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Not going to college is not your failure, that's what world tells most of us, but that's complete bullshit.
I dropped out of college in 1993. I’ve been in industry since and empty nesting has me thinking about going back to school. Are there programs that will give me any credit for time served? Not a full degree obviously but maybe fast forward a couple years in the process. I’m thinking a 30 year old transcript with a ~2.0 GPA isn’t going to move the needle much.
Do you really want that? You would skip useful knowledge, wouldnt you?
There were exceptions that were worthwhile, but it was largely an exercise in documenting my existing knowledge. I couldn't test out of things, and most subject had compulsory exercises, so I spent a lot of time basically proving what I already knew rather than learning new stuff. It was clear to me in advance which courses I could have easily skipped, so from that perspective I would not have skipped useful knowledge.
That said, of course the problem is that to give me an actual degree the university needed to know I actually knew those things and verifying that only with tests is hard to get right.
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For some reason I thought I had clicked on the comments section for the "two sleeps" article and saw this and thought "wow".
I would've thought it was the default for many parents; my youngest child is pretty persistent with her polyphasic sleep...
We'd also get into the habit of taking him to soft play centres (for those unaware: think warehouse full of padded climbing structures over multiple floors and a horde of kids running rampant through them; a total nightmare if your kid insists you join in, or quite relaxing when they run off by themselves) during the weekend so he could wear himself out totally and then go home and have a couple of hours nap when he did.
Until that horrible day when we got home from the soft play and he didn't go down for a nap... I can still remember the disappointment (we ended up still taking naps, but having to take turns)
I dropped out of college in 1993. I’ve been in industry since and empty nesting has me thinking about going back to school. Are there programs that will give me any credit for time served? Not a full degree obviously but maybe fast forward a couple years in the process. I’m thinking a 30 year old transcript with a ~2.0 GPA isn’t going to move the needle much.
Then once you have all that out of the way, you can take the upper level classes in CS at the university instead of the community college.
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Do you really want that? You would skip useful knowledge, wouldnt you?
When I took my MSc. most of the subjects were things I was very familiar with already, and so most of the courses were paint by numbers. There were exceptions that were worthwhile, but it was largely an exercise in documenting my existing knowledge. I couldn't test out of things, and most subject had compulsory exercises, so I spent a lot of time basically proving what I already knew rather than learning new stuff. I…
Did that too while working full time and raising two kids, thesis and all. Glad I did it, gladder I’m done.
BTW in restrospect doing a master's degree wasn't such a good choice anyway.
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It sounds like our undergraduate years in the BU CS department overlapped. I, too, have been stunned by the growth of the CS department since those days; going from the basement of 111 Cummington, as you described, to what will be one of the most iconic buildings in the city. I heard good things from a friend about the MET CS master's program too. He said that his Theory of Computation class in that program made a lo…
Leonid Levin (of the Cook Levin Theorem) was my undergraduate advisor. A very peculiar man, someone who became academic famous, and seemingly only cared about research which made his teaching an after thought. A true character.
But, as the author said, doing something you choose, something that makes a better you, something where what you do is valued (instead of "soft skills") is extremely enjoyable, although exhausting and stressful... I'd do it again, but at maximum 35 years old :-)
Congratulations, well done! Did that a few years ago, started when I was 47, completed with 50. Was easier for me. Distance Learning University in Germany. And I had the opportunity to do it at work. One could call it a side project. Since about two years I try my hand at a bachelor in mathematics at another Distance Learning University in Germany. Guess I will pull that stunt around 2025.
Anyway, I was thinking maybe I should do a comp sci masters so that I can move on to comp sci PhD and keep going with my research interests.
Did you do your degree in English or German? I live in Germany, but my German is not quite good enough for advanced academic instruction.
Well, congrats. I finished my MS at 44, though I did it full-time in person, which itself was a weird and fun experience at that age.