I have devised a plan for a specific group of people (like me): Group Characteristics: - Has a full-time job and a family with kid(s): Basically means only 1-

I have devised a plan for a specific group of people (like me): Group Characteristics: - Has a full-time job and a family with kid(s): Basically means only 1-2 hours everyday, maybe a little more when workload is light - Not super smart (probably can identify myself as median IQ at best) - Did not go through a solid CS education (I came from MATH in a mediocre school) - Managed to grab a developer gig by luck and self-development (for me it's mostly luck) - Want to have the deepest understanding of computers and computing as possible (I just realized that computers and computing are two things, one is more about hardware and the other is more about MATH) Issues identified: So we probably still want to get the best education from MIT/Berkeley/etc. but the problem is: - The courses are too tough for us - We don't really have the mental reservoir to consume difficult topics everyday, so that means maybe a few hours of study may push me away from studying for the next day - Contrary to the second point, we do need to study the material as often as possible to retain knowledge learned My plan: - Browse through the list of MIT/Berkeley/CMU/etc. classes and figure out a list of courses. I want to study reverse engineering so my list: - Introductory to programming (I want to skip this one but local university doesn't allow me, see below) - Computer Architecture - Data Structure and Algorithms - Theory of Computing (basically pre-requisite for compiler theory) - Operating System - Compiler Theory - I then registered in local university. It's a mediocre one but it fits in the bill of giving me a general understanding of the topics - The lab/assignment is really easy, like in OS class it doesn't even touch anything about writing functionalities for a student OS - The exams are annoying, mostly about memorizing things, but since I don't care about score I just get by - I have to take a few extra pre-requisite courses such as Introductory to Programming and Discrete Math but I'm fine, good to pump to GPA in case I fuck up something in the future. I want to have an average of B - I'm going to take one course per semester and study the corresponding MIT/Berkerly/CMU course in the NEXT semester, so basically I always have two classes going on from the second semester. The workload is more manageable and more importantly I already know something before taking the courses of tougher tier schools. I'm now on Data Structure and Algorithm so next semester I'm going to take Theory of Computing in local school + Algorithm in tougher tier school. I hope it can ease my way into the topics so that I don't burnout quickly.