The computer science degree isn’t dead • Hacker News Board

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#211

Post by burnte » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 7:48 PM UTC

ericmcer wrote: post #204

taurath wrote: post #19

If one is thinking about not getting a degree and trying to go straight to work, as someone who did so (albiet out of poverty rather than choice) but didn't end up like Zuck, please heed my warning: Social capital matters more than just about anyone who has a degree can understand and tell you or mentor you about, because the majority of them have always had it, and they tend not even to interact with people without…

Similar story where as soon as someone made a 100k+ offer to me I dropped out of school and never looked back (was making $12/hr at the time). In retrospect it was not the best choice because college does give you a unique chance to get connections that let you into "the club" and will send you to the upper echelons of FAANG and early retirement. I always thought I would just become a better and better engineer cutti…

> Similar story where as soon as someone made a 100k+ offer to me I dropped out of school and never looked back (was making $12/hr at the time).

In the very early 90s, at 15 my part time computer repair job was paying a large share of the family rent, and by 17 I had graduated early and was working full time making 60k/yr. I had scholarships but I didn't take them because by 18 I had a customer base and a reputation. I went back to school in my 30s but it wasn't worth it. School is very help for many people and paths, but not all people and all paths.

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#212

Post by maxk42 » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 7:49 PM UTC

taurath wrote: post #19

If one is thinking about not getting a degree and trying to go straight to work, as someone who did so (albiet out of poverty rather than choice) but didn't end up like Zuck, please heed my warning: Social capital matters more than just about anyone who has a degree can understand and tell you or mentor you about, because the majority of them have always had it, and they tend not even to interact with people without…

My experience has been quite the opposite. I have done far better than my peers and have less debt. I wonder which country you're in?

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#213

Post by taurath » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 7:54 PM UTC

westoque wrote: post #208

taurath wrote: post #19

If one is thinking about not getting a degree and trying to go straight to work, as someone who did so (albiet out of poverty rather than choice) but didn't end up like Zuck, please heed my warning: Social capital matters more than just about anyone who has a degree can understand and tell you or mentor you about, because the majority of them have always had it, and they tend not even to interact with people without…

There's a formula I've bookmarked from someone to help you get better social capital. In order to increase your surface for social capital you need to expand your influence, therefore you need to increase your luck: L (luck) = D (doing) x T (telling) Basically, you need to be able to show you are able to do stuff (D) and with enough people seeing this by you sharing (T) through different channels, can open doors. I h…

Best way to have social capital is an introduction into a space where money and power exist. Many spaces no matter what you do you will never be able to get in without an intro, and they have extremely few opportunities. Being college buddies with a member of an upper class is one of the only times they will ever socially mix. It is indeed like royalty in every way.

Being at Harvard gets you a lot relative to the population, being around the right clubs at Harvard gives you a lot relative to that. There is meritocracy within the range but nepotism can easily put people in the room. Work at a startup or two run by families of billionaires, and watch their career trajectory, and you will not have any doubt.

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#214

Post by strangegecko » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 7:56 PM UTC

__float wrote: post #171

lucianbr wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> better compilers, more ergonomic languages If anything it seems wide deployment of LLMs would go against this. When nobody writes code by hand anymore, who will care about the ergonomics of programming languages? And even if a few do care, how would you get adoption? I expect everyone will just use whatever is already used most.

Do you not review the code that LLMs output? It seems that now more than ever, testing is important. But LLMs love to cheat the tests and make them superficially pass. If you're never reading the code, how do you know changes are reasonable?

Product does what it should and doesn't what it shouldn't?

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#215

Post by jimvdv » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 8:05 PM UTC

taurath wrote: post #19

If one is thinking about not getting a degree and trying to go straight to work, as someone who did so (albiet out of poverty rather than choice) but didn't end up like Zuck, please heed my warning: Social capital matters more than just about anyone who has a degree can understand and tell you or mentor you about, because the majority of them have always had it, and they tend not even to interact with people without…

I guess it depends on what you want out of life too. I did not go to Uni, started my career early and had a very comfortable income my entire 20’s. No debt, travelled all over the world, relaxed freelance contracts. I had a lot of free time and low stress.

Later I joined one of my freelance clients as a co-founder (early 30s), more risky than the FAANG path but we’re on the right path to a comfortable pension.

I wouldn’t trade my life for that of some of my FAANG friends.

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#216

Post by Vegenoid » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 8:29 PM UTC

fasterik wrote: post #183

Our culture has too much focus on landing a job and not enough focus on becoming the kind of person who can adapt and thrive in any situation. Computer science isn't for everyone, and probably the people going into it for the money should look elsewhere. You should study computer science if you find it intrinsically interesting. If you fall into that category, it will teach you how to think about problems rigorously,…

If a job is well-paying, there will always be many people going into it for the money. High paying and only people who love it do it are pretty much incompatible.

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#217

Post by heresie-dabord » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 8:34 PM UTC

bArray wrote: post #130

This article tackles the issue from a job opportunity perspective, but a bigger problem is the quality of students completing CS degrees is declining. UC Berkley are seeing it in their STEM departments [1] and I have seen the raw data for other Universities delivering CS degrees that is unpublished. Currently the only method to stop students from cheating is to run strictly controlled paper-based exams, and with smar…

> a bigger problem is the quality of students completing CS degrees is declining. UC Berkley are seeing it in their STEM departments

The decline in quality of STEM students/graduates is alarming, but the decline in intellectual quality of students is generalised.

Little did Dodson think he was being prophetic when he wrote satirically of Reeling, Writhing, and the arithmetical operations of Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.

[0] _ Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#218

Post by asdff » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 8:35 PM UTC

camdenreslink wrote: post #203

jillesvangurp wrote: post #38

Get any kind of degree. A research degree is better. Not because people will ask you for your degree but because the effort of getting one teaches you how to learn new stuff. Especially a Ph D. degree. A few years into your career, you will have learned most of what you know on the job. I know plenty of programmers with degrees other than computer science. Geologists, biochemists, theoretical physicists, etc. Most ha…

Getting a PhD is almost never worth the foregone wages if your goal is to be in private industry. For sure, people should get one if they are interested in research, or specific jobs that are only available to people with PhDs. But otherwise it isn't something to get into half-hearted.

This is only true when you compare the PhD field degree to something like finance where you can make real money at 23 years old. If the alternative is a bs for a path where most people end up going PhD, you will be working for like $20/hr most your life. You will probably be breaking even with what the PhD stipend would have been anyhow and you aren't getting any healthcare benefits.

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#219

Post by asdff » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 8:37 PM UTC

mamidon wrote: post #5

This may be a cynical take, but as someone with 10+ years of experience why should I care if companies are too short sighted to value and train juniors?

Ideally you want society to continue to function after you retire unless you plan on jumping off a cliff at 62.

Re: The computer science degree isn’t dead

#220

Post by asdff » Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 8:39 PM UTC

graphime wrote: post #9

antonvs wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you draw the line on that attitude? Do you not care about global warming because in your lifetime, you're probably not going to experience an unsurvivable wet bulb temperature where you happen to live?

> Where do you draw the line on that attitude? I draw the line at things that directly impact my net worth. > Do you not care about global warming because you're probably not going to experience an unsurvivable wet bulb temperature where you happen to live in your lifetime? Correct. I don’t care about global warming or climate change.

Have you been formally diagnosed as a sociopath yet?