# New college student **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [March 25, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-college-student/185715 "2010-03-25T00:49:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gramma44)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-college-student/185715/1 "2010-03-25T00:49:43Z")
Hello, all! My son is applying to different colleges and is interested in a possible career using the Ruby on Rails. Any suggestions as to programs or colleges that would be a benefit? He would like to start at the community college level and work his way up. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gramma44)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-college-student/185715/2 "2010-03-25T16:12:48Z")
Most large academic institutions don’t take ruby very seriously. The closest is perl. Common ones would be java and perhaps .Net (shrugs). get some basic understanding of programming, a good book on ruby and google for rails tutorials. The railsguides online and Ryan B.’ webcasts are great! Hope this helps 🙂 Gordon ---
**Author:** ![Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gramma44)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-college-student/185715/3 "2010-03-25T16:19:15Z")
On 24 March 2010 22:29, Gramma44 [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Hello, all! My son is applying to different colleges and is interested > in a possible career using the Ruby on Rails. Any suggestions as to > programs or colleges that would be a benefit? He would like to start > at the community college level and work his way up. I think that to aim from the start at a career in Rails would not be a good idea. He will increase his chances of a good job if he has a broad education in computer science. Find a course that covers the basic principles of computer science, software and web design and works up. If you can find one that includes Ruby and Rails then that is a bonus. Colin ---
**Author:** ![Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gramma44)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-college-student/185715/4 "2010-03-25T18:35:08Z")
Absolutely. Ruby is just one language. It’s a great one, but that can’t be the focus of your education. Most schools won’t teach Ruby, but if he wants to work in it he has several options while he’s at school: 1. work on his own side projects – he should do this anyway, in many languages, not just Ruby. 2. join or start a RUG (Ruby U. Group) at his school 3. contribute to an open source Ruby project Companies value personal experience as much, possibly more, than they value the projects you do in school. ---
**Author:** ![Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gramma44)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-college-student/185715/5 "2010-03-25T20:12:56Z")
On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 3:29 PM, Gramma44 [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Hello, all! My son is applying to different colleges and is interested > in a possible career using the Ruby on Rails. Any suggestions as to > programs or colleges that would be a benefit? He would like to start > at the community college level and work his way up. > Thanks! Gramma44, I received a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Illinois and their goal is to teach theory and concepts first. Then use a language(s) to enforce these concepts second. For example, the University of Illinois currently uses Java programming language to enforce these concepts in the introductory and data-structures courses. Also, my school would allow one to apply for independent study section by submitting a project proposal to a professor and if it’s accepted, then one would have choice of programming language. Next, this theory and concepts can be applied to any programming language and you’ll be able to better market yourself when it comes time to look for a job. Furthermore, many companies will most likely require a degree in Computer Science for a software engineering position. Also, this is usually the first thing they look for when looking at a resume. In short, my recommendation for your son would be to get a degree in Computer Science and supplement this with private course(s) and self study in Ruby and/or Rails. The private courses are recognized as well by potential employers especially when they have sent some of their own employee(s) to the same course. For example, a lot of companies that do Ruby and Rails development recognize Pragmatic Studio and others that provide similar services. Good luck, -Conrad – ---
**Author:** ![Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@Gramma44](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Gramma44)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-college-student/185715/6 "2010-03-26T00:14:03Z")
I live in Chicago, IL - I am attending DePaul University as a grad student. They have a Ruby on Rails certification program that does give some academic credit if your son is pursuing a full blown degree. It was designed as a free-standing program, so it would certainly qualify as “community college plus” if you will. DePaul is also very focused on preparing people for the job market - at least in my experience. Ruby on Rails is still not _perceived_ as ‘enterprise-y’ like for example, C# or Java in the minds of corporate America, so DePaul doesn’t use Ruby as part of their formal degree curricula (yet), but they are very flexible about applying courses from one area to another. So, your son could take the certificate, apply for full time student status, then petition the dean to waive a programming language requirement - he would still have to take the same credit hours, but would have more options, as he would have knocked one out with Ruby. Otherwise, why not have him learn RoR and just start a business? Send him to [37signals.com](http://37signals.com) to see the poster-children for that approach. SR