So did your curriculum involve a decent amount of liberal arts classes mixed with CS classes? Do you think your understanding of computer science is as solid as the people who did the B.S. program?
Thanks. Unfortunately admissions are extremely competitive, and I hear only the people with high GPA + all finished pre-reqs get in. I figure if I get accepted somewhere, I'd rather focus on the CS/programming material than finishing classes that are irrelevant to my major.
What I am suggesting is that it is not likely to be particularly difficult to get faculty support to switch from a BA to a BS once you are in the department.
Thanks for the feedback. Although I'm not experienced enough in programming to be valuable anywhere, I will definitely look into your startup when I significantly improve my skills.
I have another question. I see you're located in Mountain View. I'm assuming you receive a lot of applications from top tier universities such as Stanford and Berkeley. Is the degree still not that important?
Assuming you get two applicants of equal ability, one is from a top tier college and the other from...let's say a CSU college. Would you be biased towards the more elite applicant?
Sorry if these questions are silly. I'm really interested in the recruiter's perspective though.
All of our applications are from references or cold calls. We don't filter anything, at least as far as I know.
I'm from a state U. Our chief Architect completed his degree decades after leaving college. Our VP of Eng. has no degree. Humility aside, all are top-knotch professionals with years of experience.
Of course we also have PhD's and Stanford graduates. Because they rock. But other people rock too.
We'v hired unknown people based on personal references, and we have a great team. Enthusiasm, smarts, a willingness to jump into a chaotic environment and swim like mad to stay afloat are all more important than technical credits.
Truthfully, I never had the interest to learn programming as a kid despite being offered lessons by family and friends. My first year of college I took a ton of random classes, but Intro to Programming was the only class that captured my attention. Thanks to the professor and really interesting assignments I gained an appreciation for programming, and I've been working towards a CS degree from then on. I started when I was 19.
That makes a lot of sense. I've often found myself dreaming about a problem I struggled with before going to bed, then magically "realizing" the solution immediately after waking up in the morning.
The software claims to replicate the physiological effects of running. If a person combined a consistent exercise regime with this software training, will he/she turn into a genius?
True. One of the calculus courses at my college is a weeder class. I have met so many people who gave up on their dreams of being scientists and engineers because they couldn't handle the intensity of the course. I was among the majority that didn't pass the class. I admit I'm not the brightest math student, but I truly enjoy learning about Computer Science so I'm gonna power through those classes for as long as it takes. I'll be retaking the class again this upcoming semester.
The article has a point, the quantity of homework assigned in technical classes is insane. People burn out. Some people put in the hours, yet pull off mediocre grades at best. Its highly discouraging and destroys peoples egos. My friends attending Top 5 engineering universities are simply broken on the inside. Doing homework for 10+ hours a day, every day, as long as you can handle it, just to earn a shitty GPA barely above 3.0. Luckily they're all stubborn enough to continue pursuing their goals.
It wasn't so bad for me. I suppose I wound up working an average of about 9 hours a day, 5 hours a week. But a lot of that time was in "troll sessions" with friends, and it was fun. I also really enjoyed being around smart and motivated people.
All in all, it was a very positive experience for me, and has paid off handsomely over the years. (Not the degree, I don't give a crap about that, but what I learned. A friend summed it up succinctly with "it's not about learning facts, it's about learning how to think." Learning engineering and science rewires your brain.)
This is awesome. GEB has been sitting on my bookshelf for about a year but I never got around to reading it. I'll give it a shot, and it's great to know there's a community out there available for help.
