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Poll: What is your level of education?

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51–60 of 67 posts

Re: Poll: What is your level of education?

#52

Dropped out because it was oh so boring. I wish it was like Coursera classes, but we didn't get to start actual programming until maybe third year, and I didn't have the patience so I dropped out on second year. Don't regret it, although I partly regret choosing a local university instead of trying harder and maybe going abroad. On the other hand, I really enjoy doing actual work in the field and it would be hard to…

It’s not the job of university professors to motivate/entertain you; being motivated to learn is the students’ job and every minute the professor spends entertaining disinterested students is a waste of time for those who actually want to learn things.

Did you read my comment? My problem wasn't that I asked for entertainment. I asked for education, which I didn't get.

I was very motivated when I got into the university. I was hoping we'd learn compilers, functional programming, low-level stuff, I was eager to learn everything.

What I got was professors who didn't care about their subjects and last time did their actual programming twenty years ago. We did have one programming course, and the so-called “semester coursework” took me twenty minutes because it was three C functions.

Most students didn't care either because they were there “to get the diploma”.

Not every university is like Stanford, you know. I was very bitter with my experience.

Re: Poll: What is your level of education?

#53
Currently pursuing a master in Computer Science.

Every time these kinds of questions come up people ask "Is it worth it?". I cannot answer for anyone other than myself, but I see it as years I can spend exploring different fun and interesting things.

For example I've had courses in artificial intelligence, compiler construction, statistics, number theory, algorithms and graph theory. Most of the things I've studied during my time at the university I would probably never had met if I did not attend university. Sure there is Coursera and all information is already out there, for free, but I'm absolutely sure I would never spend the effort and energy if it all was by myself.

Studying is very much what you make it. One of the biggest advantages is actually to have five years where I can just do things on my free time, without any real obligations other than passing a few courses. I can read courses on coursera, I can read a lot and I've started Taekwon-do which is awesome. And I can play games and do a bunch of other stuff and it's all okay.

Additionally, it's not like 5 years is a long time anyways. Many are rushing out to work and to get the money rolling, but maybe I'm different. I don't really think money is the one thing to strive for - as long as I have enough to live and do things I like - why need more? I will realistically work 40+ years of my life anyway, I feel no need to rush.

Studying is absolutely not for everyone, but often here on hacker news I feel the benefits are being shrugged of a bit too lightly. And I haven't even mentioned the probable benefits an actual degree might have in your career.

Re: Poll: What is your level of education?

#54
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you regret it (unless it's too personal)?

I was at a state school paying a reasonable tuition to learn from a quality computer science program. I regret it because although I have written all sorts of frontend code, Ruby, Python, PHP, Java, managed servers, I have still not "finished" learning what a CompSci student learns. I couldn't write my own compiler, I can't tell you which sorting method is fastest for certain data sets, etc. I have learned solely by…

Don't worry about that. The stuff you've learned are more useful than what you have to finish at school. You can learn what you need to learn and cherry pick them. There are some interesting courses during the program, but that really depends on the teacher, your class mates, etc etc. What you learn by yourself is more important than what you have been thought. IMHO.

Re: Poll: What is your level of education?

#55
post #22

This is something I often wonder. Where does a 5-year engineering course fit? BE? BS?

Depends on the country, but those are moving towards being structured as masters degrees by the end. Many U.S. universities now have the 5-year engineering option structured as a "5th-year masters" add-on year, on top of a 4-year engineering degree. And the Bologna Process in the EU requires that the old 5-year degrees (Diplom and similar) be split into BS/MS as a 3/2 split.

Thanks. I guess I'll stick to BE-equivalent and explain when asked ;-)

Re: Poll: What is your level of education?

#56
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you regret it (unless it's too personal)?

I was at a state school paying a reasonable tuition to learn from a quality computer science program. I regret it because although I have written all sorts of frontend code, Ruby, Python, PHP, Java, managed servers, I have still not "finished" learning what a CompSci student learns. I couldn't write my own compiler, I can't tell you which sorting method is fastest for certain data sets, etc. I have learned solely by…

Make a game that teaches SICP (cue leet bbcode masters with "have you read your sicp?" Snakes) - you learn the book by gamifying it; other people learn the book by playing the game.

Re: Poll: What is your level of education?

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a tired joke, please let it die. Liberal Arts get shit on by everybody around here. Arguably, it's much more important than learning how to make fancy toys for rich people.

Computer Science is almost a liberal art anyway.

Some may argue it's a dark art.

Re: Poll: What is your level of education?

#58
1995-1999: BA history & religious studies 2008-2013: MEng integrated manufacturing systems (basically a mix between industrial & systems)

I went back after ten years because, when the economy tanked, I wanted a piece of paper to validate my work experience. I learned an awful lot in my course of studies and it's directly applicable to my day job (directing IT for a high tech manufacturing company).

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