Anyone feel like college is a waste? Options

[Coomer]

Does anyone here feel like college is a waste of money, time, and effort?

To me, it's seemed like that since before I started. I've now almost got my AA, and I've learned some stuff, but not much that I really care about, and almost nothing that has helped me.

And if I go forward with my plans to go to Central Washington University and get my BA in computer science, I'm sure I'll learn a ton about computer programming and databases and stuff like that. But the problem I see is that I don't want to be a computer programmer or a database engineer.

I want to develop websites, and have my own business doing it.

I've got the knowledge to develop sites now, and what I don't know very well(OOP, ActionScript, etc.) I can learn on my own. I've always been able to learn on my own with the internet or a book, and I actually prefer it to learning in a classroom.

And as far as the business side of things, I'm confident that I can handle that too. I've invested a few hundred dollars over the last couple weeks buying books and such about the subject of web development businesses and business in general. And again, what I don't know, I don't need a class for. I can learn fine from reading.

So yeah, college seems pointless to me. Anyone else feel the same way?

[orvillescelica]

I disagree completely. College is not just learning what you want to do, its refining the way you think. It gives you exposure to things that you may not necessarily think about, even in the field that you are in. Exposure to learn from those who know more than you could ever learn in a lifetime. It gives you a good basis, and the rest you will have to learn on your own and teach yourself. Its about thinking, rather than learning.

This is a difference between our higher learning system in CS and those in India. In India they teach you how to code, create programs, and make them do what you want them to do. They can crank code just fine, but they are not taught anything more and thus there is very little advance in the field there. There is little innovation because they were never thought to think abstractly or ever encouraged to.

Sure you can learn to build a mouse trap, but can you build a better one? Maybe i guess people are right, it does depend on what you want to do. But if anything, a degree will give you credibility and your foot in the door.