Comment It's important, but not for getting a job. (Score 1) 991
For the record, I went to the California Institute of Technology and it was probably the best thing I ever did for myself. But not because of what I learned in my technical classes (I did a Mechanical Engineer/Materials type major and ended up in an unrelated field). Because of the people I met, the cultural approach to doing collaborative work, the relentless problem solving in unrelated fields and, yes, the four years of nontechnical stuff they required (and two years of PE type activities) to graduate.
I also took outreach courses at liberal arts schools nearby for a few things they didn't teach locally. MIT has outreach with Harvard,for example, and Caltech had outreach with the Clarimont colleges and Occidental, plus the local community college and likely other places. Going to a tech college doesn't mean you have to give up a rounded education.
The main difference is that at a liberal arts college, you'll have to work harder to push yourself to learn the technical and problem solving stuff, and at a tech college, you'll have to push yourself to have a rounded education and more varied life experiences..
My Caltech degree has got me exactly one job though, at a startup founded by an alum. That lasted about a year, and I've been in the workforce 20 years.
Here's the criteria I've seen used to hire would-be programmers for their first job. My experience only extends to IT type jobs and software development jobs, and the latter is anecdotal, not from personal experience.
1. Show your work. They need to see evidence that you can code, preferably in a way similar to the job you're trying for. Want to work for a computer game company? Write a computer game as a hobby. Want a job in IT? Automate your current boring job with visual basic+macro tools found in your Office applications. Want to support scientific research? Write a tool that helps analyze raw data or that transforms it in a way to communicate with others.
If you have #1, the rest don't matter much.
#2. Did you get a degree from somewhere? This matters only for some jobs. You may need it to get past the HR screening though, even if the manager doesn't care. My degree from Caltech was no more valuable than a degree from your local community college in getting the job that turned into my career. That is not to say it's not useful. (see below).
3. How you respond to the interview, which may include questions that test how well you work with others, interpersonal skills etc, in addition to technical questions. Again, tailor your degree and summer jobs etc to what you are shooting for. The way you interview to be a computer game programmer is very different for joining an IBM research facility or hiring on to IT for a multinational company (or small shop)
In my opinion, most of the above is independent of what college you choose. Choose your college for the following.
1. You are there to learn. What are they teaching? My alma matter had a philosophy of "liberal science", ie everyone who graduated (including CS majors) had 2 years of physics, one of chemistry, 3 years of math and 4 years of "humanities" (ie every quarter you MUST take courses that aren't technical). It also had a philosophy that "We'll make it really hard but allow collaboration. Real life is collaberative, and open book." This is radically different from most institutions.
2. Who do you want your friends to be in life? Many lifelong friendships are made in college. Pick an environment where you can make friends.
3. While university rarely matters for the job interview, it may play a key role in getting an interview if a fellow alumni is on the team you want to join. Not only do they have some idea what to expect of a graduate of your college, their colleagues have worked with that individual and will expect you to be somewhat like him or her. Also alumni outreach programs often help with initial job leads. This is obviously more useful if graduates of your college end up in jobs similar to what you want. (eg, a famous law school will find more alumni on the bench and in the firms than your average state university).
Good luck with it. But focus on what you want to get out of college, not just getting hired. The exact curriculum is actually less important than the values supported at the college, and the way they encourage you to think to succeed there.
I also took outreach courses at liberal arts schools nearby for a few things they didn't teach locally. MIT has outreach with Harvard,for example, and Caltech had outreach with the Clarimont colleges and Occidental, plus the local community college and likely other places. Going to a tech college doesn't mean you have to give up a rounded education.
The main difference is that at a liberal arts college, you'll have to work harder to push yourself to learn the technical and problem solving stuff, and at a tech college, you'll have to push yourself to have a rounded education and more varied life experiences..
My Caltech degree has got me exactly one job though, at a startup founded by an alum. That lasted about a year, and I've been in the workforce 20 years.
Here's the criteria I've seen used to hire would-be programmers for their first job. My experience only extends to IT type jobs and software development jobs, and the latter is anecdotal, not from personal experience.
1. Show your work. They need to see evidence that you can code, preferably in a way similar to the job you're trying for. Want to work for a computer game company? Write a computer game as a hobby. Want a job in IT? Automate your current boring job with visual basic+macro tools found in your Office applications. Want to support scientific research? Write a tool that helps analyze raw data or that transforms it in a way to communicate with others.
If you have #1, the rest don't matter much.
#2. Did you get a degree from somewhere? This matters only for some jobs. You may need it to get past the HR screening though, even if the manager doesn't care. My degree from Caltech was no more valuable than a degree from your local community college in getting the job that turned into my career. That is not to say it's not useful. (see below).
3. How you respond to the interview, which may include questions that test how well you work with others, interpersonal skills etc, in addition to technical questions. Again, tailor your degree and summer jobs etc to what you are shooting for. The way you interview to be a computer game programmer is very different for joining an IBM research facility or hiring on to IT for a multinational company (or small shop)
In my opinion, most of the above is independent of what college you choose. Choose your college for the following.
1. You are there to learn. What are they teaching? My alma matter had a philosophy of "liberal science", ie everyone who graduated (including CS majors) had 2 years of physics, one of chemistry, 3 years of math and 4 years of "humanities" (ie every quarter you MUST take courses that aren't technical). It also had a philosophy that "We'll make it really hard but allow collaboration. Real life is collaberative, and open book." This is radically different from most institutions.
2. Who do you want your friends to be in life? Many lifelong friendships are made in college. Pick an environment where you can make friends.
3. While university rarely matters for the job interview, it may play a key role in getting an interview if a fellow alumni is on the team you want to join. Not only do they have some idea what to expect of a graduate of your college, their colleagues have worked with that individual and will expect you to be somewhat like him or her. Also alumni outreach programs often help with initial job leads. This is obviously more useful if graduates of your college end up in jobs similar to what you want. (eg, a famous law school will find more alumni on the bench and in the firms than your average state university).
Good luck with it. But focus on what you want to get out of college, not just getting hired. The exact curriculum is actually less important than the values supported at the college, and the way they encourage you to think to succeed there.
