Comment by integralid

CS is sort of unique in that regard. I value my university degree, but when I think about the classes that helped me the most, only one of them was a degree requirement. Not because the degree was useless, but because the information was accessible enough that I already knew most of the required content for an undergraduate degree when I got there.

I took lots of electives outside my major, and I know that I could have easily loved chemistry, mathematics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or any number of fields. But when you're 12 years old with a free period in the school computer lab, you can't download a chemistry set or an oscilloscope or parts for building your next design iteration. You can download a C compiler and a PDF of K&R's "The C Programming Language," though.

CS just had a huge head-start in capturing my interest compared to every other subject because the barrier to entry is so low.

> In the IT world it's entirely possibly to learn everything yourself and learn it better than one-fits-all course ever could.

Strong disagree. However, this is closer to truth:

In the IT world, if you have learned everything yourself, it's entirely possible to think you have learned it better than one-fits-all course ever could.

There is lots of theoretical knowledge that comes with the degree that, while mostly useless in day-to-day work, is priceless in those rare moments that it comes handy. A self-taught developer won't even know they are missing this knowledge. Example of this is knowing how compilers work (which is surprisingly useful) - without the theoretical background one might attempt to parse HTML with regex and expect correct results.

Not that all degrees are created equal. But those X years do give you an edge over self-taught developers. You still need to work on other skills too, of course.