Alvin Wang: why do you want a degree?

OK, I have been approached to comment on this hot story at the moment about Alvin Wang: http://www.helpalvingetintoschool.com/ Now he has received a lot of support amongst Singaporean netizens in his bid to earn himself a place at NUS and when I was approached to comment on the issue, I thought, uh-oh, what do I know about computer science? I work in finance, I'm not good with technology. More on the story here: http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120421-0000034/A-different-sort-of-appeal I didn't just want to write a "yay Alvin 加油" post to jump on the Alvin bandwagon, I wanted to analyze the issue in depth rather than talk about Alvin per se.

To do this topic justice, I approached Rob who is a mobile Internet engineer (who has worked the whole range from some of the biggest mobile operators in the world to start ups with only a handful of people) to get his opinion on the issue as an industry insider, someone who could well end up employing a person like Alvin Wang in the future. I showed Rob Alvin's website and demo and we then talked about the issue.

Limpeh: So you've seen the demo, what do you think Rob?

Rob: It's a pretty good demonstration of his technical competence in app development. It's not that difficult to build though, so whilst it does demonstrate significant competence there are many others out there with as much skill. It is what it is - a demonstration of competence in app development. But that is not necessarily what NUS are looking for in terms of entrance for their computer science course. The NUS computer science syllabus will include so much more than this kind of user-interface stuff and they will be looking for a "taking things apart" curiosity and his attitude to broadening his understanding of the many other aspects of computing, like algorithm design, big data, hardware architectures, etc, etc... The great thing about degree courses is more about breadth of knowledge and the relationships between things than continuing to learn more about the things he's demonstrated he already knows.

Limpeh: To be fair, it's a Singaporean thing. Maybe his parents want him to go to university. But is it what they want? Or is it what he wants? Is it what he needs in his career? And which course should he do?

What does Alvin need now?

Rob: Well, I was at a hackathon last weekend and a fair proportion of these "hackers" have no intention to go to university for the foreseeable future, they are clearly brilliant at what they do and have the ability and enthusiasm to get out there in the business world and keep on their feet going to go straight into the working world. (We call them "hackers" because they build what they do by pulling together pieces of code from lots of different places and gluing it all together with whatever customization they need. What they do is completely legal, definitely not to be confused with the cyber-criminal type of cracking.) They develop apps for the web, iPhones and iPads super quickly all the time and something like the Hungry Hippos game demo, well, that's pretty much what they do - and they don't need a degree for that. They just need the self-starting attitude to Google "iOS development" and most of these people are self-taught. It'd be interesting to see if Alvin is self-taught or was he spoon-fed a syllabus by the poly?

Limpeh: I am not sure, I don't know how much of the demo is a reflection of what he was taught at poly and how much of that was self-taught. I have read that Alvin has been granted a place at NUS, just not in the particular course he wanted.

Rob: Okay well congratulations to him for getting himself a place at NUS.If he wants to switch courses, then he has to appeal and has now got to make the most of that appeal. He doesn't say why he wants to go to that particular course in NUS on his website, he only says that he wants to - this is something he needs to address as it's so important. Certainly at the interview, he should expect to be asked why he wants to do this particular course and he needs to be able to explain why he wants to do this.

Limpeh: That's not an easy question to answer. I really wanted to go to university as a child, but I never ever had to think very hard as to what the hell it was for. I was just doing what was expected of me. So... what can a computer science degree do for Alvin?

Rob: Now the usefulness of a computer science degree at a good university is the mentoring aspect by a collection of tutors who between them have both breadth and depth of knowledge across this huge subject. A brilliant tutor might be able to evaluate the student and see where his talents lie and then say, okay, you're good at this, you should try this other related aspect and help you grow and develop your range of skills. More likely though Alvin will try a whole bunch of different things he's never done before in the first year and make up his own mind what he likes doing and the first year exams will tell him if he is any good at it.

The point is NUS has a much broader range of skills and knowledge of the subject than any one employer has, which allows the young student to find their own right direction. Hence it really broadens your horizons - that's a great aspect of university but is it worth the time and money now? It depends. Remember you can always go back to university later if your youthful eagerness ended up at a dead end. The universities actually welcome that; someone who has lived a bit in the real world before university appreciates much more the value of the experience they can tap into and they will get so much more out of it.

Will Alvin find a mentor here?

Limpeh: Yes, by that token, going to university would benefit Alvin. But can I just say, even from my university days, it's not easy to find a good mentor. There were some tutors I just didn't like and I was lucky towards my last year that there was this woman I got along particularly well with. I liked her and she liked me and she mentored me well - but there were some other tutors I just didn't like and there was this one guy I didn't want to talk to unless I absolutely had to.

That's a risk one takes - there's no guarantees when it comes to this mentoring. It is up to each student to make the most of his time at university. You have got to take the initiative, make contacts, get to know useful people and ask them for help etc - this is not going to be handed to you on a plate, you have got to be hungry enough to go and do all this by yourself by being very pro-active indeed.

What is the return on your investment for this degree?

Rob: Yes, it's always nice to have a mentor, but at the same time, one hopes that the young person will become independent enough at some stage to not rely on the mentor "looking after them" and will seek out other people for answers to questions. Of course, this is the same in working life as it is at university - if one already has access to a mentor in the industry, then one doesn't need to effectively pay a university tutor for that kind of mentoring. But in industry one generally needs to do a lot more hunting for advice than at university.

