Anyone ever question what they learned in college?

Anyone ever question what they learned in college? I’m almost done with my degree, I graduate in December with an A.A.S IT degree. I feel that I have learned more from studying for certifications and studying on my own, than I have in my college courses. Sometimes I think part of this feeling comes from the fact that my school is a career college. At times I feel like each student has a price on their head, and teachers are encouraged to pass them along. Another part of this feeling could come from the fact that my school uses Altiris for a system management system, so that most of labs never work!! Students don’t have the proper Administration rights. A lot of students complain about this, but the instructors agree with their complaints, but there is never anything done to correct it. I got tired of the run around, and I figure out how to do my own labs. I was able to learn a lot faster by setting up my own labs. I think one thing that is funny is we have only one Cisco course, why? Because, students aren’t taking Cisco courses, so the school can’t make a profit from it. Shouldn’t a school that teaches IT have a full roster of Cisco courses?
It was always hard to do labs, so when studying for my A+ I bought Lab Sim, and I continue to use lab Sim(for Network+). I must say it’s a great product!!!! I learned more from Lab Sim, than I did from the A+ course that I did took at school. We never had computers to tear apart, I had to buy and build my own. I figured out on my own how to build a computer and select the parts. Also, I volunteered at Free Geek and I met a lot of people that work in the IT field. Additionally, I was able to get a lot of hands on time with building and tearing down computers. All of this experience helped me pass my A+ exam.
Sometimes I really believe that since I attended a career college, I was hindered in the amount of material I could have learned at a school. We go to school for 12 weeks, while regionally accredited schools go to school for 16 weeks. The 4 week difference could make a big difference in the amount of material presented and learned in class. Anyone else ever question what they learned in college?

PS sorry for the long post, but I really wanted to state my case

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Comments

ssampier

erpadmin wrote: »

Bill Gates doesn't have a college degree either. (Though the one argument I like to counter that is that he's a Harvard dropout... ).

Many management jobs I see require one at least a BS (it's the new HS diploma). Skilled labor....you're pretty much ok with HS as long as you got competency and/or certs....anything higher....

The degree is where it's at.

Even the two folks on TE that didn't have a degree that broke into IT management.....it's a rarity to do it without one. In fact, they're both WGU grads (or rather one will become one, the other is a graduate)

Getting into IT management without a degree does happen, but so does Haley's Comet coming by every 75 years................

What's your opinion of the Master's degree (usually MBA) for management? Required?

As for Bill Gates, it helped a lot that he was an entrepreneur (no one had to hire him directly), had rich and connected parents, and was in a great place/great time. Obviously hard work played a huge part, but you can't discount the others.

erpadmin

ssampier wrote: »

What's your opinion of the Master's degree (usually MBA) for management? Required?

As for Bill Gates, it helped a lot that he was an entrepreneur (no one had to hire him directly), had rich and connected parents, and was in a great place/great time. Obviously hard work played a huge part, but you can't discount the others.

I'm gonna try and see if I even need one first after my degree. I'd like to think that if I got this far without a BS, maybe I can get into Management with a BS (many managers I know don't have a MBA, or MS in Management). In many state governments, a MS in Management/MBA will substitute a couple of years in lieu of experience (I can play with that though....I do "technically" have experience in managing people/people under me for short term projects...I'm just trying to get that full time.)

Having said that though, I do see value in a MS in Management/MBA for a multitude of reasons. #1 reason for me though is because I have "hooks" that will give me a shot at adjunct professoring at local colleges. I'd also like to adjunct in retirement just to stay busy (like many other adjuncts do). But having one would certainly help in a management career, no question. It definitely can't hurt.

ssampier

Masters can't hurt for sure. I just wonder in the back of my mind if it's worth it dollar-for-donuts.

I guess that question is like asking, "How long is this piece of string?" It depends on the person, situation, etc.

Carry on.

Devilsbane

I question what I know every day. I find that the more I learn and the more that I study, the more doors that open and I feel like I know nothing. A new problem can come up and stump me.

But that is purely my own perception. Occasionally I will talk with people that I believe to be near equals, and find that I take for granted lots of things like ip addresses/subnetting, certificates, DNS, ect. There are lots of "techs" who know about these things, but really have no idea how it works.

I think we all do this to an extent. Always focused on that next opportunity and never slowing down the things that we have accomplished. College was very important for me, that was where I transitioned from being a home power user to becoming an admin. Looking back, I really didn't learn a ton of things. But what I did learn set the playing field for everything that I have taken on since. I said this somewhere else, but I've learned far more in a year of study than I did in 2 years of college. But I wouldn't be where I am today without picking up that basic stuff.

Sabalo

I always question what other people tell me to be true; college is no different. Or are you asking whether I question the value of what I learned in college? I am of the opinion that ALL knowledge is good knowledge, so not really.

Do I question whether it relates directly to making money? Of course... but then, I don't believe that life is about making myself into the most awesome robot on the face of the planet. Working is something I do to build the funds to do what I like to do, not something I do after agonizing over how it'll translate into a raise.

College is fun. Certification is (as a rule) fun too.

Heck, learning anything is fun. Anyone have any insight into self-studying to be a surgeon?

Priston

As an alternative to a B.S. degree would Six Sigma help at all in the IT world to get into management?

erpadmin

Priston wrote: »

As an alternative to a B.S. degree would Six Sigma help at all in the IT world to get into management?

Project Management, perhaps.....but I doubt IT management without a BS to back that up. It's just another PM methodology.

For that, you're better getting a PMP cert.