Is that how much they’re worth nowadays? /s
I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
11–20 of 387 posts
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#12Comp Eng PhD here. The fields can indeed be dramatically compressed. Lots of trivia obscure the main points in each comp sci topic.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#13This is interesting to me. I attended a public/state university for 5 semesters studying computer science, and dropped out due to personal matters (while also getting paid employment during the internet boom in a relatively rural part of the United States.) My first paid job didn't pan out, but then I got my first salaried position as a web developer, and I've been employed ever since (though I'm currently furloughed…
This was my motivation for finally going back to school. I dropped out originally due to running out of money and having to take a full time job. Or rather I told myself I'd continue school part time, but never did. Lack of a degree was never a problem professionally so there was no reason to go back and spend a pile of money and a lot of time.
But then I got to the point where I wanted to advance my knowledge of various topics and a master's degree would have been a great structured way to do that. For example I did the MITx MicroMasters in Supply Chain Management. After that I would have had an option to finish the master's program on-site at MIT with 1 additional semester. But I couldn't pursude this due to lack of completed undegrad.
So this finally motivated me to look into some options, and I also found WGU very appealing due to the rolling start, low cost and ability to quickly blaze through the classes I know and only spend time on the ones I need to learn something new.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#14Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#15I was initially skeptical, but this looks pretty solid after reading. The author seems to be an absolute beast though, so anyone diving into this should expect to focus and work hard / very consistently.
Aside from it being everyday work, which he explains it was his only job and during Covid, the daily hourly effort seems to average around 6-7 hours a day.
That said, I don’t see many days where he didn’t have school. So yea this isn’t for everyone obviously.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
why bother getting the degree?
- To be able to work abroad. - To be allowed into graduate school. - To stop having to explain why I don't have one.
The older I get, the more I worry about ageism, and whether the absence of a degree might make that worse.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
why bother getting the degree?
Not the author, but I will say that in my experience having the paper has helped open a lot of doors, especially early in my career, that I otherwise would have had to push harder to get through. It gives you a bit of default credibility. Perhaps unjustified, that's a matter of opinion, but it's definitely real.
Just seems like a competent GitHub serves the job better, at lower cost...
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#18Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#19Author here. I'd be happy to answer your questions.
why bother getting the degree?
Working in software I've only found 2 cases where a lack of a degree got in my way. Getting a work visa to some countries is going to be much much harder without a completed undergrad. And continuing education with a master's level program will be very difficult to do without a completed undergrad. This is what finally motivated me to go back and finish my undergrad.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#20Author here. I'd be happy to answer your questions.
I'm very impressed with your tracking of effort on each course. How did you track the hours? If you were doing two courses at a time, how did you split your time tracking?