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Do I need to go to university?

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Re: Do I need to go to university?

#111

Post by turbinerneiter »

sdan wrote: post #88
inapis wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In fact most of the time, the people who've said: "don't go to college" are the same people who go to Cornell, UPenn, and Stanford and probably don't realize how much of a network/presitgie gives them to get them where they are now. Can't emphasize this enough. College is still necessary for something like 95% of the planet's population. If you are not born into wealth or have well connected parents, a college degre…

Also want to point out: I'm seriously going to college just for the name + network. I can easily learn everything at home via MIT open courseware or the syllabus many Stanford courses put online nowadays.

University has so much more value than the coursework and the name. The network you mention is a good starting point. You call it network and it evokes the idea of those connections that can help you later.

But they are also very beneficial during your studies. Learning alone means you never have the chance to ask for help, give help and discuss what you learned.

Universities also do research you can be part of. I helped build a CubeSat during my uni time and was part of a sounding rocket mission. You can't do that in a YouTube video of a lecture and you can't to that as a side project.

University is a place to meet like minded people and learn about stuff you are interested in. You get teachers and facilities you wouldn't normally have access to. Use it!

And make sure that you go to uni with this mental model of it. Whenever you see uni doing things that don't fit in that model, try to change it. Unis aren't there to make sure you get a better job, get access to hidden networks in society, take loads of money from students, crank out degrees, ...

They are there to enable people growing personally and fuel that growth back into growing humanities knowledge.

... and yeah, some local hackerspaces are closer to that idea of an University that many Universities are. That's a problem.

Re: Do I need to go to university?

#112

Post by ghaff »

person_of_color wrote: post #8
raviisoccupied wrote: post #5

I just graduated (this summer). Previously I wasn't sold on university and did a year long internship with IBM in the UK. They offered me a full time 'degree-apprenticeship' in cyber security or consulting, but I instead left and studied literature at a UK University instead. I often think the biggest difference between a graduate and non graduate is three years. As an 18 year old there is no way I would have been ab…

Yes. And meet people outside of the tech bubble. Do you really want to be engulfed by a male-dominated IBM/Google monoculture for 4 formative years?

In many cases, the best schools for engineering also have pretty uneven gender ratios. When I got an engineering degree way back when it was about 1/7 women. (It's more even these days.)

Re: Do I need to go to university?

#114

Post by zerubeus »

Unfortunately we are in the only profession where you have to see this question every other day, you'll never even think about this if you plan to become a Doctor an architect or civil engineer, but welcome to tech

Re: Do I need to go to university?

#115

Post by frockington1 »

VMisTheWay wrote: post #50

30 year old here, I'm considering a new degree in computer science to add to my chem Engineering degree. I have 12 years casual programming experience. My work experience has been design Engineering, which is a low 6 figure job. I also live in an area with an old industry that's getting Engineers outsourced. I'm considering a comp sci degree so I can get into embedded, or electrical engineering, AI, or pretty much an…

With Chem Engineering I don't think your degree will limit you. I have a Biomedical Engineering Degree and most HR screeners will read engineering and pass you through to the hiring manager. But if you want to go back get that degree for the purpose of knowledge and education than go for it!

Re: Do I need to go to university?

#116

Post by HenryBemis »

barry-cotter wrote: post #23
orian wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Statistically, people with master earn more and it's easier to get a job (other options are: you get aquihired, have a shit of money; your parents have lot of great connections etc.)

This is conflating the selection and treatment effects. The difference in earnings between people who would be admitted to a Master’s programme if they applied and those who actually apply and graduate is going to be far smaller than the difference between a random Bachelor’s holder and a random Master’s holder.

I got the "everyday millionaire" book, by Chris Hogan (part of the Dave Ramsey 'gang')(haven't started reading it yet). From comments I've read in Reddit about that book, it seems like the vast majority of millionaires mentioned are lawyers/doctors, and you can't become neither without going to Uni.

