[ale] CS Degree necessary?

Thu Jan 17 09:52:17 EST 2002

Then I must be another exception.  I am 43, programming since I was 12, 
been in the business for over 25 years, and barely have a high school 
diploma.  I have seen CS guys come and go....mostly go.  For the most part, 
they come into the field with this academic approach to perfect code in a 
sterile environment and become disillusioned very quickly when they find 
out what the business world is REALLY like....to paraphrase M*A*S*H, 
"Meatball Programming".

We have to deliver 12 month projects in 4 weeks in order to meet customer 
demands.  No, it is not perfect when it hits the floor, but it is good 
enough for the customer and we get paid for it.  While we would like to do 
it better, we do not have that luxury and be able to stay in business.
The bottom line....the degree will get you in the door easier.  The rest is 
up to you.

At 10:49 PM 1/16/2002 -0500, kschmidt at mindspring.com wrote:

>I must be one of those exceptions, I guess. I've been using computers 
>since age nine, programming since age 10, and working full time in the 
>field for almost 10 years (I'm now 28). Not having a degree hasn't hurt me 
>at all. Heck, I've written an O'Reilly book and have started on a second one.
>
>Just because you stick it for four years doesn't guarantee that you're 
>worth a damn. I've met some real clueless people who had CS degrees. And 
>some of the best coders I've known where either college drop outs or guys 
>with non-CS degrees.
>
>Here's my take: If you have zero experience, then having a degree will get 
>you in the door. But it has been my "experience" that if you know your 
>sh*t, then you will never have a problem, degree or no degree.
>
>-Kevin
>
>
>Christopher Bergeron <christopher at bergeron.com> wrote:
> > Michael, I went to Florida State for CS, but ended up with a degree in MIS
>because I'm not very good at higher mathematics (go figure).  I've got a
>great job and this might be blasphemous to some, but I make more than the
>guy with the CS degree in my office.  I highly respect what the CS majors
>had to go through to get thier degrees - I just couldn't hack it.
>....buuuuut, since I'm more experienced (I've been hacking since High
>School) I equate that to my overall higher salary.  I tend to think that
>salaries in general are a logarithmic curve.  When you're not educated it's
>harder to get to the apex, and when you're too educated you're actually
>overvalued and it's harder to find work (ever talk to someone with multiple
>degree's and a phD or master's in CS that _wasn't_ an instructor or
>professor? - neither have I).  The point of all this is that (IMHO) it's
>important to _have_ a degree; but ultimately your experience will pave the
>way of your career.  The degree will get you into interviews that you could
>not normally get and as a result I think you'll do much better than with
>just experience alone and no degree.  Although, to be practical I don't know
>how far a degree in "Paperclip Art" would get you.  You have to be
>realistic.
>
>That's just my take on things,
>-CB
>
>P.S.
>I'm 25 years old and according to salary.com I make in the middle-upper
>percentile of salaries for my job description (unix admin) adjusted for
>geometery of course!  [or is that geography!?]
>:)
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Michael Golden [mailto:naugrimk at yahoo.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 7:56 PM
> > To: ale at ale.org
> > Subject: [ale] CS Degree necessary?
> >
> >
> > Hi,
> >       I know a similar thread has gone on in this list a while
> > back but for
> > one I'm too lazy right now to go back and try to find it and two I don't
> > recall well enough if it addressed this exact topic.
> >       Right now I am set up to major in Computer Science but I've
> > only been
> > taking general education core classes so far. I was talking to people
> > about some of the classes for the major and I took a look through them
> > myself and I'm not sure how interested I am in taking half of them. I'd
> > like to have a career in computers but I don't know how much I'll enjoy
> > this major.
> >       Is a CS degree really necessary in the real world for computer jobs?
> > What are the advantages/disadvantages to having it? Anything else to
> > add?
> >
> > Michael
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
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> >
> >
>
>
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The difficult while you wait.....the impossible overnight.

Leonard Thornton
Intelis, Inc.
5960 Crooked Creek Rd
Suite 30
Norcross, GA  30092

Office: 770.825.0032
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Email:          Leonard at Intelis-Inc.net
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http://www.intelis-inc.net

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