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Comment by dkokelley | Hacker News Reader

This is an issue that I have to deal with as well. The worst part is, I have some brain-dead classes that are simply required classes and I still can't really do much with them.

The trick for me has been to stay on top of assignments so that they don't get in the way. Ideally you could do all of your school on campus then head home and get to work. Another option is to bring a laptop into class and pretend to take notes while instead coding away.

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Don't ever believe the professor doesn't know what you are really up to when you "take notes" with your laptop. At any given time, half of the laptop-using class is probably on Facebook, Myspace, or plays Solitaire.

You can still do it, of course, but be prepared to miss out on some good will on part of the instructor.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I had one class, Economic History of America, with a professor who was most likely just out of school himself, and we were bored to tears with his teaching style. He read his lectures 100% off of notes and was visibly nervous.

A friend of mine and I brought our laptops in and talked during class via IM. I used it to take notes too, if only to qualify bringing the laptop in. After a few weeks, I noticed more and more people bringing their laptops in.

Anyways, I still got an A and I don't think I missed anything too vital.

The professor probably knows, and probably doesn't care. Your prof is probably a guy much like you, who just wants to get back to his research (or his startup).

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