4 ms·

I've completed 3 years of a useless degree that just has big fancy course names that make it look like we actually did things. Reality: Course material from th

by rfnslyr 13y ago

I've completed 3 years of a useless degree that just has big fancy course names that make it look like we actually did things. Reality: Course material from the early 90's, professors just email us wikipedia links and test us on diagrams and random crap from the internet. It's really really bad. 2 semesters at this school I can fit easily into one month of self study :| Should I just put relevant coursework + how much of the education I completed? (3 years). I have an absolutely abysmal GPA so I'm wondering if its even worth throwing on the resume at this point.

itsybitsycoder 13y ago
I don't understand; what was your intended purpose in attending this school if you're not learning anything and not accomplishing something you can show to an employer? If you can easily learn 2 semesters worth of material in a month, why is your GPA abysmal?
- rfnslyr 13y ago
  There was a lot of pressure to attended college immediately after I finished high school. I was not in the right frame of mind and it was never my goal to attend school. I knew since before high school what I wanted to do. I thought I could stomach it for the first year, it got worse the second year, and finally in the third I was mentally suffering so bad I couldn't do it anymore. The combination of guilt and stress was not good.
  - runawaybottle 13y ago
    It sounds to me like school has been somewhat traumatic for you. Digging yourself into a hole in college is very mentally distressing, but it happens to a lot of people. I think giving serious consideration into taking a break from college is very reasonable under those circumstances. With that said, with no degree/experience, you absolutely have to build up a solid portfolio, fast. A semi competent front-end dev can get his/her foot in the door slicing sites, aim lower to build up experience. Do it for a year, but spend nights/weekends working on projects for your next job (a year or two down the line). Then try to ease school back in with evening classes. I'd recommend that you don't tell potential employers you're taking a break from college. Try to highlight that money is becoming an issue, and you need full-time work, but are taking classes part-time (register for a class or two per semester). There is a crowd of devs that don't have a degree, or don't have a CS degree, and are doing ok, but I generally find this breed to have a good deal of grit. It'll definitely be stressful in your first few years.

by rfnslyr 13y ago

itsybitsycoder 13y ago

I don't understand; what was your intended purpose in attending this school if you're not learning anything and not accomplishing something you can show to an employer? If you can easily learn 2 semesters worth of material in a month, why is your GPA abysmal?

rfnslyr 13y ago
There was a lot of pressure to attended college immediately after I finished high school. I was not in the right frame of mind and it was never my goal to attend school. I knew since before high school what I wanted to do. I thought I could stomach it for the first year, it got worse the second year, and finally in the third I was mentally suffering so bad I couldn't do it anymore. The combination of guilt and stress was not good.
- runawaybottle 13y ago
  It sounds to me like school has been somewhat traumatic for you. Digging yourself into a hole in college is very mentally distressing, but it happens to a lot of people. I think giving serious consideration into taking a break from college is very reasonable under those circumstances. With that said, with no degree/experience, you absolutely have to build up a solid portfolio, fast. A semi competent front-end dev can get his/her foot in the door slicing sites, aim lower to build up experience. Do it for a year, but spend nights/weekends working on projects for your next job (a year or two down the line). Then try to ease school back in with evening classes. I'd recommend that you don't tell potential employers you're taking a break from college. Try to highlight that money is becoming an issue, and you need full-time work, but are taking classes part-time (register for a class or two per semester). There is a crowd of devs that don't have a degree, or don't have a CS degree, and are doing ok, but I generally find this breed to have a good deal of grit. It'll definitely be stressful in your first few years.