Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I

news.ycombinator.com

31–32 of 32 posts

Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I

#31
post #23

I suspect you overestimate the extent to which your programming experience would translate to formal studies. Unless you're some sort of genius (possible of course), you'd be extremely optimistic to embark on a degree hoping to finish it in a couple of months.

Oh, stop trying to stifle the confidence of others.

It's still a valid criticism. Unless you've had to do random things like write compilers and write/analyze algoritms every day there are going to be lots of things covered in school that most of us just don't do while programming day-to-day.

Add to that the issue that school work does require some amount of time to complete and I wonder how someone could really compress that volume of work into a few months.

Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I

#32
post #30
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got my H1B this year exactly like you described: 12+ years of experience and some good paper work. No college whatsoever.

How to prove your working experience if you're an independent consultant/contractor/freelancer (for many years)? Do you need to reach to all your previous clients and ask for some letter?

Yes. That's what I had to do exactly because I was a consultant. In addition to that we got a US college to evaluate my work experience based on the letters and my resume and issue a "certificate" stating that I have the equivalent experience of a bachelor in computer science.
Post reply on HN