Levi Pearson wrote:
"Hill, Greg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
This is all coming from someone who only went to University for only a
year before going into a career, so maybe that skews my perception. Not
having the advanced theory hasn't really hindered my ability to make
good money as a programmer, but I still regret not learning more of it.
The practical knowledge was incredibly easy to teach myself, the theory
is not. IMO, a degree from places like UVSC is a waste of money and
time. You could easily teach yourself more in less time by either
getting an entry-level job and working up or picking up some books and
teaching yourself (or a combination of both, as I did). If I'm going to
spend thousands of dollars on something, it will be to be taught things
I couldn't easily teach myself.
The presumptuousness of this characterization of UVSC is staggering.
Have you taken classes there recently? You might try auditing one of
the theory classes and see what you think before making these kinds of
ridiculous statements. Just because UVSC used to be a pure trade
school doesn't mean it still is. There's a huge demographic in the
area that desires a traditional 4-year degree but doesn't want to
commute to the U of U or deal with the difficult admissions and/or
silly rules at BYU. UVSC has been changing to meet that demand over
the years. It still has more of a practical focus, but they would not
be able to get accreditations for the 4-year degrees without teaching
solid theory as well.
I think a lot of this conversation is silly. I find it amusing
reading comments from people patting themselves on the back for
obtaining a degree and/or attending a particular institution of higher
learning. An institution can only "institutionalize" your patterns
according to their preferred method set.
Being one that has attended BYU and UVSC, as well as other schools such
as: SLCC, UTC -the precursor to UVSC, UCLA, UCR - UC Riverside, and MIT;
I think you cannot claim BYU to be significantly better than UVSC,
except in the matter of expressing pride in your Alma Mater. I've
actually come away with more useful knowledge sets from UVSC than that
of BY-ZoobieVille.
Great thinkers can learn theory outside of the lab-rat environment, but
it is all relative to the motivation of the individual. Great thinking
can be self-learned as well. I have yet to find an institution that can
truly make me think any better ... they can only "train" me in their
methods or frames of reference in doing so.
I'll agree with some comments about the arrogance of some graduates
locally, when they are seeking a position. I prefer to interact and
hire those with heart for the art, not with those folks grandstanding
the presumption of intellectualism. Nor will I waste my money on the
later. The science allows for the expression of the art, no matter how
mundane the task... I believe we all take pride in seeing our work
coming to life, no matter how small the project or code snippet (ie: hey
I did that! or, hey, I helped on that!).
Mister Ed
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