I created a smart planner app at a similar age [1] and I'm now in my third year of university studying CS. I've also had a taste of industry from building a journal app as a freelancer [2], interning at a department of my uni [3] and interning at Wise [4].
- The whole js, css, html, react stuff sounds more like a beginner web dev bootcamp that should last a few months rather than a 3-4 year CS degree. Avoid that.
- Sometimes YouTube is great. E.g., a playlist from a Cambridge lecturer [5] was immensely more valuable than the live lectures I was being delivered alongside 200+ other students. I don't think lectures are efficient but I typically have a mix of lectures + labs + coursework and now, a substantial individual project supervised by a researcher. I'm excited for the future of edtech and programs like OSSU [6] are great if the focus is purely on absorbing CS content but its limited.
Something else I found is that the modules I dreaded the most and certainly wouldn't have opted into had they been optional were the ones I learned the most from. Who knew that an Interaction Design class would be so relevant for doing customer discovery in a startup.
- No doubt that you can also have an income while studying.
- Pick up an internship to learn from experienced software engineers.
- The life experience is something I'll miss dearly, be it sports, socialising, dipping into the startup culture (We have an on campus accelerator).
- I stress more about turning down jobs than worrying about not having one.
If you have access to a quality CS degree that doesn't cost you a kidney then go for it.
- The whole js, css, html, react stuff sounds more like a beginner web dev bootcamp that should last a few months rather than a 3-4 year CS degree. Avoid that.
- Sometimes YouTube is great. E.g., a playlist from a Cambridge lecturer [5] was immensely more valuable than the live lectures I was being delivered alongside 200+ other students. I don't think lectures are efficient but I typically have a mix of lectures + labs + coursework and now, a substantial individual project supervised by a researcher. I'm excited for the future of edtech and programs like OSSU [6] are great if the focus is purely on absorbing CS content but its limited. Something else I found is that the modules I dreaded the most and certainly wouldn't have opted into had they been optional were the ones I learned the most from. Who knew that an Interaction Design class would be so relevant for doing customer discovery in a startup.
- No doubt that you can also have an income while studying.
- Pick up an internship to learn from experienced software engineers.
- The life experience is something I'll miss dearly, be it sports, socialising, dipping into the startup culture (We have an on campus accelerator).
- I stress more about turning down jobs than worrying about not having one.
If you have access to a quality CS degree that doesn't cost you a kidney then go for it.
[1] https://github.com/Cheon-App/planner [2] https://reflection.app [3] https://the-ciru.com [4] https://medium.com/wise-engineering/wise-engineering-interns... [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEAMfLPZZhE&list=PLeKd45zvjc... [6] https://github.com/ossu/computer-science