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HA! I hear this all the time and it certainly didn't apply to me. This has a lot of assumptions baked into it. 1) You actually socialize with classmates (I did

HA! I hear this all the time and it certainly didn't apply to me. This has a lot of assumptions baked into it. 1) You actually socialize with classmates (I didn't). 2) You either went to a top ranked school or stayed in the area where those graduates generally migrate to. (I didn't) 3) You did activities outside of class (I did (mainly embedded or MS talks), but were outside where I'm actually doing, so I'd call this a wash too) Only as a grad student in math (but not computer science) did I feel I got the kind of interaction that makes in person classes, lectures, interaction more valuable. Honestly I don't think I got much out of university that I couldn't have gotten online. Where I learned the most was my first three months in the industry. I learned VCS, scripting, bug tracking, code review, and about meet-ups/user groups. Basically everything important that wasn't programming.

mjwhansen 12y ago
It sounds like you didn't take advantage of all of the resources available then. Just because you didn't network in college doesn't mean it isn't useful.
- solarmist 12y ago
  Of course, but I think there's a large percentage (minimum double digits, I'd guess probably at least in the 20's or 30's though) that were just like me and it wouldn't have made a bit of difference if they did their degree in a box, on the internet, or on a campus. At the time I didn't even know that was something your were supposed to do unless you were in a frat or a business major. To me college was a place to go and take classes and get your degree and that was pretty much it or at least that was what I was lead to believe was the only important part.
  - HarryHirsch 12y ago
    When I started university, the first thing that they told us, at the beginning of the first class, was to form groups and try to meet people. You just made the best argument in favour of the much ridiculed student success centers, deans of diversity &c. You can put someone from an educated family into a university and they will do just fine; if they aren't they will get advice from their parents, and then they will do fine. But access to university is less exclusive nowadays, and first-generation students will need some boost or prodding that their upbringing just couldn't provide to take all possible advantage of their environment (and it isn't their fault).
    - solarmist 12y ago
      Yup, exactly, but it was new to me and didn't stick at all. Only now do I know what I should've done while there. My dad got his degree; he was first generation and didn't get a lot out of it, so I'm basically a second first generation college student and have had to pick up most of this myself. My kids will get a lot more out of their experiences than I did though.

mjwhansen 12y ago

It sounds like you didn't take advantage of all of the resources available then. Just because you didn't network in college doesn't mean it isn't useful.

solarmist 12y ago
Of course, but I think there's a large percentage (minimum double digits, I'd guess probably at least in the 20's or 30's though) that were just like me and it wouldn't have made a bit of difference if they did their degree in a box, on the internet, or on a campus. At the time I didn't even know that was something your were supposed to do unless you were in a frat or a business major. To me college was a place to go and take classes and get your degree and that was pretty much it or at least that was what I was lead to believe was the only important part.
- HarryHirsch 12y ago
  When I started university, the first thing that they told us, at the beginning of the first class, was to form groups and try to meet people. You just made the best argument in favour of the much ridiculed student success centers, deans of diversity &c. You can put someone from an educated family into a university and they will do just fine; if they aren't they will get advice from their parents, and then they will do fine. But access to university is less exclusive nowadays, and first-generation students will need some boost or prodding that their upbringing just couldn't provide to take all possible advantage of their environment (and it isn't their fault).
  - solarmist 12y ago
    Yup, exactly, but it was new to me and didn't stick at all. Only now do I know what I should've done while there. My dad got his degree; he was first generation and didn't get a lot out of it, so I'm basically a second first generation college student and have had to pick up most of this myself. My kids will get a lot more out of their experiences than I did though.