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]