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Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#121

Post by cowpewter »

Was in a Computer Engineering program but wound up dropping out due to a bout with clinical depression. The school was a big state school and poor fit for me anyway. I don't do well in 3000-student lecture classes with no personal connection to the teacher.

My mom still wants me to finish a degree someday, but at almost 32 years old my work experience is worth a lot more, and I'm pretty sure any company that wouldn't hire me due to lack of a degree is not a place I'd be very happy at anyway.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#122

Post by b2spirit »

Tangaroa wrote: post #72

My CS degree may have negatively impacted my career. The pressure of working while going to school was one of the things that caused me to quit my job at the time. It took me a year and a half after graduation to find another job and I'm currently unemployed again after a contract dispute; the company wanted me to agree never to take them to court under any circumstances, I asked them to take out that provision, and…

Start a startup.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#125

Post by rsensharma »

I don't think you need a CS degree for programming.A school kid can write programs. With the degree you get more understanding of architecture, design, the kernel and algorithm patterns which helps you in designing better products. A program may be moving something from a to b but with a better algorithm the function may be more efficient.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#126

Post by chris_j »

eli wrote: post #47
kenneth_reitz wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty convinced that those phrases are there to keep people that aren't qualified from applying. I've always ignored them and it's never been a problem.

I don't necessarily agree with the practice, but the argument I've heard is that if you only want people with a Bachelor's or higher, you have to say that you want a Master's.

What do you think the reason for that is? That those people without a bachelor's degree will be really discouraged from applying if you state that a master's is required?

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#127

Post by vetler »

I have a CS degree, although it's only a bachelor's degree. However, I have worked with and hired a few people without degrees. As one of my bosses said; having a degree doesn't necessarily make people smart, but if they have one there's a larger chance that they are smart.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#128

Post by mitsche »

cowpewter wrote: post #121

Was in a Computer Engineering program but wound up dropping out due to a bout with clinical depression. The school was a big state school and poor fit for me anyway. I don't do well in 3000-student lecture classes with no personal connection to the teacher. My mom still wants me to finish a degree someday, but at almost 32 years old my work experience is worth a lot more, and I'm pretty sure any company that wouldn't…

Dropped out for the same reason. 29 years old and recently got my first job as a developer.

My dad used to push me to get a degree. Now that I have a job he's cool about it. I still think he'd be happy if I finished college, but I prefer working on my music career in my spare time, which might not lead anywhere but is deeply satisfying.

I'm still somewhat bitter about dropping out. I don't particularly enjoyed school, as I always thought it kept me from learning the stuff I really cared about. But in retrospect I have to admit that I got exposed to a lot of stuff I might not have ever heard of elsewhere (like telecommunications engineering, Cisco administration, theoretical mathematics, and so on). Not that I learned much of of any of those, but I feel more rounded overall because of it.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#129

Post by impeachgod »

cowpewter wrote: post #121

Was in a Computer Engineering program but wound up dropping out due to a bout with clinical depression. The school was a big state school and poor fit for me anyway. I don't do well in 3000-student lecture classes with no personal connection to the teacher. My mom still wants me to finish a degree someday, but at almost 32 years old my work experience is worth a lot more, and I'm pretty sure any company that wouldn't…

I too am currently having the same problem. I am attending a very large state school (over 40,000 students) and I am struggling to connect with people. I also have severe depression and OCD which prevents me from getting things done. I feel very disappointed in myself and in my life because I was having high expectations about how awesome college would be after a crappy high school experience.
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