There are so many choices at university, different modules - you need to have an idea about what you want out of the experience. If all you are interested is app design for iPads, then you're going to get nothing out of it. It will be a waste of time and money. The fact that he has demonstrated that he has done this demo is a good start, but I think he needs to really demonstrate what else he wants out of this degree. Certainly as an undergraduate, he will be expected to be far more autonomous and independent to function in the university - it's not like when one is a younger student and the teacher just bludgeons the students through the system. You gotta know what you want out of it - and what he's going to come out the other end with.

Limpeh: What about short courses? Surely Alvin can think about doing various courses rather than a full degree programme given that he's dealing with IT?

Rob: Well... It depends on what Alvin wants to do with his career - if he already knows precisely what he wants to do with his career, say what area he wants to specialize in, then he can skip university altogether and save himself plenty of time and money. If he isn't sure yet, then university is a good place to find out. Short courses are always good, I have attended a couple this year - and a lot of people in the industry just pick up new skills themselves.

Limpeh: "Self-taught"?

Rob: Right. As opposed to going on a course.

Limpeh: Hmm... It just seems like going to university a pretty expensive and lengthy process to find out what you wanna do with your life. After all, the syllabus for a computer science course will cover so many things, most of which Alvin will probably never get to use once he graduates as he will really only focus on one area of his interest to specialize in. I just hope that it's not going to be a waste of time and money for him for I really don't see a degree to be that useful to be honest.

Please note, it's no criticism on my part - I am impressed with people who are pro-active and innovative when it comes to seeking new opportunities. I am sure Alvin will do very well no matter what he chooses to do, I'm just making a general point about Singaporean students and this obsession with chasing paper qualifications. Why do we all want degrees? What are they for? How will this degree serve Alvin in the work place?

Why does Alvin want a degree? 

Rob: It depends on what kind of person Alvin is as well: is he a self-starter? A nomadic free lancer? If he sees his future in the corporate world, say in a bank or in a big industrial firm, then a degree is probably going to help his employment aspects. It will give him a wider understanding of the industry - I am coming from an electronic engineering background and I can see how important it is to see the big picture. But the university needs to be convinced that he will benefit from such a degree - it is good to show enthusiasm by writing an app, but it goes a lot further than that.

On the other hand, if Alvin already has an idea of what he wants to do and has the enthusiasm to teach himself the skills he needs and the courage to get out there in the Singapore start-up industry then he should take a "gap-year" but don't go backpacking, instead give himself 12 months to get out there and go for it.

What kind of jobs would this degree get Alvin?

I've seen a few young people who are a bit aimless - they are super-talented but they run around like headless chickens, with very short attention spans: something gets their attention for a few days, they get excited about it, they see it part way through, then they find something else which then gets their attention etc. After 12 months they will then appreciate the value of understanding the big picture and NUS will be a very much better investment for everyone.

I've also met a few young people who after 12 months decided "it's OK, I'm having too much fun doing great out here without a degree". And they are right too, they are thriving on the here-and-now of the tech startups scene and if it all goes wrong later they can reassess and maybe go to uni a few years down the road. They will learn the skill of continuous reassessment quicker in the tech start-up industry than anywhere else.

The tech start-up industry is really social. Most successes follow several failed attempts, which means people aren't too embarrassed to relate tales of abject failure to other people. In fact most people are very happy to explain what they know works or doesn't work to anyone who asks, the industry is small enough to know the returns that good karma will bring. There are events in Singapore which Alvin should check out if he has not already done so: Mobile Monday and TechMeetups are a good start and I'm sure he'll find more that match his interests if he goes to these. Networking meet ups help you find your peers and what other people in his industry are doing. And look out for any hackathons to go to, sign up and get stuck in. You'll certainly pick up some new tricks and skills, some new contacts and an idea of which piece of the big picture you are best at.

Actually I'd recommend networking meet ups and hackathons whether he's going to uni or not, you go as yourself, you don't represent anybody else and they tend to be evenings and weekends.

Limpeh: I'm glad you mentioned this other social aspect of building a career for networking is so important in any industry. I suspect his parents' desires may play a role too, this being Singapore - people just focus so much on paper qualifications rather than practical aspects of the working world. I don't know... my gut instinct is that he is wanting this for all the wrong reasons. Then again, if I was in his shoes, I'd probably be making the same mistakes. It's only after so many years in the working world that I realize that for many, their degrees really don't matter. It's just a small part of the big picture.

Rob: It depends on what industry you're in... But in terms of IT, a degree is not vital if you have already acquired the skills you need and you're going to get out there and fight for the work in start-ups or freelance. But some bigger corporate organisations will want a degree, it's just a fact.

Limpeh: Steve Jobs was a college drop out. Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard.

Rob: Correct. Both exceptional individuals with immense drive.

Limpeh: Then again, maybe Alvin isn't trying to prove that he is some kind of genius, maybe he's just an average, ordinary guy who wants to go to NUS to learn some more.

Rob: Right and if that is the case, doing computer science at NUS will be a very useful step for him to take. I hope he recognizes why he's going and is able to explain himself to admissions people at NUS during his appeal. Bon courage...

Limpeh: Thank you so much for your insight Rob. I couldn't have done this subject justice without your help!

Rob: You're welcome.

Update: http://metacog.tumblr.com/post/21557726897/the-curious-case-of-alvin-wangs-nus-appeal Wow - what a good read, best piece written on Alvin Wang to date.