Ask HN: Is a computer science degree worth it or should I learn on my own?

Learning is like gardening. You plant seeds, maintain their growth and hope one day they become something beautiful. In schools you will find many well skilled gardeners who know how to growth some beautiful parks, though this strongly depends on the soil they get, meaning you. If you don't work with them, or just don't have or get what is neccessary to grow well, then even the best gardener can't help you.

On the other side, not every one want's to be a park, some people are happy being a bush, sometimes people are better with being a jungle and maintain their own beauty.

Nobody can predict the future, nobody can tell what person you will be in 10 years, in 20, 30.. But probability-wise it's always a good idea to learn from those who already mastered the skills you seek to learn. Having a teacher, someone who can guide you, someone who forces you to learn the boring but still important stuff, is usually a good thing. Especially in a highly knowledge-drowning field like computer science.

I'm a Russian citizen and have no degree, self-taught, never had a problem, until recently when I was offered a job in Berlin. As far as I understand, in order for a foreigner to be able to live and work in Germany (and that should apply to many, if not all, other European countries too) one must obtain a Blue Card, and that requires one to have a degree in the field they're going to work in.

I'm not a programmer.

Maybe some actual programmers will kindly weigh in.

It probably very much depends on the school and the courses you take but most will provide you with at least some foundational knowledge of computer science (e.g. data structures, complexity theory, some linear algebra, software engineering), which is incredibly useful.

You can certainly learn this all by yourself but that takes quite a bit of discipline. Moreover, having an actual teacher and peers to help you with your learning is an enormous benefit.

That said, foundational computer science education can only ever be part of the equation. If you really want to excel in your field you have to learn on your own anyway. So ideally, it's a combination of both.

As for the degree itself, that totally depends on what you're going to do in the future. What you learn is much more important than the degree itself. You can still drop out later if you feel you'd better continue on your own or your time (and money ...) might be put to better use in other ways.

It depends on what part of IT you are looking at, and what your objective is. If you need money now - then get a job and use what you have learned. The more you have a passion for the topic the more likely a degree is needed. Because after you get a bachelors, you are likely to want a master etc.

Programmer / Database - definitely - I have been developing code for a long time, I have worked in many positions. When I work with people I can usually tell if they have a degree in CS or some other topic. Part of it is the mind set of the person, and their ability to comprehend issues. A math or engineering major will understand recursion when explained. Most math majors will be able to do recursion after an explanation. A history or business major will nod in agreement, but still have no idea what I explained. That being said I use recursion to distinguish better programmers who can / could be great and those that are on the B team.

Like others have said, not all CS majors are great programmers, and many are just bad. But the chances are better, but I think it has more to do with passion than anything else.

If desire to be a systems administrator, a CS degree can help, especially in scoring the interview, but is often more helpful to have certifications.

It is easier for a boss to justify a raise / promotion for someone with a degree than not. Take this extreme scenario: you have 2 developers, one with a few programming certs and one with a CS PhD. A manager slot opens up... whom do you promote? How hard would it be to explain either promotion to upper management? If they screw up in the new position who will they blame (if its the PhD person they blame them. The other guy they blame you for promoting him beyond his skills).

If you want to do web pages, then I think the learn it on your own is the best tactic.

I would avoid a CIS degree. That appears to be a degree for people who cannot do CS but think a computer degree would be real cool. Last I looked there were a lot of unemployed CIS people.

The one advantage of starting work now, is you might be able to get the company to pay for your CS degree. But they almost never provide a good pay raise.