"So the main reason to intern is to just become a better coder? Doubtful. Just to be completely blunt, the main reason college students intern is to have a secure job after graduation."
False. 100%, completely and entirely, false.
School is frequently grounded in theory. More often than not, Internships are on actual products. Being able to traverse/understand source code and build productively into an existing product is an invaluable skill as an engineer.
Not only that, but it's during the internships that you meet all the people from outside of your collegiate bubble and where you FIND the people you want to build with. Not only that, but a fair amount of (us) students are consumed by loans, and any sum of pocket change (though the thousands of dollars you make at a place like Facebook or Google is in no way trivial) is invaluable. Not to mention that you get that building experience at the same time.
And yes, internships help you get a job. There is nothing, NOTHING AT ALL undignified about doing that.
The mindset of building for the sake of building is great! No qualms there. I think your view on internships and their value to students is a bit oversimplified.
False. 100%, completely and entirely, false.
School is frequently grounded in theory. More often than not, Internships are on actual products. Being able to traverse/understand source code and build productively into an existing product is an invaluable skill as an engineer.
Not only that, but it's during the internships that you meet all the people from outside of your collegiate bubble and where you FIND the people you want to build with. Not only that, but a fair amount of (us) students are consumed by loans, and any sum of pocket change (though the thousands of dollars you make at a place like Facebook or Google is in no way trivial) is invaluable. Not to mention that you get that building experience at the same time.
And yes, internships help you get a job. There is nothing, NOTHING AT ALL undignified about doing that.
The mindset of building for the sake of building is great! No qualms there. I think your view on internships and their value to students is a bit oversimplified.