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I've been a working software developer for 15 years. Professionally, I've done everything I would have hoped to do if I'd had a degree. I've worked at Prestigio

by benched 13y ago

I've been a working software developer for 15 years. Professionally, I've done everything I would have hoped to do if I'd had a degree. I've worked at Prestigious BigCo, Tiny Startup, Game Studio, and a couple others. I have zero college education. It has almost never come up. Hardly anyone has ever asked, and when they did, it was never a big deal. I once had one manager who kind of sneered at me a little bit over it - a little odd (?) considering he didn't have a degree either. My advice is absolutely to stay on and finish your C.S. degree. Making the (safer) assumption that you're going to live to a ripe old age, the time you'll spend is really nothing much. The tech industry will not go anywhere without you (and it sounds like you're already working anyway). If you finish, you won't have the regret that I sometimes do. You won't feel like you have something extra to prove to your peers, that I sometimes do. You'll have a lot of extra academic options, like going to grad school, or teaching. You'll probably have a little extra self-confidence, and yes, after all, you'll learn something that you might not otherwise. You're already enrolled, you're already going - why not finish? If I had it to do again, I'd get a degree in C.S.

MPetitt 13y ago
Thanks, for a while there I thought it was going towards the drop out route, but your second paragraph really made sense. I guess I'm in such a rush to jump in seeing all these young guys working at startups, i'm afraid i'll miss the boat and next thing I know I'm too old and washed up for the hip young startup guys.
- ronyeh 13y ago
  Aside from learning academically, you should also make good friends in college. Much of business and life is about who you know, and right now you are in a place where everyone is interested in meeting new people and learning. Make good use of that time. I started my startup when I was 31, and I'm doing fine, so really there is no rush... (unless you are working on the next big thing with your roommates and all of you decide to drop out.)
tachibana 13y ago
Agreed. I've also found that the longer you are away from school, the harder it is to go back for a variety of reasons (motivation, money, family, etc.). I guess in a world where there are statistically millions of people like me (C'mon -- there are 6 billion+ people in the world!), it would cost less political and social capital to hire or invest in somebody with a degree than somebody without.
gremlinsinc 13y ago
I'm slowly (3 years) getting my associates in CS -- and eventually bachelors-- BUT I'm just doing it a 1-2 classes at a time, my major focus is REALLY learning to code, which sadly most colleges don't really cover--to code you need to be building all day everyday -that's the only way to become a good coder. Will I get my degree? Absolutely? Will it matter? Maybe -- more so when I get my Masters in Business(Looking to go into project management) -- or even better is you majored in Business but became an awesome coder in your spare time -- you could be an instant CIO for a company. -- Knowing business processes AND coding is a HUGE asset.

by benched 13y ago

MPetitt 13y ago

Thanks, for a while there I thought it was going towards the drop out route, but your second paragraph really made sense. I guess I'm in such a rush to jump in seeing all these young guys working at startups, i'm afraid i'll miss the boat and next thing I know I'm too old and washed up for the hip young startup guys.

ronyeh 13y ago
Aside from learning academically, you should also make good friends in college. Much of business and life is about who you know, and right now you are in a place where everyone is interested in meeting new people and learning. Make good use of that time. I started my startup when I was 31, and I'm doing fine, so really there is no rush... (unless you are working on the next big thing with your roommates and all of you decide to drop out.)

tachibana 13y ago

Agreed. I've also found that the longer you are away from school, the harder it is to go back for a variety of reasons (motivation, money, family, etc.). I guess in a world where there are statistically millions of people like me (C'mon -- there are 6 billion+ people in the world!), it would cost less political and social capital to hire or invest in somebody with a degree than somebody without.

gremlinsinc 13y ago

I'm slowly (3 years) getting my associates in CS -- and eventually bachelors-- BUT I'm just doing it a 1-2 classes at a time, my major focus is REALLY learning to code, which sadly most colleges don't really cover--to code you need to be building all day everyday -that's the only way to become a good coder. Will I get my degree? Absolutely? Will it matter? Maybe -- more so when I get my Masters in Business(Looking to go into project management) -- or even better is you majored in Business but became an awesome coder in your spare time -- you could be an instant CIO for a company. -- Knowing business processes AND coding is a HUGE asset.