First of all, as I see it, there are two important differences: going to, say, Dartmouth vs., say, Bunker Hill community college; and going to College (period) vs. graduating with a degree in CS.
As for the first distinction, I honestly have to say that there are quite a few colleges that don't teach crap about CS. I learned more from books and my high school AP course then the combined course load of many of these outdated institutions.
On the other hand, going to an Ivy or a universities like Duke, Stanford, etc. can be very beneficial. First of all, ignoring all CS aspects, these colleges provide you with two things: a stamp that says Joe Shmo graduated Harvard or whatever, and a network of capable people in your field (something invaluable in CS and most other fields).
Now right now, stamps and networks probably aren't as big of a deal as they used to be (you can climb up to the same height in four yours with out throwing away 100K for it). But, as I see it, college also functions as insurance, in case of a recession or what have you, those of us with that stamp, that network, and that education are going to have an easier time of switching fields or staying in CS (as happened in the 80's recession).
Of course, a good college also provides you with a great basis for knowledge. It's doubtful that anyone is ever going to have to prove Tulane's completeness theorem. BUT, it IS important to learn such proofs because of the way they shape your mind. CS is ALL about a way of thinking about problems and a good education in EE, Mathematics, Music, and a have a dozen other fields will give that to you. Moreover, a piece of paper that says that YES you, Joe Shmo, did indeed study blah at Dartmouth is utterly irrelevant.
From personal experience, I know that in Boston (as well as most of the other major CS hubs in America) Russian immigrants (most of whom had never even seen a computer, but had a great mathematical background) have risen to the top echelons of the CS profession, for this very reason. Having a good mathematical background, their minds had the necessary structure to easily fit into the CS field.
Languages and ideas come and go in CS, but it's a certain mental state that always remains. That's what college tries to give you in my mind (as well as a whole arsenal of tools you can use... sorts, data structures, and the like).
Of course, you can gain this from college or you can try to hack together on your own and in my mind if you do it on your own, you deserve a hell of a lot of respect. Yet, with the CS mentality, the network, and EVERYTHING else (none CS) that college gives you, I think it's easily worth the four years; and maybe even the ridiculous 120K it might take from you.
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First of all, as I see it, there are two important differences: going to, say, Dartmouth vs., say, Bunker Hill community college; and going to College (period) vs. graduating with a degree in CS.
... sorts, data structures, and the like).
As for the first distinction, I honestly have to say that there are quite a few colleges that don't teach crap about CS. I learned more from books and my high school AP course then the combined course load of many of these outdated institutions.
On the other hand, going to an Ivy or a universities like Duke, Stanford, etc. can be very beneficial. First of all, ignoring all CS aspects, these colleges provide you with two things: a stamp that says Joe Shmo graduated Harvard or whatever, and a network of capable people in your field (something invaluable in CS and most other fields).
Now right now, stamps and networks probably aren't as big of a deal as they used to be (you can climb up to the same height in four yours with out throwing away 100K for it). But, as I see it, college also functions as insurance, in case of a recession or what have you, those of us with that stamp, that network, and that education are going to have an easier time of switching fields or staying in CS (as happened in the 80's recession).
Of course, a good college also provides you with a great basis for knowledge. It's doubtful that anyone is ever going to have to prove Tulane's completeness theorem. BUT, it IS important to learn such proofs because of the way they shape your mind. CS is ALL about a way of thinking about problems and a good education in EE, Mathematics, Music, and a have a dozen other fields will give that to you. Moreover, a piece of paper that says that YES you, Joe Shmo, did indeed study blah at Dartmouth is utterly irrelevant.
From personal experience, I know that in Boston (as well as most of the other major CS hubs in America) Russian immigrants (most of whom had never even seen a computer, but had a great mathematical background) have risen to the top echelons of the CS profession, for this very reason. Having a good mathematical background, their minds had the necessary structure to easily fit into the CS field.
Languages and ideas come and go in CS, but it's a certain mental state that always remains. That's what college tries to give you in my mind (as well as a whole arsenal of tools you can use
Of course, you can gain this from college or you can try to hack together on your own and in my mind if you do it on your own, you deserve a hell of a lot of respect. Yet, with the CS mentality, the network, and EVERYTHING else (none CS) that college gives you, I think it's easily worth the four years; and maybe even the ridiculous 120K it might take from you.