[vasco]

I disagree, I did a lot of lab experiments I'd never be able to do by myself. Also used a lot of industrial software that I would never afford licenses for. Plus even knowing what to look into would require so much self discipline that it'd be very hard to replicate.

Who is going to sit down for 2-3 years (assuming you're faster by yourself to help your argument) and self learn with the same intensity, giving themselves the same amount of homework and projects?

[ifyoubuildit]

> Also used a lot of industrial software that I would never afford licenses for.

That stuff is actually pretty cheap when compared to tuition, no?

[vasco]

No, specially vs €1k/yr which is what I paid. Just the electronics software related licenses I had access to with Cadence and Xillinx would be over €10k per MONTH.

[ryathal]

not really, especially when you add them all up and hardware to run them on. Sure, you can find some cheaper open-source alternatives for some things, but the lack of exposure to the more commercially available ones can be difficult to overcome.