Ask HN: What to do when most of your learning takes place out of the classroom?
I&#x27;m a student in college, and I&#x27;ve noticed that while many of my earlier classes have taught me new ways to think about subjects, most high level classes taught by the university seem to be either woefully out of date or uninteresting to me.<p>Instead, I&#x27;ve learned almost all of my marketable and interesting skills through side projects and personal learning. Through my own personal interest, I&#x27;ve learned how to develop iOS apps, manage servers, design responsive websites, and code web apps using backend server technology (Rails) and front end alternatives (JS frameworks). I&#x27;ve contributed to popular open source projects and gotten an internship in San Francisco this summer in the process.<p>While some of my algorithms &amp; data structures classes have some interesting concepts, I&#x27;ve found that the most interesting things that I&#x27;ve learned have come from the previous list.<p>The big problem is that personal research does not benefit me in my academics because the material is so different. My grades are suffering in a bad way because of it.<p>What is the correct path here? Should I abandon my side projects and listen to my professors? How do you strike a balance between these two situations?