

Intro to Computer Science overtakes Econ as Harvard’s most popular class - ekm2
http://fortune.com/2014/09/11/harvard-introduction-computer-science-enrollment/?utm_content=buffera5b42&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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lutusp
Once again the freshman class at Harvard proves they're not stupid. There's a
shortage of computer scientists, one being to some extent filled by
immigrants, and since that represents an opportunity that economics and other
majors doesn't offer, people are proactively taking on this opportunity.

The only drawback is that existing computer science courses probably won't
train the students in the skills the marketplace needs. Consider how many now-
famous captains of tech industry dropped out of college when they realized
this -- Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Larry
Ellison, Michael Dell.

Oh well. To save time listing them, I will just say that most tech leaders
that come to mind are college dropouts. But not all -- Elon Musk is a
counterexample, a college graduate, and a spectacularly successful one.

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ekm2
Dropping out seems to work if one had significant programming experience
before getting to college.

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dllthomas
I'm not so sure. Amongst those I know who program, the ones who finished
college are doing better. I think there is a tremendous difference between on
the one hand 1) engaging in schooling, finding an opportunity that is more
valuable (along some metric) than schooling, and pursuing it; and on the other
hand 2) deciding you don't need schooling and spending time just looking for
those opportunities (it is frequently difficult to get a good sense of whether
you are pursuing them effectively, and they may not come in any event).

