College or not? Need advice

[eden]

So being on here it is fairly obvious i have an interest in computer science, and i am planning on going to a community college, for CS and was wondering if you guys think it is worth it? I understand this is a broad, loaded question, so to specify,
-assuming i can learn all the things without college
-but community college is very chea (about 1.5k a semester)
Is it worth it just for the degree? in the job field? or is knowledge enough? Thanks,
Eden

[fuicious]

If you know that CS is your field of choice and you are able to go to college, I'd say go for it. It is true that you can learn a lot by yourself these days, but it takes a lot of motivation to do so. Having someone experienced and knowledgeable explain it to you is always nice. However, maybe you have an iron will that will allow you to spend years of intense learning all by yourself, I don't know. Just saying what I would do if I were in your shoes.

[cookiegotback]

Yes, Go!

Learn something very useful about this world. Doesnt matter what you have or what you know, only matters what you are said to know or to have!

Go,
cause, even if you´re thinking about working on your own, that can change and then it will be too late to go back and study all that shit

Remember, you don´t want to make a mistake for the rest of your life!

[Octavius]

Currently I am enrolled in college for CIS starting my second semester--- and I say if you can do it, go for it! Even though there are a lot of headaches......also you probably won't be able to take your CS courses until your second semester. If you are in the district it should be even cheaper for you.


I also recommenced getting your degree instead of the certificate it can go a long way!
best of luck!

[Adept]

I believe the computer industry to be one of the most forgiving of those not obtaining degrees. I know many employers who want to see proof of experience rather than a degree, almost to the point of having a degree is negligible in their decisions on hiring. Fortunately, it's very easy these days to build a portfolio and prove your skills to employers. I'd work on getting accustomed to Github as it's becoming commonplace in the workplace and even during interviews. Have your work uploaded and easily accessible to those who ask. Instead of college, pursue internships that actually interest you. Find a mentor. Do whatever to get a leg-up on the competition.

On the other hand, going to college allows you to more easily collaborate with others and share knowledge. It helps with gaining a standardized and safe approach to most methods used in the workplace as opposed to picking up lazy, and/or less-than-sufficient habits on your own. I can't deny that some employers would rather see that degree on your resume though. While it's not the be-all and end-all for every employer, you can't overlook the positive qualities that having a degree shows, especially if you can also couple that with a portfolio and internships/research opportunities.

Lastly, a community college only offers two year degrees from my understanding, which doesn't say much on a resume. Usually these two years consist of many general ed classes and beginner CS courses. Unless of course this is some kind of technical school where you focus strictly on one area or you plan on finishing at a 4 year school.

[ShadowCloud]

In my experience the only people I have ever heard saying a degree isn't worth it, is people who don't have it.  Let me be very clear though, I don't think it will give you an edge over another candidate.  As per Adept, this really isn't an issue in the hiring process in most places.  That being said, having a degree or not does impact the salary they are prepared to offer.

So if person A and person B do the exact same work.  One has a degree and gets paid more, which person would you want to be?

[iTpHo3NiX]

You should get a degree, its hard enough finding good work without one. That being said, having a degree is still difficult to find work. Anyways get the degree, focus on an AA or a Bachelors and find a job

[KOR]

If you can go, go. Some of us can't afford it and would have loved to have the chance. Instead I'm studying while at work (the perks of being in an IT Support role that can be very quiet). But if you can get that concentrated study then all the best to you. I have to settle with certs and self-learning.

[spaceman]

If you have mobey to go to college then go and don't expect that every thing you need for cs is learned at college cause cs is robust. For me in my country cs colleges are not that good like in U.S. so most stuff i learned by my self before and after college. So in my case college pointed me to php,java,c,c++,mysql... And showed me some basic stuff rest i learned on my own downloading books and tutorials. But its probably better to go to college cause after all you have college diploma when you finish it so its probably easier to get your job.

[Katheudo]

I would say go for the degree unless you wish to develop your own company. Having the degree gives you the experience you will need later on in life, also as there are many topics to learn about in CS you may find and be able to explore new interests. I would focus on the degree and then maybe for the last year do a work placement to gain work experience as most companies look for people with experience in the field at hand. This is just my opinion though, take what I have said and make it work for what you want out of life; however this is what I did, completed a A level in computing and IT and I am now doing a 3 year course in computer science, but for my last year I wish to do a placement...

Also by doing a college degree you may meet new people, also take a look here for some other good reasons: http://collegelife.about.com/od/academiclife/a/10ReasonstoGetADegree.htm

[techb]

Community college, meh. Get a bachelors degree if anything, else your stuck with IT help desk unless you can be a GREAT people person and network your way into a kush job.

[Biohazard]

This may be late, but it might also help someone else that is looking for similar answers.  The difference between having a degree versus learning yourself depends on a lot of things.  I have friends that have gone both routes and each wishes they had gone the other route.  As some have mentioned employers are looking for experience beyond the degree, but most of those employers are going to require a longer proven track record of experience.  However it gives you the freedom to learn what you are really passionate about then focus and develop on that.  Whereas, going to school requires you to fill in a lot of fluff that you could care less about and could find much better ways to spend your time.

The bottom line is before going to school know what you want to do and what you need to get there since there are several fields where simply getting a BS is not enough to do what you actually want to do, you may actually need to get a master's or even a PhD.  As a general rule in any of the hard sciences is going to require a Masters or above if you want to be anything other than a glorified lab monkey. 

However, CS is unique in that you can be self taught and show a proven track record of success and still land very lucrative jobs.  Through networking and programming experience developing apps one of my friends has been hired on by CCP as one of their developers, another to a major security firm based of his work in freelance pentesting.


For the record I hold A BS in Archeology and Biology, but I started writing grant proposals and doing funded research from the onset of sophomore year.  This made me far more marketable in both the work force environment and on grad school applications.

Bottom line neither route is easier than the other, both require a lot of work with no real guarantees of employment.  With CS you at least have the ability to work on your own and develop the experience that employers are looking for.  You are going to have to do a lot of work in either scenario to make you as marketable as possible. 

[Silver Archer]

I would say go to college if you can.
It is true that a lot of things you can learn by self or even you are working there is no 100% that the working knowledge is come from college, but still the college is guiding you at your starting point. Besides that, having classmates that have same interest will boost your motivation in the area, also some of the knowledge you will get from your classmates or your friends.
And sometimes college will have some field trip to the course related company for student to actually have a look on what they are going to do after graduates, it is a great experience and it does help.
A college degree also will be considered if you apply for a job, certainly you can have some professional exam and get the certificate, but a college degree showing not only your talent but also your attitude at school and how social you are. A company would not hired a person that is good at his field but knowing nothing about socialization. There are a lot of people out there, through college you can meet them.
Anyway it is my little advice based on the advice I heard and my experience in college.