Good engineering colleges?

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GAHorton
 
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Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:30 am

Re: Good engineering colleges?

Post by GAHorton »

If you can learn things on your own by all means don't go to college. The beauty of CS jobs its based on experience not degrees (although having a degree is an easy way to "prove" experience). You've already started your own business, and you're not even out of high school.
The only reason i'm going back (after a 1 year hiatus) is that i learn CS and EE stuff when i'm in a class. some people don't work like that, don't assume that you do.

The right college will challenge you, the wrong one will anger you.

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macegr
 
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Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:46 pm

Re: Good engineering colleges?

Post by macegr »

GAHorton wrote:If you can learn things on your own by all means don't go to college. The beauty of CS jobs its based on experience not degrees (although having a degree is an easy way to "prove" experience). You've already started your own business, and you're not even out of high school.
The only reason i'm going back (after a 1 year hiatus) is that i learn CS and EE stuff when i'm in a class. some people don't work like that, don't assume that you do.

The right college will challenge you, the wrong one will anger you.
I know that this approach works for some people, but I definitely have to recommend ignoring this advice. I know so many people who managed to get a decent job without a degree, but they've been stuck at the same position for many years. Some of them went back to school, got a bachelors, and immediately started getting promoted.

It should never be your plan to skip formal education. You hear the success stories of someone who fought the odds and made it big, but the majority are working manual labor jobs or skilled trade like welders or truck drivers.

If you have your own business and it's doing incredibly well, and you don't forsee it ever failing, then it might be a smart move. But in that position I'd still recommend going to college.

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westfw
 
Posts: 2008
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:01 pm

Re: Good engineering colleges?

Post by westfw »

It is also extremely sucky to not have a degree and get laid off during " bad times." No matter how wonderful your employer USED to think you were, prospective NEW employers will be looking at all those other laid-off employees with similar experience AND a degree... I know a lot of people who been placed in that unpleasant position.

A reasonable progresssion:
4-5 years: School. BS in XX; get all the theory you could ever want.
3 years: Big company. One that knows how to add the practical background to make college grads into useful engineers.
1-2 years: unsuccessful startup (as employee). Startups are exciting. "Unsuccessful" means that they go out of business before they go public, rendering your stock options worthless.
4-10 years: successful startup(s); learn about investing, and the business side of things (somewhat unavoidable in the startup environment.) Become somewhat rich from stock options. Don't stay too long, though, or you get tired :-(
xxx: startup as founder, or self-owned business, or angel/investor, or retirement...

(Of course, finding a startup that WILL BE successful is a lot easier said than done.)
(I haven't quite wrapped my mind around the successful small business that never goes public. There are quite a lot of these...)

magician13134
 
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Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:17 am

Re: Good engineering colleges?

Post by magician13134 »

I definitely am planning on going to college... I'm fortunate to have a good deal of it paid for already, so if i can delay entering the 'real world' for another four or five years, (hey, maybe the economy will be better by then!) and at the same time make it easier for myself to get a job, then it seems like a no-brainer to me...

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schill
 
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Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:25 pm

Re: Good engineering colleges?

Post by schill »

2600 wrote: And there's always Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute. http://www.rpi.edu Seems to me an almost-alumnus renamed it "Rainselday Polytorture Institechnitute". Good program, though.
Never heard that one. It's Rensselaer, by the way. :)

Rensselpoly Institechnitute is the one I remember. And there's always the 'tute screw, but you don't want to know about that (it gets a lot of google hits, though).

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