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I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

miguelrochefort.com

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Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

#371

Post by wasdfff »

jimbokun wrote: post #336
Buttons840 wrote: post #235

I'll repost my WGU experience from another comment: I dropped out of traditional college. Last class I remember they were talking about what a GET and POST request were. I had been a professional web developer for years at that point. I felt it was a waste of time. In WGU I had a similar easy class, stuff that was "way below me". Not to worry, I passed the class in a day and stopped worrying about wasted time. I rece…

From your comments and the article, seems like the WGU model could completely disrupt the normal 4 year university experience, for self motivated learners. Of course, if the goal is 4 years of fun social life and putting off "adult" responsibilities, the WGU approach is counter productive. But for people who want the benefit of a degree as an employment credential, looks like this is the fastest and cheapest way to a…

If the goal is employment, a lot of the times an internship is becoming expected. This is easier to secure at a larger school, where recruiters visit to make face time on campus.

Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

#372

Post by lcall »

lcall wrote: post #275

A capable family member (in-law) of mine got a Master's degree from WGU, resulting in a salary increase. For someone who lacks the needed English skills, is not in USA/Canada (and thus benefits from much lower cost, varying widely by country), there is also BYU Pathway Worldwide, which also provides high-quality, online university education (from start to Master's). It helps with, for example, learning English and/or…

Thoughtful comments appreciated.

(It is accredited, online, and economical even for someone who thinks they otherwise could not afford quality higher ed.)

Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

#373

Post by Scarbutt »

Buttons840 wrote: post #235

I'll repost my WGU experience from another comment: I dropped out of traditional college. Last class I remember they were talking about what a GET and POST request were. I had been a professional web developer for years at that point. I felt it was a waste of time. In WGU I had a similar easy class, stuff that was "way below me". Not to worry, I passed the class in a day and stopped worrying about wasted time. I rece…

Can you please share the name of Calculus textbook?

Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

#374

Post by iJohnDoe »

abfan1127 wrote: post #332
bonoboTP wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People say "I learned it the hard way" when in the end they lost something for eternity, went through suffering etc. Like a recovered drug addict with permanent health damage or someone who turned on the path of crime and spent his youth behind bars or something. To me it seems like you had a pretty good life, took on some debt to live even more carelessly and then matured and calmed down and channeled more of your d…

you know there are gray scales in life, right? Things can be hard without somebody dying. Marriage is hard. Raising children is hard. Those things are hard without dying, drug addiction, or other exceptionally hard circumstances. You mention some pretty heavy consequences to learn lessons. I'd say committing to something for 3-4 years that means telling yourself NO is pretty hard. Its not "survive being a Vietnam Pri…

Well said reply.

Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

#375

Post by stevewodil »

pertymcpert wrote: post #308
abfan1127 wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Living expenses is a flexible item. You learn to keep your living expenses down.

You're being completely tone deaf to the point that its frustrating to believe that people like you exist.

Just be thankful you don't work with them

Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

#376

Post by dguaraglia »

the_only_law wrote: post #255
dguaraglia wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone in the same position that the author was in (dropped out of college, have had a successful career in Silicon Valley) I can understand the allure of doing a 'speedrun' to get a degree. For one, if you want to emigrate to Europe, most work visas will require you to have a degree, no matter how many years of experience you've had in the US. You might also be tempted to do a masters or PhD in a particular topi…

I’ve considered going back to school, but eventually decided I don’t really want to do a CS degree, unfortunately there’s very little good degrees out there, accessible to people like me. I spent a good amount of time trying to find a way to “hack” the process, but no matter what, the time-cost is the real killer for me.

To be honest, I feel like the base CS degree is kind of useless to anyone who has worked in the industry for a while. But it does give you the opportunity to do an MS or PhD, which could be more interesting if there's still an academic itch you want to scratch.

Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

#377

Post by dguaraglia »

mycall wrote: post #362
dguaraglia wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone in the same position that the author was in (dropped out of college, have had a successful career in Silicon Valley) I can understand the allure of doing a 'speedrun' to get a degree. For one, if you want to emigrate to Europe, most work visas will require you to have a degree, no matter how many years of experience you've had in the US. You might also be tempted to do a masters or PhD in a particular topi…

You made me curious if a degree is required for most foreign visas around the world.

They are pretty common at least in Europe, in particular if you are looking for a visa type that doesn't require a sponsor. There are ways around them - for example Spain will let you apply for a 'startup' if you are starting your own company - but kind of a bummer if you thought you could just move to Europe.

Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

#378

Post by moneywoes »

jacurtis wrote: post #237
debaserab2 wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congratulations on finishing the degree and being proud of the effort you put into it. If you don't mind me asking: what motivated you to pursue it?

I am in my mid-thirties right now. I dropped out of university in my early-twenties to pursue a career. I saw a lot of initial success in my career and was flying up the corporate ladder. But I always felt like I had this skeleton in my closet or dark secret of not having even a bachelors degree. Early on in my career I could compensate for not having a degree with my experience and work history. I was mostly competi…

If you have an associates degree right now. Would you list both?

Re: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months

#379

Post by xenihn »

Bakary wrote: post #238
xenihn wrote: post #197

I've been wanting to do an online MSCS program for years, but it probably won't happen anytime soon. I looked into WGU, but I didn't like the lack of accreditation. I found one school/program that seemed fair in terms of cost and time, but I couldn't fully test out of all of my pre-requisites, and I would still have to spend a considerable amount of time (and money) doing community college courses. I just can't justi…

What sort of non-stem degree field did you get into and and what point in your life did you learn the skills necessary for whatever career you have now?

i never had a job in my degree field, and I learned the majority of my current skills on my first job
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