[baddspellar]

This is nonsense.

A CS degree includes math, science, a range of CS electives (e.g. database theory, networking, algorithms) and non-CS electives (e.g. writing, philosophy).

Plus, you have graded assignments, lab exercises, supplemental papers, and interaction with teachers and fellow students.

[dustrider]

Good point, Formal logic I studied in the phil dept far outstripped the AI courses at a similar level in CS. The same goes for Linear Algebra and data mining/IR.

Those two areas, possibly along with linguistics (data mining again), were much more useful to me than the programming 101 type courses.

[sireat]

Strange, Linear Algebra and Formal Logic were part of my CS curriculum.

[csl]

Agreed. I think you could substitute a degree if you work through most books required for it.

After dropping out of mathematics, CS and physics studies (big mistake there), I've been working as a programmer for 10 years. But I routinely check out the curriculum at Universities to update my bookshelf. The problem is that while I will gladly work my way through SICP or CLRS, stuff like math books are different.

I often intend to work through math books (meaning: solving the exercises and working through the proofs), but this is a lot more motivational when you know you need to pass an exam in the end.