Stay curious. There is a lot of learn, now and in the future. Staying curious will only help in the in school, and after it.
Go beyond the curriculum. Odds are your school wont teach you a bunch of different languages (JavaScript, Python) nor will they teach you a bunch of different tools you may need (like git, github, Linux). Also, doing more to show off only helps down the line when you graduate. Build stuff if you have time, save all of it with the idea of showing it off when you go on the job search.
Try to be a jack of all trades as reasonably as you can. Not specializing will only help keep more doors open, staying flexible helps you learn and grow faster than if you stick to just one thing.
Some math is overrated. I had to learn calculus and physics, yet haven't touched either since graduating. If you don't plan on going into anything related to physics, you wont ever need this knowledge.
Some math is critical. "Computer science math", IE data structure, and algorithms is the single most important thing to learn from school. It applies in all code, all languages, and all use-cases.
Be a team player. Learning how to work with others is an excellent time to learn team dynamics. Odds are you will end up working with other people, so learn to be nice 😄
Take advantage of the schools networking and job opportunities. This is hands down the #1 reason to go to school, as colleges usually provide services to help with the job search. Take advantage of job fairs, internship opportunities, scholarships, and networking opportunities. This is the closest thing to a "sure-bet" way of getting a job or at least an internship. Don't expect to be 100% hire-able when you graduate, but getting experience before graduating sets you a head above the rest.
Finally, enjoy it! Going to college/higher education seems like it will take forever, but before you know it it will be over. Stick to your guns, work hard and stick it out. (Usually) no one forces you to go to college, and its totally fine to not go through with it, but ask yourself if not doing it is worth it. Computer Science is all about learning, why not get something official out of it?
Student from Germany who fell in love with coding and the tech industry after pivoting from a traditional career in banking. Currently pursuing a Bachelor's in CompSci.
I think I'm already going beyond the curriculum as I'm tinkering a lot with web technologies like React, graphQL and so on. I'm also quite familiar with git & GitHub already.
However, I really look forward to university as I hope to gather a solid, independent foundation of skills and knowledge to build on top of!
Sounds like your on the right path, and have the right mindset for the career. Even if college doesn't go over everything you think you need to know, it will give you context to a lot you already know, or never thought about.
If you already use git and github, definitely put all your work, projects, notes (if you take them) on it. Not only does it give you more practice, it also gives you more to show off later. Don't worry about it being "not up to par", no one expects you to be uploading perfect code if your just starting out haha.
If you get to choose some classes, and want to focus on web development, I suggest looking into classes related to web development and networking if available.
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Stay curious. There is a lot of learn, now and in the future. Staying curious will only help in the in school, and after it.
Go beyond the curriculum. Odds are your school wont teach you a bunch of different languages (JavaScript, Python) nor will they teach you a bunch of different tools you may need (like git, github, Linux). Also, doing more to show off only helps down the line when you graduate. Build stuff if you have time, save all of it with the idea of showing it off when you go on the job search.
Try to be a jack of all trades as reasonably as you can. Not specializing will only help keep more doors open, staying flexible helps you learn and grow faster than if you stick to just one thing.
Some math is overrated. I had to learn calculus and physics, yet haven't touched either since graduating. If you don't plan on going into anything related to physics, you wont ever need this knowledge.
Some math is critical. "Computer science math", IE data structure, and algorithms is the single most important thing to learn from school. It applies in all code, all languages, and all use-cases.
Be a team player. Learning how to work with others is an excellent time to learn team dynamics. Odds are you will end up working with other people, so learn to be nice 😄
Take advantage of the schools networking and job opportunities. This is hands down the #1 reason to go to school, as colleges usually provide services to help with the job search. Take advantage of job fairs, internship opportunities, scholarships, and networking opportunities. This is the closest thing to a "sure-bet" way of getting a job or at least an internship. Don't expect to be 100% hire-able when you graduate, but getting experience before graduating sets you a head above the rest.
Finally, enjoy it! Going to college/higher education seems like it will take forever, but before you know it it will be over. Stick to your guns, work hard and stick it out. (Usually) no one forces you to go to college, and its totally fine to not go through with it, but ask yourself if not doing it is worth it. Computer Science is all about learning, why not get something official out of it?
I think I'm already going beyond the curriculum as I'm tinkering a lot with web technologies like React, graphQL and so on. I'm also quite familiar with git & GitHub already.
However, I really look forward to university as I hope to gather a solid, independent foundation of skills and knowledge to build on top of!
Sounds like your on the right path, and have the right mindset for the career. Even if college doesn't go over everything you think you need to know, it will give you context to a lot you already know, or never thought about.
If you already use git and github, definitely put all your work, projects, notes (if you take them) on it. Not only does it give you more practice, it also gives you more to show off later. Don't worry about it being "not up to par", no one expects you to be uploading perfect code if your just starting out haha.
If you get to choose some classes, and want to focus on web development, I suggest looking into classes related to web development and networking if available.