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Ask HN: Should I just program or should I continue to go for engineering?

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Ask HN: Should I just program or should I continue to go for engineering?

#1

Post by cupofjoakim »

Hi HN.

I'm having a bit of a hard time. Since Aug 2015 I've been studying to get a bachelors in computer science. The first year was a base technical year to get my math skills up to par and since august this year I've been enrolled in a program over at KTH in stockholm, Sweden.

During this time I've been going at it quite hard. Around 40h of school and 16h of work each week (i have a contract with a swedish start up). It's been working out fine but I'm starting to grow frustrated with this path. I started studying to ensure a safe future. I have by no means any hard time finding work and I've been doing things for major ad agencies and some major brands (nike, samsung, wwf, mentos). I just thought I needed a bachelor to be safe in the future.

Now I've just been at websummit in portugal and I've just missed a weeks worth of studies but I can already feel how much I need to do this week to get everything done. Quite frankly I'm sick of the workload. My courses only partially connect with what I want to work with (developer) and the stress is hard to motivate.

How much of a difference does a bachelors in computer science really make? Is it really bad for me not to go through with this?

Re: Ask HN: Should I just program or should I continue to go for engineering?

#4

Post by gooderist »

Degrees don't guarantee anything. People hire based on what you can do and how well they get along with you. I think it's more important that you know what kind of work you want to do and then learn everything about it. Deep understanding of a marketable skill (networking, SQL, design, system software, containers, product development, etc) is very valuable. And universities don't have a monopoly on knowledge. You can work through all the textbooks and talk to engineers doing hard things without stepping foot in a school.

Having said that, schools are good at helping you navigate an endless body of knowledge. They have knowledgeable people to answer your questions and systems in place to verify your learning. Unfortunately, in many cases, you won't be interested in what you're learning until you understand the benefits in the real world. From personal experience, I was never interested in networking and databases until I had to build a back-end server for work (16 years after graduation). Now, I wish I had taken those classes or paid more attention because it would really help now. And I don't always have the discipline and energy to work through a textbook or open courseware now that I'm full-time employed and married.

Since you are already doing work you like, I would probably put more time into work and either go part time at school or suspend my enrollment for a year or two. After a couple years (or decades) you will probably figure out what you want out of school and be in a better place to take advantage of what a formal education has to offer. Never be afraid to put off school. It will always be there.

Re: Ask HN: Should I just program or should I continue to go for engineering?

#5

Post by cupofjoakim »

gooderist wrote: post #4

Degrees don't guarantee anything. People hire based on what you can do and how well they get along with you. I think it's more important that you know what kind of work you want to do and then learn everything about it. Deep understanding of a marketable skill (networking, SQL, design, system software, containers, product development, etc) is very valuable. And universities don't have a monopoly on knowledge. You can…

Thanks for the reply man. Your answer really solidifies my decision.
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