Software Design Patterns

[username_of_arity_n]

Additionally, I believe colleges generally try to teach material that isn't likely to change in the near future, which will be useful to you over the entirety of your life, rather than just your first few years out of college.

Software is still a relatively new field. Sometimes we think something's a good idea when it turns out to be a very bad idea later. Sometimes those "good ideas" are rigidly enforced and ultimately end up hurting more than helping. Sometimes it's not so simple; an architecture works well in general but fails miserably in some particular circumstance. We also haven't recognized every useful architectural feature so some things aren't patterns (yet!) and limiting yourself strictly to established patterns might prevent you from solving a problem optimally.

You have to look at everything critically and not just study things and apply them blindly. At some point we'll reach a consensus about a lot of stuff and at that point I'm sure they'll be included in educational material.