[Haskell-cafe] education or experience?

[Heinrich Apfelmus]

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

--
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