You can get a lot out of a degree program if you try. It takes effort on your part not just the school's. As someone who is currently working on a SECOND bachelor's in CS (my first one was an economics), I can honestly say I'm learning way more than I ever did the first time around. I'm also learning way more than I possibly could on my own. I'm becoming a well rounded programmer. Instead of pigeonholing myself as self taught RoR or iOS dev, I'm learning the proper foundations needed to do more or less anything in the field. Combined with the effort I'm putting in my own side projects, I truly believe that the value of this education has been worth every penny.
To be fair, I actually had this exact same sentiment about college before I enrolled in the CS program. I really didn't put in more than the absolute minimum effort towards my Econ degree. At the time, I was focused on just getting the piece of paper; I waved my hand at the resources available to me.
The difference in maturity between then and now is also a factor. I almost feel as if I would have been better off taking a few years off between high school and undergrad. I would have had the maturity to appreciate all that a University offers.
Do you think you learned more because CS is more applicable? Ie. You learn databases, you write a database. You learn algorithms, you write an algorithm.
Whereas in econ, you learn about an economic model. And then...you don't really have many practical things to do with it right away?
What school accepts people for a second bachelors? I have been seriously thinking of doing that but I thought most schools didn't accept people for a second bachelors.
To be fair, I actually had this exact same sentiment about college before I enrolled in the CS program. I really didn't put in more than the absolute minimum effort towards my Econ degree. At the time, I was focused on just getting the piece of paper; I waved my hand at the resources available to me.
The difference in maturity between then and now is also a factor. I almost feel as if I would have been better off taking a few years off between high school and undergrad. I would have had the maturity to appreciate all that a University offers.