Metropolitan State University

[audadvnc]

I attended both Macalester College for physics and music (in the 1970's) and Metro State for computer science in the early 2000's. Metro States' CS Department follows the national standards for computer pedagogy, so if you pay attention and apply yourself, you'll get the basics - after that, it's all on you. I didn't find any "sluff" classes in the CS department.

There's no question that Macalester has a better, more well-funded program. But I recall the physics profs there saying, "If you are really serious about physics, you need to go to the University of Minnesota, because that's a REAL physics program". If you've got what it takes to go the big leagues, you need to go to the best venue you can get to.

[nick is rulz]

Originally Posted by kazoopilot

This is true. Experience is the only thing that matters. As a college graduate, I had to learn that the hard way. The only standard jobs I could find were mowing lawns and working in a call center. I ended up starting my own business because no one would give me a chance.

College is worthless in this economy unless you're going to grad school, medical school or law school. I should have quit after high school.

I worked temp firms after I graduated high school before I ever started school. Best decision I've ever made and I do not regret putting off going to college until I was a little older. I was able to work my way into a few jobs I was really underqualified for, but it just made getting the next one easier. Having a bachelors with 10+ years of relevant work experience is pretty helpful compared to a lot of people in my age group that finish college and have little real world work experience.

The only thing I do regret is not living the college experience....but Im not sure that it would have been worth a $40,000 price tag

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Bennie Flowers

Oh what gives about the GPA. Who cares.

Hard GPA limits were sometimes considered even when I first came out of college in the late 80's. Some entry-level programming positions required 3.0 or 3.2 minimum GPAs, for example. Not sure how common it is now...

[Pillage Your Village]

I went to a top 10 school (US not MN). What I can tell you with utter certainty that my peers that focused totally on academics and partying in their spare time are all living with their parents. Many of my peers who came from upper-middle class backgrounds had major entitlement issues coming out of college. In this economy, you need to set your sights on something that may not pay as much, but is going to give you the ability to learn and gain industry specific skills. If you have a great attitude and come to work energized and willing to learn from experienced people, the sky is the limit.