Is the value the same as a traditional 4 year degree?
I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
71–80 of 387 posts
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#72> In 2012, I studied computer science at Concordia University and dropped out after 1 semester. > On my first day, I attended 2 lectures. I quickly realized that a 2-hour commute to listen to someone slowly recite a PowerPoint wasn’t the best use of my time. It's so depressing that a lot of expensive higher education is this pathetic. I wish our education system worked enough like a market that it could hold lecturer…
A 2 hour commute is also a massive problem. Students should be onsite wherever possible.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#73For anyone who is wondering, the school he listed (Western Governors University) is unfortunately not ABET accredited as far as I can tell.
I assume this matters if they want to go to grad school, but does it matter for any other reason? I think employers attribute value to programs they have heard of, whether it is ABET or not is not something I have ever considered.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#74For anyone who is wondering, the school he listed (Western Governors University) is unfortunately not ABET accredited as far as I can tell.
This should be at the top. What's the point of that paper if the issuer is not accredited?
I assume if you're just interested in learning. (Not trying to be sarcastic or trollish -- I'm looking for stuff that optimizes more for personal enlightenment than a credential, and I accept that both targets are valid to pursue.)
With that said, even for that use case, it feels clickbaity to label it "I got a CS degree" rather than "I learned the content of a CS degree".
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#75For anyone who is wondering, the school he listed (Western Governors University) is unfortunately not ABET accredited as far as I can tell.
This should be at the top. What's the point of that paper if the issuer is not accredited?
The article says the school is accredited by a different group.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#76> In 2012, I studied computer science at Concordia University and dropped out after 1 semester. > On my first day, I attended 2 lectures. I quickly realized that a 2-hour commute to listen to someone slowly recite a PowerPoint wasn’t the best use of my time. It's so depressing that a lot of expensive higher education is this pathetic. I wish our education system worked enough like a market that it could hold lecturer…
Everything in higher education makes a lot more sense when you realize they aren't selling an education they're selling credentials.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#77> In 2012, I studied computer science at Concordia University and dropped out after 1 semester. > On my first day, I attended 2 lectures. I quickly realized that a 2-hour commute to listen to someone slowly recite a PowerPoint wasn’t the best use of my time. It's so depressing that a lot of expensive higher education is this pathetic. I wish our education system worked enough like a market that it could hold lecturer…
I am going to go out on a limb and say that most of getting a Comp. Sci. degree at Concordia University isn't actually "listen[ing] to someone slowly recite a PowerPoint". Having attended a public University in Canada myself it certainly wasn't my experience (and also not very expensive, Upon completing the article my main takeaway was that the author would have been a lot better off just toughing it out at Concordia…
As a fellow 2012 Concordia dropout, it's possible there's more to that particular story going untold, and this is the clean version of it for employers. You can look up "printemps érable 2012" for some context and Montreal Police brutality related to that. My personal experience being a student involved running from police on horseback launching teargas grenades. Finding excuses not to talk about it is easier than trying to explain it.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#78This reminds of how I dropped out early as well, had a good job offer and didn't need any papers anymore.
I ended being a freelancer and the same school I dropped out of ended up hiring me for doing some teaching activities. Somebody kept an eye on me and gave me a call when they needed someone with actual programming experience. This gave me the opportunity to work on my own diploma by writing courses for their students.
I completed the courses in less then an hour and received diploma for free. So I basically made my own diploma.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#79> In 2012, I studied computer science at Concordia University and dropped out after 1 semester. > On my first day, I attended 2 lectures. I quickly realized that a 2-hour commute to listen to someone slowly recite a PowerPoint wasn’t the best use of my time. It's so depressing that a lot of expensive higher education is this pathetic. I wish our education system worked enough like a market that it could hold lecturer…
At least in US universities along with the powerpoint slide lectures there are also smaller discussion sessions, group assignments, take home programming tests, semester-long papers and projects, optional research and teaching opportunities and more. The lecture is really the least important part.
Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
#80I'm glad to see others attending WGU. I worked in the industry for a little while, but I couldn't take web dev any longer and decided to go back to school.
I've enjoyed the CS program quite a bit, especially the self-pacing. I have been going at a much slower pace than you have, but I hope to finish up in the next 3 months. For someone new to CS I still think WGU is a good school if you are self-motivated. A standard class is expected to last 8-12 weeks, but they take the full 6 months if needed. Some of the intro classes are very short and can be done within a day or 2. Some classes have cohorts which are nice and instructors will have webinars to go over things in the class.
I had a lot of fun with the later project courses giving me a chance to build out some neat JavaFX and Tkinter applications. A lot of students get crushed by Discrete Math 1 and 2, but it's just one of those classes you need to practice with paper and pencil at. I also like that you are open to using other material to learn the subject matter. For the operating system class, I worked on Georgia Tech's Intro to operating systems class on Udacity and learned everything I needed for the test. The school also provides a Pluralsight subscription so, you can benefit from the excellent classes there as well. There is also a subreddit where students discuss courses and their strategies for passing them here: https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/
I can see the program being brutal for people who cannot keep themselves on track due to lack of deadlines though. You do have an advisor that follows you through the whole program that communicates with you every week. If you do struggle with deadlines, let them know and they can help you strategize and keep you on track.
Lastly, I would like to note that the capstone does force the student down the path of a Data analysis/AI application. As someone that has little to no interest in AI, I was pretty bummed that it wasn't more open-ended. These things change though, so it might be different in the future.