Re: [PLUG] Computer Engineering/Science Schools in the Area

[Jeff Abrahamson <jeff@purple.com>]

On Wed, Jan 10, 2007 at 01:21:33PM -0500, Randy Schmidt wrote:
>   [23 lines, 137 words, 1008 characters]  Top characters: _neoails
> 
> Hi!
> 
> I graduated from Drexel University in 2005 with a bachelors in
> Structural Engineering but I don't like what I am doing so much. I
> am considering going back to school for computer science or
> engineering.  Does anybody have any suggestions for a good school in
> the area that won't cost me an arm and a leg? My primary interests
> are web technologies and also standards like ODF. I think it would
> be fun to develop new standards as well as some of the technology
> that would support them. I am looking for a school that won't just
> teach me how to program C# using .Net...I want a little bit of
> experience in everything.

Drexel is actually a reasonably priced program, and CS grad courses
are taught in the evenings to make it possible to do while working.
As in any program, you get out of it what you put into it, mostly.

That said, studying CS doesn't mean you'll study specific
technologies.  Those you can and should learn on your own.  A good CS
program will teach you algorithm theory, how (and why) networks work,
how (and why) things like compilers work, the difference between a lot
of languages you'll never use (functional (e.g., haskell, lisp),
declarative (e.g., SQL), procedural (e.g., C), OO (e.g., smalltalk),
logic (e.g., prolog), etc.), and a lot of other things that might not
seem immediately applicable to the real world.  But they are, the same
way, say, weight lifting is applicable to soccer (compare the players
who do with those who don't).

Cheers.

-- 
 Jeff

 Jeff Abrahamson  <http://jeff.purple.com/>          +1 215/837-2287
 GPG fingerprint: 1A1A BA95 D082 A558 A276  63C6 16BF 8C4C 0D1D AE4B

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