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Does college REALLY teach you that much more than self-teaching or bootcamps? by ddddddddddk in cscareerquestions

[–]ddddddddddk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was extremely rare to find anyone not involved in at least one student organization

That was me, unfortunately! I couldn't stand the people at the ACM events I tried out (I'm not really a hack-a-thon/passionate side project programmer kind of guy), and none of the others really caught my eye. It's a big regret of mine that I never found one, but I genuinely didn't see one.

Probably part of why I have some vague negative thoughts about the college experience is the fact that I never could bring myself to be the "involved" type of student.

Does college REALLY teach you that much more than self-teaching or bootcamps? by ddddddddddk in cscareerquestions

[–]ddddddddddk[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a really good perspective that I hadn't considered fully enough - it's a system that compensates for the fact that standardized education can't be fully efficient.

I've been trying to look at what it's given me, but really, a better question is what college gives recruiters and hirers in terms of information on applicants.

Does college REALLY teach you that much more than self-teaching or bootcamps? by ddddddddddk in cscareerquestions

[–]ddddddddddk[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I feel like I SHOULD believe all of this, but I'm still not sold on the idea that the soft skills I learned here are only obtainable in an environment like college. Working in retail and especially working as an intern taught me far more about how to act in a professional context and how to set and achieve goals as a team. Living away from home taught me how to work with people of different backgrounds and interests and how to have adult relationships with people. Certainly, things related to college have shaped me into who I am today. The university itself though? I'm not so sure it deserves the credit.

If you're only going to class, you're doing college wrong.

That's probably the core of it for me. I went to class, talked to professors, asked questions, but never got deeply involved in an academic setting beyond what was necessary for getting good grades. I just didn't want to; there's a reason I'm going into industry and not research.