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It really depends but to give some background, I am a self taught programmer that never finished college
and dropped out. I was a huge computer nerd growing up and learned 6502 assembly (Apple II), z80 assembly (TI-85), x86 assembly using MASM and TASM, basic, turbo pascal, turbo c and visual basic. That was just before I was out of High School. I was big in to hacking, cracking, boxing, phreaking and the allure of the darker side of technology long before the infamous Hacker movie of the 90's. Angelina used to be sooo hot, lol.
Fast forward to college and I was supremely bored. I was going for a network technologies degree and wanted a CS degree. I only made it two years. I eventually just stopped showing up for class except to ace the exams. I was already Microsoft Certified for some of the classes the teacher was teaching and often the teacher was asking me questions or I had to correct them. I was also working entry level positions at the time building pcs, installing networks, excel automation with vba and access, database and web development etc. Basically anything to get some field experience and make money while I was going to school.
There are generally two types of people. The ones who could care less and just want the degree and the ones that are actually interested in the material. More often than not the ones interested in the material already know a lot of the material but the classes still have to be designed to teach the people that just want the piece of paper. It really sucks for the motivated people who love technology but school is more about money and clout these days than actual academia.
To answer your question, six of one and half a dozen of the other. In some ways I wish I had the degree because I am very weak on things like Big O, Design Patterns and Unit Testing which are very important to some larger companies. On the other hand I can mop the floor with people when it comes to algorithms, debugging and cranking out solid code. I was DevOps before it was even a thing, mainly because necessity was the mother of invention. Because I did not have a degree, I usually ended up working for smaller businesses which meant lower pay and benefits and lower budgets for tools and hardware making the job more difficult. You really need to get creative to get the job done well.
Fast forward 20+ years and I feel like I am somewhat successful. It is definitely doable to make it without a degree if you have talent but it will be a more difficult path. It is a lot easier these days with how quickly technology is evolving. I make well over 100k a year, have great benefits but I work more in a management role now and don't get to program as much as I would like to.
Things to keep in mind:
1) A degree will open more doors for you and give you more options but it is not the end all and not having one will not necessarily keep you from being successful but it will take longer.
2) Be prepared to make less money than the idiots that have a degree. This is especially true starting out. It's less relevant once you get enough work experience and have references.
3) You are still going to have to work with and deal with those people and will still be expected to be a team player.
Personally, I feel like degree's are becoming less and less relevant as college gets more and more expensive and the fact you rarely end up using 75% of what you learn. I think more targeted learning that is more specific to job can be much more valuable. There is a point where paying back 100k to 150k or whatever you spend on College is not worth the extra salary your going to make until you get enough relevant work experience.
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This is the most important part of the training: Getting along with other people. Observe and learn carefully, because the lessons learned here will be essential to whatever you end up doing, coding or otherwise. You'll find such people everywhere you go. Be ready to teach those who need help, be prepared to learn from those who are better than you, and learn to recognize the difference. Someday you're going to need all their help to complete projects bigger than one person can handle alone.
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There is a great irony that the workforce can sometimes be so similar to exactly like your group.
If you have a job lined up so your foot is in the door for some experience, you would probably be OK going for it. After you have some experience, the number of employers who won't talk to you because you lack a degree is very minimal (in the U.S.).
wrote: PS: I know that I will not always prorgam that much at my work and I still have to put up with lazy co-workers and waste time at the meetings but at least I get money for that and I can pay off my loan.
Something to consider is that it seems easy to say that now. If you're passionate about this stuff then you may not find it so easy to sell yourself into apathy.
As you deal with the willfully ignorant and incompetent in these group scenarios, you are likely acquiring soft skills you don't realize you are acquiring. Those people have been and will continue to be hired into the shops you will work in. If you can learn how to handle that, especially if you can learn how to change their attitudes or inspire them, it will pay massive dividends.
In the end, you might be able to flip your statement on its head.
"At least we're not getting paid for this."
Maybe not so absurd as it sounds if you consider that once you are working "for real" that stuff can be even more demotivating and rob you of your passion because you've been on both sides of the fence and seen there is no greener grass.
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Rather than quitting CS altogether, you might be better off quitting your current CS program for a more challenging program at a nationally recognized college. My experience was that CS was quite challenging, and my fellow students quite intelligent, so there is hope to find a program worthy of your knowledge and ability.
I agree with the poster who said that a degree was the white-collar equivalent of a union card, which is necessary to get a job at many sites no matter how good you were. If you want to work in CS, and particularly if you want the good jobs doing challenging work, you need a degree. You should also know that recruiters and hiring managers frequently know which colleges have good programs, and may sort your resume according to that knowledge, or they may ask questions that are only covered in good programs, and sort your resume by your ability to answer.
