As a grad student, this is especially relevant since I have three courses that are mandatory to getting the degree. One subject on "Enterprise Systems" was more of a history lesson in software, and another subject comprised largely of unpublished material by the professor.
I kinda feel foolish looking at the effort I put in to study those two subjects, when I could have spent the same energy in something else. Like learning lisp maybe, which I have been wanting to for quite a bit.
I also resonate with putting extra effort into obtaining an A+ for a relevant subject that goes a long way, which I am now doing for a course on Virtualization and another on TCP/IP Architecture.
You can learn Lisp on your own, outside of the curriculum. But you would not learn that unpublished material from the professor outside of school. Unless the professor's material was rubbish, maybe everything worked out for the best. Once you get a job you'll have 25-45 years to learn about more practical topics.
