My son doesn't have to go to college, but wants to anyway:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son will be graduating high school in May and wants to be a computer coder. Unfortunately, academics have never been his strong point. None of the universities he's been accepted to are very well-known, and if he does go to college, he'll be going a nearby state college, living at home to save money on a room and board. The thing is, though, that in order to achieve his dream, he doesn't have to go to college at all. There are bootcamps that teach people how to code in a matter of weeks, after which he could be making serious money https://www.bestcolleges.com/bootcamps/guides/salary-potential/#:~:text=Hack%20Reactor's%202019%20online%20software,a%20median%20salary%20of%20%2460%2C000.

You'd have thought that when I pointed out to him that he could start a serious career in coding after a matter of weeks instead of 4 years, he would've felt relieved and excited. Only he didn't. He said that he wants to actually accomplish something, and not going to college would rob him of that satisfaction. Graduating from a lackluster college is really not an accomplishment. If he were going to be attending Harvard or Stanford or Yale or Berkeley or Princeton or UCLA or MIT, then I would more than understand his desire to go to college, as extremely few people graduate from schools like that, and those who do become highly respected worldwide afterwards. But graduating from a college like the one my son's been accepted into is the easiest thing in the world and hundreds of thousands of people do it every year.

When I explained this to my son, he responded by saying that graduating from a bad college would be better than never graduating from college at all. So then I told my son that I would be happy to pay for the coding bootcamp, but if he wanted to go to the state college, he would have to take out loans and would likely be in lots of debt by the time he graduated and started his career. He said he would be willing to do whatever it took to pay off his debt. I just don't understand why anyone would want to take 4 years to do something that can be accomplished in 12 to 24 weeks.

UCLA???

[Anonymous]

Why bother with a bootamp, how about a plumbing school. You get to make a good money.
https://jasainctradeschool.com/

[Anonymous]

So you want you kid to be a code monkey without even a BA? Do you understand just how fast those roles are being outsourced and how little room there will be for him to advance?

[Anonymous]

CS demand is high but not that high.

Most of the hires from bootcamps already have some sort of a college degree, already proven that they have college level education and intelligence.

Examples from around me,

Mechanical Engineering from VT -> Bootcamp -> software engineeing job

Pychology at BU -> Bootcamp -> UI/UX design job

History at UVA -> Bootcamp -> Database developer

[Anonymous]

College isn’t trade school.

[Anonymous]

You seem to not understand that quality of education is not directly related to whether the school is a household name.

[Anonymous]

UCLA???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second, very few people in the U.S. go to the 7 or 8 schools you listed.

That's exactly what makes it an accomplishment. An accomplishment means you've done something that very few people have done. If millions of people have done it, it's not an accomplishment.

What? Please look up “accomplishment” on the dictionary and report back.

Hint: It has nothing to do with what other people are doing.

[Anonymous]

You sound very unsupportive. I hope you haven’t completely f’d up this poor kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second, very few people in the U.S. go to the 7 or 8 schools you listed.

That's exactly what makes it an accomplishment. An accomplishment means you've done something that very few people have done. If millions of people have done it, it's not an accomplishment.

What? Please look up “accomplishment” on the dictionary and report back.

Hint: It has nothing to do with what other people are doing.

RUNNING THE Boston Marathon is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Earning a PhD is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Getting elected president is not an accomplishment. Donald Trump has done it. So even though few have done it, we know that any unaccomplished jerk can do it.

[Anonymous]

Another IT professional. My company requires a degree. It does not need to be computer science. Many liberal arts degrees plus some sort of IT boot camp and certification. Higher salary is obtained by CS degree or high level certifications.
College is also an experience, not just getting a degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second, very few people in the U.S. go to the 7 or 8 schools you listed.

That's exactly what makes it an accomplishment. An accomplishment means you've done something that very few people have done. If millions of people have done it, it's not an accomplishment.

What? Please look up “accomplishment” on the dictionary and report back.

Hint: It has nothing to do with what other people are doing.

RUNNING THE Boston Marathon is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Earning a PhD is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Getting elected president is not an accomplishment. Donald Trump has done it. So even though few have done it, we know that any unaccomplished jerk can do it.

All those things ARE accomplishments. Running a marathon is not an accomplishment? Apparently you’re a troll.

[Anonymous]

C'mon this has got to be a troll.

[Anonymous]

Troll?

Look around most of the entry level jobs, they requre CS or related college degree.
A college degree + several months of bootcamp would meet the requirement for many entry level positioins.

HS + bootcamp won't meet the requirement.
You need to be really good and have a natural talent to go this route.

[Anonymous]

I really, really, hope OP is a troll.

Just in case you're not:
1. Your son is correct.
2. You're terribly misinformed.
3. Coding bootcamps do nothing.
4. A college degree is everything for computer science, otherwise he won't be competitive, and any college degree is better than none.
5. Stop thinking that only a handful for universities are worth your while.
6. Pay for your son's college already, you horrible excuse for a parent!