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Courtney King
1,803 PointsHas anyone paired Treehouse with a degree plan?
I'll be going to school in January for an AAS in Web Development. Now I know that in WD that it's not so much degrees but real know-how and your portfolio so it's a given that I'll be working on that throughout my schooling. My question is whether or not someone has done both traditional school alongside Treehouse and did you find that it helped your learning experience. And if so how?
3 Answers
Jacob Bergdahl
29,119 PointsTraditional schools are still very, very important. Having a degree from a university (or something equivalent) will help you A LOT not only with learning but also with getting a job. At a university, you will usually work more closely with people, and there will also be teachers who check everything you do through hand-in assignment (unlike on, for example, Treehouse, where no one is obligated to check what you do and give you a grade). Treehouse is a great complement to a traditional school, but I would not recommend relying solely on an online school. There are other alternatives to traditional schools too, of course, like reading books dedicated to this area or studying at a website such as Udacity (which is far more expensive than Treehouse, but still not too bad).
Courtney King
1,803 PointsJust to clarify, I won't be attending a university. I can't afford that. I'll be going to a community college.
Michael Afanasiev
Courses Plus Student 15,597 PointsMy only advice for you will be to just try and make the best of it, wherever you will attend. Question everything and everyone, even your teachers, whatever you will learn, do a bit more research about it to see different insights and opinions. The power of Google is in your hands. :)
Pepe Suarez
18,267 PointsMost of the times people just study for the degree, I am currently in a college called Itesm here in Mexico, and I am almost a graduate in business. A year ago I found out that my Passion was programming because I had never tried it before. If I knew before I will totally have studied systems engineering. But most guys who study systems engineering or even business like me, will never apply what they learned in college. Here in Mexico 80% of people who have a degree end up working in something that was not what they prepared for. I am pretty sure that this statistic applies for almost any country.
I believe that college will teach only what you need to get the job done. But if you want to create something amazing you will need to go further and learn for yourself.
In my opinion what matters in the end are your skills and what you have accomplished. If you accomplish something cool it will speak louder than a college certificate, either if you have one or not.
Michael Afanasiev
Courses Plus Student 15,597 PointsMichael Afanasiev
Courses Plus Student 15,597 PointsPersonally, I lost my trust in traditional schools. I am self taught and I work in IT, without any degree. I got this job solely because of my skills, knowledge and experience.
Just like someone said here on the forums, most schools only teach you how to be in a secure lifestyle, and not how to learn, evolve, and achieve something greater than you are. The whole purpose of learning web development for me is to educate myself every day, be a thinker, a problem solver, not to be a 9-5 robot in front of a screen.
But of course it depends to which school/college/university you are going, and if you feel spending 4 years of your life there will bring you any benefit. I guess it also depends on your character. :)
Konrad Pilch
2,435 PointsKonrad Pilch
2,435 PointsAgree. Plus not all school/college will be updated..... really.. im at college.. horribile.. you need to find a good teacher first, otherwise wherever you go you might jsut wsate yoru time.
Degree is good for prestige , thats all. 90% of people in the programming industry dont have one? or you dont require one? I think they will look what you know instead whre you went.
Konrad Pilch
2,435 PointsKonrad Pilch
2,435 PointsIf you have a teacher in real life from treehouse, then yes, ud be lucky : p and i would sleep at school.
Jacob Bergdahl
29,119 PointsJacob Bergdahl
29,119 PointsThe first thing to keep in mind is that universities vary a lot from university to university, and also to what country you live in. Not all of us live in the US. The system is very different in Sweden, where I live. Many employers require a degree, as it is a "proof" of what you know (I know, this is silly in many ways but let's not debate about that). True, employers in this industry hire mostly on skills, experience and your personality, and so having a degree at a university is by no means mandatory. The way I see it, studying for three years at a university will give you a lot of insights that you otherwise would not get. Studying at online schools like this in the meantime is a very good compliment. Having a degree is never, ever, a bad thing.
The reason why courses at universities are not updated is because making new courses for universities are often complex, and they need to approved by some higher organization. At my university, there isn't A SINGLE course in app development! Very unfortunate. There will most likely be one in the future, but then it'll be too late.
Konrad, do you have a source saying that "90% of people in the programming industry don't have [a degree]"?
Konrad Pilch
2,435 PointsKonrad Pilch
2,435 PointsSorry, i cant write now fully as im at college, but i think it was 90% of the jobs dont require the degree or any other paper.
Michael Afanasiev
Courses Plus Student 15,597 PointsMichael Afanasiev
Courses Plus Student 15,597 PointsJacob, you are completely right, another point I wanted to add but I forgot, heh. Another reason why I left my country and now work in IT and Support in a big tech company that is known worldwide. wink
Konrad, I don't think 90% don't have a degree, but I do believe most of them have a degree which they never used.
Konrad Pilch
2,435 PointsKonrad Pilch
2,435 PointsI corrected my self and i said that 90% of job in the programming dont need a degree.