

Ask YC: Autodidactic Degree Programs? - tjr

While there is certainly inherent value in learning, and tacking alphabet soup after your name doesn't really mean anything compared to what you actually know, it seems there are tangible benefits to having formal degrees.<p>Has anyone experienced or know of a more or less "autodidactic" degree program?  I've sampled some distance education courses, and while they seem fine enough, I still seem to be learning mostly on my own, but within the constraints (some helpful, some not) of a formal class.<p>Basically, the ideal here would be to be given a syllabus of things to learn, recommended books to read, and whenever I feel ready, take an exam to pass (or fail) the course, enabling me to get done as quickly (or slowly) as my personal schedule allows.  Complete N courses, and I get a degree.<p>That might be asking too much, but is there anything at all along these lines?
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vlad
For many introductory courses and even advanced science and math courses, you
can probably work out a solution with a professor where you would take the
final exam early in the semester if you have a good reason. I got an A in an
introductory class I was originally told I could skip just by doing the
projects in the first week and handing in the final exam (another project) in
the second week, but I had to have a good reason and talk to the professor
first.

Another idea is to attend a local university. You can even start with a
community college program that has guaranteed transfer of all credits to a
four-year computer science degree--another advantage is that if you leave for
another school before the Associate degree, you know the classes will count
and be of some level of decency.

However, a big university far from where you live could be ideal for you. The
bigger it is, the more courses it might offer, giving you more options of all
types--professors, homework requirements, distance learning options,
professor's own web site, audio lectures, attendance policies, scheduling,
etc.

With the internet on your side, you could e-mail any professor and ask them if
they require attendance in the classes you're interested in, and if they do,
say that you live an hour away, or work full-time, or whatever the case might
be, and you will take the responsibility for your own grade, as long as there
are no specific grading penalties for missing class.

Many professors at colleges of all types do not require attendance, so you
should not be afraid to enroll. Then, you can simply study on your own, or
come in when necessary.

~~~
yummyfajitas
>For many introductory courses and even advanced science and math courses, you
can probably work out a solution with a professor where you would take the
final exam early in the semester if you have a good reason.

Never underestimate the silly requirements (e.g., "2 years residence") of a
university. University's are not set up for you to teach yourself, take a test
and finish fast. It's just bad business; you don't want the customers to be
your competitors. Why let you take classes by exam and graduate in 1 year,
when we can force you to stick around for 4 years?

Also, never underestimate the arrogance of professors:

Me: Dr. Jones, I've taken chem 2, orgo 1 and materials thermo. Your class
(chem 101, a graduation requirement) conflicts with quantum chemistry (an
elective which I can't substitute for chem 101). Can I take it by exam?

Jones: It's not possible that you know the material without taking this class.
I won't give you the opportunity to prove me wrong. You shouldn't take
graduate courses anyway.

~~~
vlad
Thank you for your post. I did not mean that you would sign up for 30 credits
a semester and attempt to take tests to see what happens. You would really
have to show the professor you know the class really well and have a good
reason for accelerating your education. Also, faculty are not administrators,
they are former students. They enjoy helping bright motivated students, no
matter how much money the student pays in tuition.

However, taking many more credits "with department chair permission" is always
a real option. Steve Pavlina got a B.S. in Computer Science at a state school
in California in 1 and 1/2 years. He simply valued which assignments were
worth doing and attempted many more credits than other people did. He also
made decisions in under one minute that would normally take his peers weeks to
arrive at (such as what topic to write an essay about.)

And actually, he got the department's highest honor and maintained a good GPA
by doing this.

~~~
yummyfajitas
>Also, faculty are not administrators, they are former students. They enjoy
helping bright motivated students, no matter how much money the student pays
in tuition.

That's my approach. But my experience (as both a student and teacher) suggests
that I'm a minority, and people like this guy
(<http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/02/11/ferrall>) are more common. It
varies from place to place, however.

Anyway, I'm not saying you can't push through fast. I did it myself, and it
was well worth it (2 years = half price). But I had to fight the system every
semester, and use various paperwork/administrative hacks to do it. It wasn't
easy, and if I were a chem major (department chair: Jones, mentioned earlier),
it would have been impossible.

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rms
I had a friend who graduated from college in Macedonia. Each class was an exam
which you took whenever you were ready to and the exams were offered every
semester. So to get the degree you needed to take all of the relevant exams.

Not sure if anywhere else in Europe does things this way.

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izak30
My experience is this: Make friends at the top. You will have a much easier
time getting through school if you send out some e-mails to the heads of
places which you are considering to see how they respond to your questions.

The tangible benefits to having formal degrees (at least an undergrad) get
smaller as the size of the company you are pursuing out of school gets
smaller.

I went (and left) a very large university, it was hard to get things like this
considered, and often they had attendance policies which said if you wern't IN
class, you could fail..so getting the syllabus and taking the exam later just
was not an option.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask about anything, it seems like I was in a
similar situation a few years ago, I'd be happy to tell you about all of my
experiences.

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epi0Bauqu
You can do this at MIT:
<http://web.mit.edu/registrar/www/schedules/advst.html>

~~~
teamonkey
Don't you have to be already registered as an undergraduate student at MIT to
be eligible for those examinations?

~~~
epi0Bauqu
Or a graduate student. The idea is you can study everything ahead of time and
then take all the exams and get your degree(s), or at least get them in a very
compressed manner.

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randallsquared
For many fields of study, you can use CLEP, DSST, and GRE tests to build up
credit, and then have only a few actual courses you need take to get your
degree. Few people do this, of course, because most people would rather sit in
class than let all their credit for the course ride on a test.

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michael_dorfman
Lampeter University in Wales has some programs that might fit the bill.

Also, I've heard good things about the Open University.

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LPTS
People here don't really like the word autodidactic. Try and keep it to a
fifth grade level. Just a heads up.

~~~
rokhayakebe
"People here don't really like the word autodidactic". What fact do you have
to back your statement?

When you are dealing with a community you should be careful when saying
"People here".

"Try and keep it to a fifth grade level". Now why would you insult someone
intelligence when they reach out to others for their opinions, and help.

~~~
yummyfajitas
I believe he is referring to this thread.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=198809>

