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by franciscop 3192 days ago
I totally second this. I studied Industrial Engineering in the University (in one of the toughtest universities in Europe). However I didn't go to class most of the times, only to some mandatory ones. What I did instead was:

- Watch youtube lectures/tutorials of the hardest topics. These would be mostly from Latin-American universities or from Indian Universities. Study on my own and pass these subjects.

- Learn programming on my own. This has had huge benefits and that's what I do now for a living (and for fun).

- Create https://makersupv.com/ with a bunch of other high-drive students. We learned and taught so many things.

- Work and go as a Exchange Student to Tokyo University.

It took me a bit longer to finish. I almosy dropped out at some point since it felt a bit pointless but there are advantages of having a degree (applying for a visa for instance).

However, many of my classmates were studying the same degree because it is the one with high chance of getting a job afterwards. I would see them suffer everyday learning things they didn't care about just not to starve to death afterwards in Spain.

From these experiences, I would say that the desire to learn is quite high, however perverse incentives are easily mixed together, which also push people who want to learn away.