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All the academic system. Teachers, exams, researches and so on...

I'm always studying for exams. I cannot manage any time for anything else... It is really holding me back. In my opinion, exams are a horrible way to verify the student capabilities.

What do you have to say about the academic system?

Depends on where you are. If I say anything here, for instance, the American education system will be bashed. That's just how it goes :)

lame and a waste of time.

you can let ghostwriters write your stuff all the time. only thing you need is enough monetas.

My late father-in-law, who was a maths professor, had a saying: for the diligent student, exams are celebrations. :)

I have a masters in robotics/computer vision from the university of southern denmark. My experience at university was generally one of extremes: months or weeks of soul-crushing work and frustration, occasionally followed by brief moments of total awesomeness, when all the stars line up exactly right for the project you've been working on, or you just totally knock an exam out of the park.

In the end I was rather happy about it; didn't feel like an expert in anything, but I had been exposed to a lot of different ideas and ways of thinking that are very useful. Going into university I felt pretty smart, but I came out thinking "holy shit, I don't know anything at all".

+1, hear hear :).

Also, consider that you probably don't get a chance to do that kinda stuff when you get older if you have a regular 9-5 job (i.e. not self-employed specialist consultant, not active in a research department, not a research scientist etc). To work very hard on intellectually challenging stuff, put in a lot of hours on things that can be very fascinating, learning a lot, feeling at least a little enlightened once in a while. The exams aren't what's important, the rest of the work you put in is what counts. My last year of university was the most stressful time of my life but I've never, ever learnt more in one year than I did then.

if you like messing about with sexy models... go academic!

Wow, don't ask me :P :P :P

my experience of university was a 3-4 months vacation with occasional home work and assignments followed by a 1 month examns crunch.

i found the periods of examns to be very rewarding since the intense reading increased my learning.

University gives you a several years of your life to dedicate fully to studying something worthwhile. Stuff like fundamental computer science, order complexity, computability, algorithms, data structures, higher math, matrix algebra, software engineering, and the ability to approach problems analytically are things that are very difficult to 'get' if you don't devote yourself to studying them thoroughly.

If you want to be a good programmer you can probably get by with being self-taught, as long as you don't mind picking up a good book on the fundamentals every once in a while. It'll probably just take you a long time if you're working and doing self-study on the side.

exams are totally evil and absurd. university is an institution of elitist control. it will be smashed in the revolution.

the good part of universities is the free experimentation, getting together, playing and publishing. and the fact that it is a house and has electricity.

this is the stuff that will survive. well: unless the whole university is blown up by someone in the meantime. you never know with these revolutions. things can turn really violent.

incidentally, i wouldn't recommend sticking around when things go boom.

I agree.

I was into another university 2 years ago, took 2 years for myself and now I'm into a "better" institution.

The 2 years I took for myself were the most important ones for me. I really learned various different things and I was so much ahead of my ex-colleagues... even in disciplines that I haven't studied yet in the university. Anyway... I do believe that the university taught me how to clean the mess in my way with the scientific methodology, etc, etc... But the bureaucratic part of it all... It IS an unnecessary mess.

this. and:



well, academia is infinitely better in terms of free time than the industry

university can turn great coders into even greater computer scientists.

chaos: is that a good or bad thing? :)

Yes.

It depends on the university, the teachers, and the people. I myself dropped out because I couldn't take it, I've come to hate it, and it became a money sink.

I suppose one of the crucial points was when I failed a computer graphics course after winning Breakpoint.

Gargaj, for real? :O

I think it's shit.

Depends on the type of person you are. Some people, even creative geeks, seem to enjoy the student way. I was always a bad student. I hate exams, time is too short, you have to proove yourself in a haste and I am a slow thinker and usually I even complete less than 2/3 of tasks in exams. I am a very very bad procrastinator too. Motivation is hard, especially when I think I should be studying with the main focus to pass the exams and not to learn or be creative.

Last year I decided to give it a second try doing a master in computer graphics and machine vision (interesting but hard) and I failed badly. Naturally, it's very frustrating to me that I have failed even in a subject that is very relevant to my interests. And even worse, it's not like the greek universities. If I fail for the second time then it's over.

So, at least I tested myself, would a more relevant subject make me also more motivated to work the student way? I guess not. And there won't be a third time.

As for learning? Hmm,. I am not sure. The only time I felt like learning is right now, where in the fear of failing for the second time, I started studying months ago instead of the very last time. There is just one lesson that is the hardest I have ever taken and I am learning things I would never bother to, without the pressure. Also, writting a final project and presenting it was a good experience for me at the end (even if too stressfull) because I haven't done this before.

unfortunatly i have to agree. which is why i recently quit my job.

but its mostly because most bosses dont get the benefits from having someone working for them 4 days a week instead of 5. its cultural.

still, wouldnt want to go back into academia. always prefered home schooled and always wished there was more diverse class selection across campus when i was taking my degree. was impossible to study music or arts officially while taking on engineering, which sucked big time. when finally got done with all that idiocy you get thrown into the "write a paper for every little thing you change in your research" horseshit. which is even worse. you spend more time writting about things that arent worthy of being announced then actually researching something useful. which was why i decided to call it quits and join the industry.

trying freelance for now. not a sea of roses either but gotta try it while i still have braincells to try and hack it into a living. :)

gargaj: thats awesome!! :D

That's my feeling all the time. :|

Getting a job is easier when you have a degree.
IMO, having a degree means nothing; I know many excellent engineers that don't have one, and I also know many worthless engineers that do. However, recruters and HR departments do value degrees. Such is life.