Great College Advice

A website that I commonly check for interesting comments on software development has some advice for CS students that I think is great advice for most college students. For those who only read summaries (namely myself) here's the breakdown, with my thoughts on each point following

1. Learn how to write before graduating.
This is very true, no matter what you've studied.

2. Learn C before graduating.
For those non CS types out there, C is the core skill that CS majors should leave school with. So the allegory is whatever your major, find the core skill and master it.

3. Learn microeconomics before graduating.
Since I've never taken microeconomics I can't say whether this is true or not, but from Joel's description I wish I had.

4. Don't blow off non-CS classes just because they're boring.
GPA is very important, and a large portion of your GPA will be based on classes outside your major. Do your best to enjoy them, but whatever it is do your best.

5. Take programming-intensive courses.
Again, progamming is a core skill for CS majors, but the crux of this point is you learn by doing, so do more.

6. Stop worrying about all the jobs going to India.
If your chosen career is moving towards outsourcing to India (or wherever) there's not much point in worrying about it. The US is still going to need programmers, business analysts, whatever, even if we lose a lot of jobs to foreign countries. Wired had an article a few months ago on the intellectual economy that is moving around the world, showing that the US will likely step up and begin to create an innovation economy.

7. No matter what you do, get a good summer internship.
While this might have been a slight plug for his own company, the point is to get involved early and often in whatever industry you are going to eventually be working in. Internships are key to getting a lot of experience early, as well as making sure that the field is the area you want to be working in. While there are bad internships in good fields, it helps you to really evaluate whether you're willing to deal with some of the downs of the roller coaster ride of a career.

Anyway, I wanted to bring these to the attention of some friends/family I know who are in college so I thought I'd just put it here instead.