Stanford's Most Popular Major Is Now Computer Science • Hacker News Board

Re: Stanford's Most Popular Major Is Now Computer Science

#61

Post by mkramlich » Wed, Jul 04, 2012, 9:14 AM UTC

suresk wrote: post #56

mkramlich wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Meeting people who will help you in your career is yet another. I predict the Internet will increasingly replace this traditional function of the college experience. And do it for, essentially, just the cost of Internet access service each month. Yes we'll have to use a web browser and click on the right links to the right sites, chat in topic-oriented forums, and then go do "meetups" in meatspace (Dr. Evil saying…

The quantity and quality of programming courses available online right now - completely free of charge - is astounding to me. I taught myself to program in high school in the mid-to-late 90's, and while there was a ton of information available online even then, I still kind of wish stuff like Udacity, Coursera, Khan Academy, iTunes University and MIT OCW were available back then. Still, I think the social aspects of…

agree on all your points. well said.

Re: Stanford's Most Popular Major Is Now Computer Science

#62

Post by vishaldpatel » Wed, Jul 04, 2012, 9:29 AM UTC

svsaraf wrote: post #28

Recent Stanford alum here. I think it's difficult to parse out exactly why CS is becoming popular at Stanford now. I would argue that the principal reason for the popularity of CS is because of the amazing teaching in the introductory courses, not the recent tech acquisitions or news coming from Silicon Valley. Very few departments at Stanford put in the kind of effort to bring students along that I've seen in comput…

That is amazing because most universities tend to have the dullest CS teaching crew. I mean, serious insomnia treatments.

Re: Stanford's Most Popular Major Is Now Computer Science

#63

Post by michaelochurch » Wed, Jul 04, 2012, 11:56 AM UTC

rohit89 wrote: post #57

AngryParsley wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I curse the day I chose computer science! If only I was a liberal arts major, my life would be carefree and happy! Woe is me, being able to quit a job on a whim and get a six-figure salary elsewhere a whole week later! You'd be surprised how adaptable people can be. It wasn't long ago that most of us spent our days finding and growing food. Compared to the skill change in the agriculture to industry transition, learn…

Not all people like sitting in front of a computer for many hours a day. If you don't like it, its unlikely you'll be good at the job in which case getting a new job is not guaranteed.

Most entry-level jobs involve "sitting in front of a computer for many hours a day".

The difference, for programmers, is that they get to do interesting stuff with those machines.

Re: Stanford's Most Popular Major Is Now Computer Science

#64

Post by SilasX » Wed, Jul 04, 2012, 12:45 PM UTC

suresk wrote: post #26

I cringe a little bit in some of these education threads. On one hand, students who chose to major in something that isn't very marketable right now are lambasted for making a poor decision based on what sounds interesting to them, and they get blame heaped on them for being in debt and having nothing to show for it. On the other hand, when people choose CS - a field that has very good earning prospects right now - t…

>"Are they just doing it for the money?"

It's not that big a deal. If they just want the money but lack the aptitude, CS tends to weed them out pretty quickly.

>It must kind of suck to be someone entering college right now without natural interest for and aptitude in a STEM field.

Well, yeah, it always sucks to lack marketable skills. I guess it sucks even worse when people used to be able to cover up this lack of skill with an easy, fluff college degree, but suddenly that won't work.

Re: Stanford's Most Popular Major Is Now Computer Science

#65

Post by apawloski » Wed, Jul 04, 2012, 5:53 PM UTC

taskstrike wrote: post #46

newsoundwave wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While that's true, I feel like there's going to be plenty of awful programmers in the group that's just in it for the money (although that's not to say there won't be passionate programmers who are also awful - they're just more likely to want to improve themselves). With much of CS and programming being so collaborative, those that just don't have the talent or the heart for it generally cause more hassle and grief…

CS weeds out the bad programmers so they never graduate. If you can pass Stanford's CS program you are probably pretty smart.

Not necessarily smart but more likely to be at least an adequate developer

Re: Stanford's Most Popular Major Is Now Computer Science

#66

Post by rohit89 » Wed, Jul 04, 2012, 6:25 PM UTC

michaelochurch wrote: post #63

rohit89 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all people like sitting in front of a computer for many hours a day. If you don't like it, its unlikely you'll be good at the job in which case getting a new job is not guaranteed.

Most entry-level jobs involve "sitting in front of a computer for many hours a day". The difference, for programmers, is that they get to do interesting stuff with those machines.

Yea, but its not what a lot of people like and what seems interesting to us is not necessarily interesting to them. Lot of people prefer interacting with other people than sitting in front of a machine all day.

Re: Stanford's Most Popular Major Is Now Computer Science

#67

Post by jianxioy » Thu, Jul 05, 2012, 6:17 AM UTC

raygunomical wrote: post #59

jianxioy wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is totally untrue.

Why's that? Do you have any information to back this up? I'd be interested in that.

Because you're making a fallacious assumption with Computer Science in relation to programming/building webapps, just like many others here. You're assuming just because one is good at CS, he/she must be a good programmer.