Is University a Waste of Time? Understanding Different Student Perspectives and The Value of Structured Learning

I’m writing this based on my experience doing a computer science degree and recent discussions with current university students.

From my discussions, a lot of the students feel like university is useless. They’re only there to get the certificate, and they see it as a waste of time. When I contrast that with my personal experience, I don’t feel the same way. I truly enjoyed many of my classes and valued my collaboration with other students. I specifically remember when I took the Programming Languages and Paradigms course. Every week, I looked forward to the class and learned something new that challenged my previous perspectives (I have Dr. Wallingford to thank for that). Given that, I had to think about why those students’ experiences are so different from mine.

I noticed the main difference between how I experienced uni and how those other students did is that I actually did not know how to program when I took my intro to programming class (which doesn’t have any prerequisites), while the bored students had been programming for a long time. The same goes for more advanced classes where most of those students already knew a good amount of the material before they enrolled.

Given that, it’s no wonder they think the whole thing is useless and don’t enjoy the experience. It’s a clear mismatch between their level and the level of the classes they’re taking. It makes no sense to take intro to programming if you already know programming.

My only advice is to take classes where you actually don’t know the material. If you already know most of the computer science curriculum and you really want a bachelor's degree, I recommend choosing another major. Think of it like watching or reading a mystery novel: most of the fun is in learning something for the first time. Also, the whole class is designed for that experience. It’s not meant for someone who already knows the material to enroll in it.