I think the main difference between self-taught and college-taught is structure. You will get to learn everything you need to know to build systems in general, and then practice by doing, where as self-taught you don’t necessarily learn everything you need to know, but enough to build what you’re currently working on.
I’m self-taught and looking to up my level of code by trying to find out what you learn in CS classes, etc (must-know algorithms, data structures, whatever) so I can fill in any blanks I have to become better.
I totally agree with you up to "practice by doing". I 100% think that's how it should be, but I think two things actually happen far too often:
there's not enough time to practice on your own (outside of assignments)
assignments are far too structured and don't leave room for creativity
I love how much time I have now to practice whatever I want. I think I learned quite a bit of how to structure my own learning though, with college requiring good time management skills.
I like your idea! I think I'll write some posts on Software Engineering specific concepts. There's quite a few things you learn that Computer Scientists don't! Holding all of that information in my head doesn't help anyone, does it? :)
My biggest issue at the minute is with working all day then coming home and not wanting to start working on my own projects because I’m a little burned out, but that’s a whole other topic!
I look forward to seeing some of that tucked-away information! Definitely have time for that.
Before getting into software engineering, I pursued Electrical Engineering for 1 year. Unlike folks in American colleges, you don't get to choose major after freshmen year. Here, you decide your major before getting into college which in my opinion is quite rigid.
I switched to SE because of 3 reasons mainly:
Hardware subjects (especially there practical labs) were really dry.
My elder siblings convinced me that role of programming will increase rapidly so it's better go for computer science
Disparity between SE and Electrical/Mechanical/Chemical engineering jobs is really high in my country. Financially security therefore in SE is relatively high.
My entry point of SE was MIT's basic Python course on EDx. It was an awesome experience. I still remember Tic-Tac-Toe and Caesar Cipher which I implemented in Python. Looking retrospectively, it was really noob stuff but at that time, it felt as if I was king of the hill 😁
Loved reading this. Thanks for sharing :) You clearly made a great choice and I should have taken option 2 but stuck out chemical engineering for all the wrong reasons. I'm self-taught now and I totally agree with you that it's doable.
I know a couple of others that switched like us. :) I think I was lucky to have learned programming right before I failed those classes! It's hard to know what all of the options are... can we normalize 5-year college programs? It'd be great to spend a whole year exploring different areas of study so you know what you really want to do. Everyone's in a rush to get out in 4 years.
Frontend developer by day, iOS developer by night. Currently working on learning iOS development and my own blog, Mike Decodes, where I'm decoding the tech industry. Come hang out with me on Twitter!
It’s great to read your story after seeing a couple of tweets from you come by! I agree the college route isn’t for everyone and it shouldn’t have to be either. I did a UX/UI design track over at my university and while it’s helping me tremendously in some areas, it’s utterly useless in others. You don’t really get to pick the information you take in, it’s there whether you want/need it or not. For some people that’s great! For me, and possibly you, not so much.
This is really motivating me to finish writing my post! Thank you 😊
The cool part about structured educational tracks is that someone else has already done the work of finding what information you need to know. The less cool part is that sometimes you don't need all that information. I think it all depends not only on how much time someone has to research and teach themselves, but also on whether or not they've found a community of more knowledgeable people. Trying to figure out what you don't but need to know is probably the hardest part.
At my 30s I found out that there was a developer inside a Political Science Graduated.
I've been COO an CMO for 4 years but I decided to persue my dream and become a Front-end developer:)
Location
Elche, Alicante, Spain
Education
Certificate of Higher Education for Web Applications Development & Degree in Political Science
It always takes courage to make a decision and readjust your path. So congratulations!
I have also taken a different path. However, a lot of years later after I graduated. But honestly, I needed to live more and experience more jobs, meet people... before I really knew what was the right way for me. :)
I think the main difference between self-taught and college-taught is structure. You will get to learn everything you need to know to build systems in general, and then practice by doing, where as self-taught you don’t necessarily learn everything you need to know, but enough to build what you’re currently working on.
I’m self-taught and looking to up my level of code by trying to find out what you learn in CS classes, etc (must-know algorithms, data structures, whatever) so I can fill in any blanks I have to become better.
Maybe this could be another post? hint :)
I totally agree with you up to "practice by doing". I 100% think that's how it should be, but I think two things actually happen far too often:
I love how much time I have now to practice whatever I want. I think I learned quite a bit of how to structure my own learning though, with college requiring good time management skills.
I like your idea! I think I'll write some posts on Software Engineering specific concepts. There's quite a few things you learn that Computer Scientists don't! Holding all of that information in my head doesn't help anyone, does it? :)
My biggest issue at the minute is with working all day then coming home and not wanting to start working on my own projects because I’m a little burned out, but that’s a whole other topic!
I look forward to seeing some of that tucked-away information! Definitely have time for that.
Before getting into software engineering, I pursued Electrical Engineering for 1 year. Unlike folks in American colleges, you don't get to choose major after freshmen year. Here, you decide your major before getting into college which in my opinion is quite rigid.
I switched to SE because of 3 reasons mainly:
My entry point of SE was MIT's basic Python course on EDx. It was an awesome experience. I still remember Tic-Tac-Toe and Caesar Cipher which I implemented in Python. Looking retrospectively, it was really noob stuff but at that time, it felt as if I was king of the hill 😁
Fellow chemical engineer turned developer here!
Loved reading this. Thanks for sharing :) You clearly made a great choice and I should have taken option 2 but stuck out chemical engineering for all the wrong reasons. I'm self-taught now and I totally agree with you that it's doable.
I know a couple of others that switched like us. :) I think I was lucky to have learned programming right before I failed those classes! It's hard to know what all of the options are... can we normalize 5-year college programs? It'd be great to spend a whole year exploring different areas of study so you know what you really want to do. Everyone's in a rush to get out in 4 years.
It’s great to read your story after seeing a couple of tweets from you come by! I agree the college route isn’t for everyone and it shouldn’t have to be either. I did a UX/UI design track over at my university and while it’s helping me tremendously in some areas, it’s utterly useless in others. You don’t really get to pick the information you take in, it’s there whether you want/need it or not. For some people that’s great! For me, and possibly you, not so much.
This is really motivating me to finish writing my post! Thank you 😊
The cool part about structured educational tracks is that someone else has already done the work of finding what information you need to know. The less cool part is that sometimes you don't need all that information. I think it all depends not only on how much time someone has to research and teach themselves, but also on whether or not they've found a community of more knowledgeable people. Trying to figure out what you don't but need to know is probably the hardest part.
It always takes courage to make a decision and readjust your path. So congratulations!
I have also taken a different path. However, a lot of years later after I graduated. But honestly, I needed to live more and experience more jobs, meet people... before I really knew what was the right way for me. :)
Thanks for sharing your story. I’m always inspired after reading others’ stories.
Thank you for reading it! :)