It's pretty obvious at this point that you are trying to get us to give you a reason NOT to go to college. If we explain why you SHOULD go to college, you attack us and say that we aren't answering your question.

The fact is, college is an invaluable asset.

You don't just get books, read it and then become a good accomplished self-made developer. It's about the whole package. Knowing what to learn, knowing how to learn, knowing how to apply what you've learned, and knowing when to continue learning.

Yes what you learn at college can be dated quickly (because of advances in technology), but the basics do not change. College will round you off. It will help your brain develop and enable you to accomplish so much more than you could ever accomplish on your own. The collective experience of college prepares you for a number of situations you may find yourself in.

Programming is a technical skill, but you won't be a successful programmer if you are just a "technician."

Technical skills (programming) + Educated individual (University graduate) = The building blocks for becoming a successful self-made programmer.

This post was edited by PartyInMyPants on May 12 2012 05:38pm

just because I'm not laying over and dying to the whole "YOU MUST GO TO COLLEGE" idea doesn't mean my attitude sucks

sorry I can't fit college into my life in a reasonable way. in my opinion YOUR attitude sucks

all I'm seeing here is a bunch of people shoving college down my throat WHEN I'VE SAID IT'S NOT A REALITY FOR ME. IT'S NOT POSSIBLE

so I need to do what I can to succeed. those of you saying I might as well give up then ARE THE ONES WITH THE BAD ATTITUDE

get bent "JB"

go to college part-time, anything is is possible.

When I was a full-time student I knew people who worked 60 hour weeks and went to university part-time.

Exactly what do you expect from this topic? You asked what you're missing out on, were told that and now you're complaining? And no, I am not attacking you, but am genuinely curious, because I can't really figure it out.

To be fair I didn't bring up college. I even said in the very first post that I realize college has its benefits and it would be harder to do on my own



It might be a possibility further along the line but as it stands I don't think I could get the financing to go to college, cover my existing bills plus tuition loans etc.

Even 1 course per semester/per year? Can't be that expensive...

This post was edited by PartyInMyPants on May 12 2012 06:30pm

There's no absolute rule saying that you must go to college to learn the skills to become a good developer. Of course it can be done on your own, but it's going to be so much slower and have much more hazards along the way (re: learning the wrong things, developing bad habits).

And as a start, reading books that were written for the enrichment of programmers is NOT the way to go. The books you cited were all written with the assumption that the reader has sufficient background to properly understand, absorb, and eventually apply their content. You'd be much better off looking into (free or pay) online/web courses tailored towards beginners/intermediates and teaches some fundamental CS and software engineering principles.

Neither is asking on JSP, really. There are far better places to be asking your questions or looking for answers to questions that others have asked before. You claim that your time is valuable, and yet it doesn't really seem that you're using it very efficiently (i.e. arguing about your ego on a game trading site rather than Googling or skimming programming sites/boards).

I'd recommend starting here:
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/

This post was edited by irimi on May 12 2012 08:22pm

Well lets say I could get 3 classes in per semester. Thats like 9 maybe 10 or 11 credits per semester depending on if there's a lab. Going to take at least 7 years to finish a degree at that rate :/

7 years yes, but it can complement your self-learning.

it took me a little over 5 years to finish my undergraduate degree because I was an internship program that extended my 4 year undergrad by 1 year.

This post was edited by PartyInMyPants on May 13 2012 01:38pm

I'm no regular around here but I happened to see this thread and it randomly caught my attention. I have to say, there's an awful lot of discouragement going on here which I find really saddening. You are never too late to learn anything. If you measure your own success by job stability and employment opportunities etc. then you are already setting yourself up to be at a disadvantage if you cannot attend school. That's not to say you can't be successful. But really, if you want to learn something, you will find a way to learn it.

It's simple as that. I don't care who you are or what you're learning, if you have the drive and motivation to learn, you will learn. If you're approaching it from an angle of planning a path, that may differ for a self-motivated person. You may end up making many mistakes and taking the "long route" instead of knowing the right way to do it off the bat like a graduate might, but you will have experience. Experience is really what it comes down to no matter what you're doing. A kid who went to school and has a head full of theory is not technically better off than a person who has much experience but lacks theory. Which came first? Somebody first figured it out from nothing, on their own. I know it's possible. I promise you it's possible. Don't let things like jobs and money determine your success, let it flow from within you because you truly love and are passionate about what you do. That is how self-motivated and self-taught people act. They take charge. That's simply what this is about.

We live in a culture that is very institutionalized and it can be a knee jerk reaction to say "go to college." I am inclined to agree, if you have the funds, do yourself a favor and attend a school that fits your personality and teaches you what you want to learn. It's a great way to learn. But it seems to me, that's not an option for you. We're not all that lucky. The world of "success" isn't divided by who went to college because they had the funds and who didn't have the funds and thus was doomed to a life of obscurity. It's not like that. Don't let anybody convince you that it is. I am sorry to say I cannot advise you on your path because this is not my area of expertise. And I know that, because of that fact, many here will try to tell you that I am wrong and they will keep pushing their "college=success" thing on you but I think there is a universal truth to what I am saying, otherwise I would have never taken the time out of my day to write this at all.

All I can say is, follow your dream and don't give up. This very thread is EXACTLY the type of lesson you need to learn to deal with... problems and solutions. And when you see everything in your life as a lesson to be learned from you can become extraordinarily self-confident and self-aware. You make your own future. Good luck dude, you can do whatever you want.