Choosing the right college for programming career?

[IGx89]

I'm a Junior in high school (home schooled), and am in the "looking for colleges" stage. I want to go into computer programming, and already have experience with C++ Win32 and MFC programming (I did Wulfram Poller (http://www.wulfram.com/download_poller.php) and am doing Freelancer Mod Manager (http://www.lancersreactor.com/t/download/download.asp?id=143) ). Unfortunately, I have no idea where to start looking for colleges! I live in Minnesota, so a local college is a plus, but I'm certainly not ruling out out-of-state colleges either. I'm currently checking out NEI Technical College (they say they are the Harvard of the programming world :)) and Winona State. Which colleges do you recommend for a good programming career? I'd like to be Microsoft, Adobe, or even LucasArts or RavenSoft "material". I'm also considering getting a minor in math, since I think that would help me a lot, especially in 3d programming.

Thanks!

Also, do you recommend a 2-year or a 4-year college? 2-year colleges seem to be more specific, while 4-year seem to be more general.

[Linenoise]

I found that college really doesnt teach you alot of the things you need to know - working in groups, importance of coding style, how to design a large project, how to use version control systems, how to debug large systems, etc etc. The college I went to did offer some classes like that, but as electives, and they weren't always available every quarter.

Secondly, I've found that coding itself is a very mechanical process that is similar to writing a book. Knowing how to use the semicolon is nice, but it doesn't mean you know how to write a novel.

Using those two things as my backing - don't be fooled into thinking a 2 year technical school is better because a 4 year is "more general". In my opinion, all of that theory is far more important than learning how to write a C++ class. Why? Because you can learn to write a class in a couple of weeks- but you won't know good ways to do that without the theory and design behind it. Also, given the economy.. I'd go for a 4 year school just to give everything more time to recover. Out here in california, companies are getting 50-200 resumes for every 1 resume they actually look at. You'd look better (on paper, of course) with a 4 year degree than someone with 2, and hopefully things turn around by then anyway.

[shatleyb]

I recently finished my second 2-year degree, and I can pretty much vouch for Linenoise's advice. I've been unable to find work in over 8 months. A 4-year degree is definitely better, but I have a few additional thoughts on that.

Personally, I'm thinking of pursuing a 4-year degree in a more specialized field. The market is fast becoming more diversified, and I've seen a number of job postings in my area, for software developers and programmers, where the desired educational background was more specific to the particular type of business. E.g., a programmer working in forestry may need a degree in forestry, and very little programming experience or related education.

The bottom line is the bottom line. I.e., it's good to remember that companys are in business to make money, and most higher-ups couldn't care less about squeezing a few more milliseconds out of an algorithm. They just want the system to do what it's supposed to do, and solve business problems. I'm no expert, but I suspect that the software market will become even more diversified and specialized in the coming years.

Within the past 3 years, I have seen folks with an Accounting degree get software contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars using some of the oldest technology out there (derivitives of old BASIC for example). They secured the contract not based on programming prowess, but based on their knowledge of Accounting. ...something to think about.

Anyhow that's my $0.02. Sorry to ramble on. I could be wrong. As for me, I'm beginning to think that my best option is to go back to school and specialize.

I wish you the best.

[KingTermite]

If you are going by "what you learn"...then most colleges would be similar. Of course the "upper echelon" ones might teach more theortetical and look better on the resume. So it depens on your goals.

By "upper echelon", the top brass are:
MIT
Stanford
Carnegie Mellon (CMU)
UC Berkely

[shatleyb]

At one of the community colleges I attended, you can take courses in subjects such as discrete mathematics, linear algebra, calculus, calculus based physics, chemestry, data structures and algorithm analysis, object oriented analysis and design, structured analysis and design, database theory and analysis, etc., etc. There, you can work toward a 4-year degree in electrical engineering through a well-known university if you are so inclined.

Perhaps I'm missing the boat with regards to theory, but I feel like I learned quite a bit of it just the same.:) I'm sure I would learn more if I were to enroll in a 4-year program.

"Considering how many fools can calculate, it is surprising that it should be thought either a difficult or a tedious task for any other fool to learn how to master the same tricks"
- Silvanus P. Thompson, Calculus Made Easy, 1910

By all means available, go to the school with the best reputation possible, make the best grades you possibly can, and get the highest degree you can possibly muster. Make that resume look good.

Just please don't put down us 2-year folks when you finish school and find that dream job. :D Most of us are not as incapable as many would like to believe.

This reminds me of Blaise Pascal.:) He was home-schooled.

[IGx89]

Thanks for the feedback, guys; by all means, keep it coming :)

I've scratched NEI out of my list (the professor was anti-microsoft, and they just focused on giving students skills to get jobs right away), and am seriously considering Winona State University now. They have a friendly, rivertown feel, their campus and computer department look good (surprisingly, the chair of the computer department was a woman), and they are the largest college in the nation that has a mandatory laptop computer program :). I'll go for a four-year degree, and the chair suggested that I should consider graduate school too. They don't have any C++ or C# courses, but I figure that books would be just as good as a course for learning more about them.

[HeartBreakKid]

A 4-year shcool and no C++ courses? What exactly DO they teach there? VB?

[IGx89]

Here's the course list: http://cs.winona.edu/courses.php3

[Flesh]

I've been in the biz since 1987. Have done C/C++/VB/Java. The job you want was filled by a H1B worker, for 1/2 the cost. The other job you want was exported overseas, for 1/10 the cost.