Where Modern Education Fails, Treehouse Prevails!

I totally agree with you.

This is very true; I feel exactly the same. At the moment, I'm applying for university but I'm not even sure which course I should apply for. All my teachers are telling to go for Computer Science but from my experience, I have a feeling that I will only waste my time learning things that I will never get to use in the real world. This is the reason why I now spend my free time on Treehouse learning how to code.

You just need to back what you have learned here with experience. so git on github and start working on some open source projects, or make your own. =)

Oh, and do not be afraid to enlighten talent scouts on why specialized education makes a better fit than traditional education. Specialized education being e-learning, you have to say things like most colleges besides ivy league colleges in the US do not provide the training they are looking for. For example, they may teach java but you still need to learn android after, in your case.. I used the example with php as my friend the talent recruiter couldn't find anyone that met their expectations. (their client was looking at formal education) the talent recruiter than showed their client, the benefits to this alternative education. They than hired someone based on open-source projects, and some traditional qualifiers.

My story is a little off-topic from your post, but I felt I needed to share.

I recently left university where I was studying Computer Science for a few months. As stated before, I felt like I was learning too much sh!t that I most likely will never end up using. Alternatively I joined treehouse and I have already learned more applicable things here within a month than I have learned in university over a few months.

Lol, gotcha. Okay, assuming your parents are like my parents, (1st generation immigrants to UK......or US in my case), here's a way for you both to win: Get a degree, but in something other than Web Technologies. You have a point -- there are excellent resources like this website and tons that you can do on your own. Here are some ideas:

-Apply to read finance, economics or maths/stats, because the combination of that knowledge plus practical programming skills is highly sought after. If this is the path you take, make sure you do internships during your summer holiday, starting from your first year! There are often spring programs too, and that gets your foot in the door.
-Or you could get a degree in Computer Science, because you'll get a good theoretical grounding which you can put into practice. Again, make sure you do internships in industry to see how things are.
-Lastly, are there any flavors of engineering that you are interested in? Your parents are probably West African (Jammeh?), so chemical engineering or petrochemical engineering will definitely get them off your back. :P Again, internships! Which, if done right, will offset some of your uni fees.

Assuming you count as a home student, the fees should be manageable. Also, whatever degree course you choose, make sure you keep up the study on places like Treehouse, and make sure you get practical experience on the side, through internships, etc. :D

Lol, my parents are from Nigeria (and got to the US on student/post doc visas so they are extra intense about the importance of education!). Have a look at finance, and also, you are lucky because you are just applying to uni now, and you have the ability to tailor your studies. For example, you could do a combination that allowed you to specialize in data science: the unicorns of our time http://blog.treasure-data.com/post/29496343559/data-scientist-a-unicorn http://info.sagenceconsulting.com/blog/what-do-data-scientists-unicorns-have-in-common

If you did finance (which will probably include some maths/stats courses), or some specialized course, and kept up with your self-study, you don't have to stray too far from web development which you like, and you make yourself super employable (which any immigrant parent can appreciate).

And no problem: lol, I recognize the dilemma bc I've had this conversation with my own folks a million times! Good luck! :)