I graduated last month with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the University of Michigan. I feel that I should reflect on my education since it was such an enormous investment in both time and money.
Cost
College degrees are insanely expensive. I finished my degree in 3.5 years, which is half a year less than usual. Since I was an out-of-state student I got the pleasure to pay about $25,000 each semester. That means that in less than 4 years I burned roughly $175,000 for tuition alone. That doesn’t include housing and food. Like I said, insane.
In less than 4 years I burned about $175,000
So what did I get out of it?
Michigan Degree
A Michigan Computer Science student is required to take about a year’s worth of introductory programming classes. After that, students move on to more interesting required classes such as:
- Data Structures and Algorithms
- Computer Architecture
- Computer Theory
In addition, students are required to take classes on the following topics:
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Calculus
- Statistics
- Linear Algebra
- Technical Communication
- Humanities
After completing these core classes, students gain much more flexibility. To see the requirements breakdown, click here.
Poor Requirements
Sadly, Michigan required me to take 26 credits that I did not need:
- Physics (10 credits) - Very few Computer Science students need physics.
- Calculus (8 credits) - Computer Science students need Linear Algebra and Statistics, not Calculus.
- Introductory Programming (8 credits) - I had a good grasp of programming fundamentals when I started college. Michigan should allow to students to test out of the intro programming classes (EECS 101 and EECS 280) and start with Data Structures & Algorithms (EECS 281).
To put that in perspective, 26 credits is about 30% of all the credits I received. That’s about $50,000 in tuition. And here’s the kicker: I avoided many more pointless requirements with Advance Placement credits I had received in high school. Without these credits I would’ve had to take Chemistry and even more Calculus. Those classes would’ve forced me to take an extra semester.
I wasted about $50,000 in tuition
Michigan Sponsored Events
Michigan sponsors many events on their campus to promote learning and career opportunities. The two that affected me the most were Michigan’s career fairs and the MHacks competition.
Career Fair
The University of Michigan hosts an engineering career fair once a semester. For two days the entirety of North Campus is filled with stands from companies that want to recruit young talent. All the big names - Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Amazon - are there. In addition, there are countless start-ups and smaller companies. Whatever your dream company is, it’s probably there.
Career fairs were an invaluable resource to network with different companies. In fact, almost all of my interviews, internships, and full-time offers came from the career fairs.
MHacks
MHacks is an enormous hackathon that is organized by University of Michigan students. Naturally, this attracts boatloads of companies which provides another opportunity to network. Oh, and, hackathons are fun! :)
So was it worth it?
To be honest, I don’t know! But at least thanks to Michigan I got myself a fancy degree and a job at Microsoft.