They guy I was referring to in my post above, started with a certain wealth (even if that wealth is in a form of a 200-sheep-herd), a certain skillset (assisting his father in the business while growing up, having a 'knowledge base' right there in his home, having connections, having the equipment). What has gotten him to a few thousand animals since, is hard work and "invest in knowledge as you go". He didn't start from scratch.

The benefit with his line of business, is that the wealth/skills-handover was happening since he was 10 (experience, skills, knowledge). If one is to become a doctor, the mental training may start early on, but the actual knowledge is coming much later, and at a greater cost ($)(especially in the USA).

Re: Do I need to go to university?

#117

Post by rjsw »

sradman wrote: post #106
farnerup wrote: post #92

From reading the title, I though this had something to do with golang being used in university classes. Is there a point to the custom of capitalizing most words in headings in English? It doesn't seem to improve legibility and you can normally tell it is a heading from the size and weight of the font.

I’m guessing that Title Case in English is a logical extension of the European norm of capitalizing proper nouns; a title is the proper noun used to identify a written work.

This doesn't seem like a European norm to me, maybe it is done in German but I don't see it in English or French publications.

Re: Do I need to go to university?

#118

Post by pxhb »

laingc wrote: post #37

The anti-university sentiment on HN is absolutely alien to me. Not only did I get a lot out of my university education, but it was a totally transformative experience for me. It also enables me to do my job, and I’ve never seen anyone without a good education do it well. Yes, I get that you can be a react developer without a university qualification. This may come as news to some, but most fields bear no resemblance…

Agreed! University enabled me to leave the trailer park in the Midwest that I grew up in and now have a comfortable life. It is possible that this could have happened without university, however learning how to think/work through hard problems and the friends/networks I made have paid large dividends.

During undergrad, I was worried about the ~40k in loans I took out to pay for it. However, I was able to pay them off fairly soon after finishing up, and would never have been able to attend without the federal loans that did not require a co-signer.

Re: Do I need to go to university?

#119

Post by barry-cotter »

toyg wrote: post #52
barry-cotter wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re already decided you’re into startups the network and prestige of Y Combinator will help more than most any college. If you want the stamp of admission to the US ruling class sure, go to where the elite send their children to find someone to marry but otherwise you could do worse than committing to what you actually want instead of chasing a network.

YCombinator might well disappear in a few years. Universities tend to last much longer, some of them have been around for centuries. In 50 years something like YC might be a footnote in wikipedia, but I can assure you that most respectable universities will still be around to “guarantee” one’s worth. I never graduated and I was an idiot. Stay in school, kids.

Y Combinator might not be around in five years but the professional network that comes of participating in it will remain. If you aren’t sure what you want to do and want to keep as many options as possible open get a degree, but for most purposes any degree will do.

If you still want a degree it’s entirely possible to get a regionally accredited degree in a year from Western Governor’s University or a number of others if you’re willing to work hard at it and are exceptionally organized. If you want to know more you can go to degreeforum.net Or if you want to get a Master’s Oxford has one in Software Engineering that will accept work experience in lieu of a degree though each module requires a week’s residency.

Re: Do I need to go to university?

#120

Post by sokoloff »

inapis wrote: post #39
sdan wrote: post #32

I'm a senior in high school and decided to. I started a startup and got invited for a YC interview(got rejected) and am onto another startup which is raising soon. Despite how much success/failure/I learn I endure, college name matters... a lot. I snuck into Nuro's open house last year and found they exclusively invited Harvard/Stanford/MIT students (I can say this because I was a minor at the time of signing their N…

>In fact most of the time, the people who've said: "don't go to college" are the same people who go to Cornell, UPenn, and Stanford and probably don't realize how much of a network/presitgie gives them to get them where they are now. Can't emphasize this enough. College is still necessary for something like 95% of the planet's population. If you are not born into wealth or have well connected parents, a college degre…

How can college be necessary for 95% of the population when somewhere south of 50% attend now?

I’m a significant proponent of college attendance for social and educational reasons, but even with that bias, I don’t agree with “necessary for 95%”.

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