I spent a lot of time in school (4 years college, 6 years grad school, in mathematics, not CS), because that's where I wanted to be at the time. There are at least two senses in which one might take your first question. First, is it worth it in terms of career building? It's hard for me to answer that because my career, such as it is, probably isn't very representative (basically when I left school it was to trade options; when (for reasons irrelevant to this discussion) this failed to pan out, I started doing computer work for the same company. All this came out of a contact I had known for a long time, and my particular educational state was somewhat irrelevant, and I'll allow others with more experience to address that point.

The other sense one might address is whether or not it is worth it in regards to what it adds to oneself beyond the career. Here I'm perfectly happy to conclude that for me it has been. Coming out of high school I couldn't imagine why I might want to spend any time studying anything except physics and mathematics. However, being forced to spend some effort studying things from psycholinguistics to traditional Chinese literature to political science was a blessing that opened up a larger world. Just for this kind of effect I think it is worth the time. (Do I sound enough like a guidance counselor there? :-)

Of course, I'm a self-admitted academic elitist type, so my opinion may be biased. :-)

In reply to Re: Formal Education Required? by hding
in thread Formal Education Required? by mexnix

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