Christopher Howard wrote:
I'm at something of a crossroads, and I'm hoping to get a bit of free
career advice. I really enjoy programming with Haskell (and a few other
exotic languages), and was hoping I could eventually make a living in
that sort of field. Not rich and famous, necessarily, just enough to get
by comfortably. I'm trying to decide, however; should I go back to
school, finish my B.S. and pursue a Masters in CompSci? Or would the
time (and money) be better spent aggressively pursuing volunteer work
for companies, hoping to eventually get the experience and contacts that
lead to a paying job?
To be honest, I don't really want to go back to school, because I learn
a lot faster (and more economically) on my own. However, I'm not sure
which path is the fastest, and safest, approach to an actual paycheck.
Concerning a university education, there are two approaches:
1. I want to learn as much as possible
2. I want to learn just enough to get a high-paying job
University is great at serving the first approach, not only because you
have the freedom to skip lectures that you already know, but also
because professors have a lot of interesting things to teach if you let
them, and because some of your classmates will be equally interested and
interesting. In other words, if you want to learn everything, then
university is the right environment.
On the other hand, approaching university from the second point of view
usually does not justify the cost for the little benefit you obtain this
way. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the tuition costs in the U.S.
strongly suggest the second approach. To avoid this, I recommend to
either go abroad or become very good and acquire a scholarship.
Best regards,
Heinrich Apfelmus
--
http://apfelmus.nfshost.com
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