[BadassFractal]

Having gone to 2 of the top 5 US CS programs, I would have likely learned more about CS as an autodidact vs learning from researchers, barely speaking English, dragged kicking and screaming into doing lectures they visibly couldn't care less about. It did give me direct access to FAANG though, which was convenient and I wouldn't have gotten from some random community college. It goes back to credentialing and signaling IMO.

[kevintb]

Perhaps for you; not for my experience.

Also, you get as much as you put in. I’ve had plenty of awful professors but found ways to study in my own time, do my own projects and read papers on top of the curriculum I was learning. You can’t expect to passively receive the best possible education by top notch teachers, especially in research institutions.

Lastly, your first sentence neatly proves my point that elite/“top 2” programs are more about signaling and working for a FAANG. Not everyone judges the worth of their career by salary or proximity to a FAANG, and I would consider it extremely wasteful and sad if someone considered the biggest benefit of a top tier CS education to be landing a FAANG job.

[icebraining]

> study in my own time, do my own projects and read papers

You mean, the stuff you can do without enrolling? Yeah, that's the point.

[mcguire]

I've had plenty of awful professors, too, but some of the best I had were excellent researchers, both mid- or late career or just out of grad school themselves.

Not sure what that means.

[polymeris]

I don't have an opinion on the benefits of schools and degrees, since I don't have one, but I am sure you could have gone work for FAANG after 4 years of autodidact learning and work experience, as well.