But be careful what you wish for. A good CS program will be harder. If you will just end up complaining on codeproject that the classes are too hard and there is too much homework, maybe you should drop out and open a gluten-free bakery or something.
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You might consider applying for jobs while you are still a student. Tell the interviewers what you told us except the part about your co-workers. If you get an offer you might consider quitting school. You might consider deciding whether there are organizations you wish to work for and if there are apply to those until one hires you. That is what I wish I had done. I am fascinated by IBM and Argonne Labs. I think of IBM as the greatest company in the world and would be happy to sweep their floors wearing an IBM shirt and IBM cap and Argonne Labs is near my previous residence and they of course do great work. All this is free advice which of course means it is worthless or perhaps even worse then worthless. Best of luck to you - Cheerio
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The real challenge is to understand why you are bored. Any reaction to a situation is an opportunity to learn more about yourself. I'd be inclined to stay only so long as you can take advantage of that. Yeah, sounds weird, but it is true.
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Based on my experiences it can be harder to return to university once you have left. So, if I were in your position I would stay and complete the degree before leaving school. You could apply for bursaries if you are low on cash and can prove that you need money to satisfy your needs. A completed degree makes you more attractive to big corporations when you don't have a lot of related experience so your starting wage will be higher that way.
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This was the comment from one of the folks responding to your question.
"The degree shows that you can take a hard task and stick with it for several years."
As a person who does not have a degree and one who hires programmers this is the rule that works for my staff.
1. If you have a PHD you are not eligible ( you have too many years of people who can't work in this field "Teachers" telling you your great )
2. If you can do the work and you are good at it you are in. ( meaning if you show that you program because you get a buzz out of it, that is what I'm looking for )
3. A degree? It has always been if you can do the work then you can have the job.
4. HR departments are now full of people who have a degree and they think it matters but who would want to work for a company that let's those people make important decisions.
5. Finally - If you think you are the kind of person who can take a hard task and work at it for years then you need to find a different kind of work. Yes certainly you will have to work at programming very hard just to keep up but think about it. If you are just here for the 8 to 5 it will drain your life away.
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horrid buildings buckled piles (11)
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UNSPEAKABLE?
PEAKS could be "piles", and "buckled" could be "UNABLE" ...
But I suspect I'm way off here.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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hemorrhoids - horrid piles 
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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YAUT! Here's the derivation for those who are interested:
horrid buildings buckled piles = hemorrhoids
=>homes (anag) (def)
modified 6-May-21 8:55am.
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Blimey I didn't think it was the answer
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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hmmm... there's an A missing for us Brits! (You could call it an a-hole, I suppose...) 
(haemorrhoid in case you were wondering where it goes)
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I completely forgot that you spell it with one of your bizarre ae and oe digraphs!
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I thought it must have an alternative spelling - not very nice sublect matter for a crossword clue.
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Ok it's with a heavy heart I hand over my mantle of the most unreliable CCC setter, ladies and gentlemen will you please welcome Greg Utas
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Does this also mean OG loses his job as CCC reminderer?
It goes without saying
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Greg will keep him on his toes
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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I was busy.
Well ... I was having a leak when he posted it for me ... 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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TMI! Thanks for sharing 
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First I have to admit I am a Microsoft apologist and happily jump to each new OS without complain.
However.. I went down the memory lane and stumbled on Windows XP. And I though that Windows 10 is so good, why would anyone like XP over W10?
However I stumbled on a (2017) pots of someone complaining how W10 was bloating in comparison, running hundred of unwanted and unneeded processes devouring CPU.. and I though I can't really compare.. my W10 certainly runs very fine.. but it's powered by a monster modern CPU...
So please come at me with your anecdote why XP is better than W10!
I am just curious to see if I can be swayed...
EDIT for clarity
I believe Windows 10 performance is really good (I have a clean install on my PC not a pre install), but hey, I can't 100% sure...
Startup definitely faster for sure.. it's almost instant after bios, unlike like 2 minute for XP back in the days
And I think it's relatively easy to launch any program you have installed, I think the current start menu seems leaner than XP with a very quick search box (I think it has changed in that last year or 2)
modified 6-May-21 5:03am.
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Super Lloyd wrote: my W10 certainly runs very fine.. but it's powered by a monster modern CPU...
That's my problem with W10. All I really needed was XP + support for modern peripherals + better security (patches, bug fixes, etc.). I did not need all of the cruft that comes with Windows 10, and that requires the "monster modern CPU".
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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I still remember when you wrote: "What I really needed was DOS 6.22 + support for dishwashers and better security (padlock on floppy disks, etc.) ..."
"In testa che avete, Signor di Ceprano?"
-- Rigoletto
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