Computer Science For Career Change

[Bane07]

Hi all,
First a little about myself. I graduated college almost 2 years ago with a degree in Finance. When i started i wanted to go the computer science route, but i heard horror stories of all the calculus and engineering classes, and it scared me away. I went the CIS route, took a couple programming classes (visual basic) and loved it. However the rest of the curriculum was a joke. It was the major for athletes if that tells you anything. So with my scholarships running out, and my dad paying out of pocket, I just took a few finance classes and got outa there in as little time as i could.

I've have always regretted not going the computer science route. Computers and technology are my passion. The career I'm in now is kind of a dead end job, and the best i can hope for is getting a day shift. So I've been tossing around the idea of going to the local college and taking come CS classes, possibly pursuing a bachelors. From what I've been told most if not all of my general curriculum classes will transfer, so it would be pretty affordable and i believe i could still work full time. Software development is what i really want to do. Centurylink's headquarters are located nearby , so employment potential seems great. Of course in the long run my dream would be to work for a video game company or something like that, but i'm staying realistic. What do you guys think? Is this something worth pursuing?

Thanks in advance

 

[TCTechie]

Hello Bane07,

I'm a huge advocate for furthering your education, regardless of your current occupation/degree. One thing we figure out as we get older is what we really want to do in life. Like you've mentioned, you're not really happy with what you're doing and looking for some positive change. With that, I say go for it, get back in school and find something that keeps your interest.

Each college's school of information technology varies. Meaning, some offer a generic computer science degree and others get really specialized, like game development. One suggestion would be to get in touch with some game developer forums and start asking around as to what degrees they have and what they recommend now that they work in the industry. Another suggestion, look at the classes within the software development program. Read the descriptions and decide whether a majority of classes are geared towards what you're looking for. If not, then look at other schools. If so, get your credits transferred and start a class or two.

Worst case, you can stop the program and move on to something else. Best case, you finish your degree in computer science and make your career move. Either way, starting school again is a great choice, in my own humble opinion.

Let me know what you end up deciding on.

Good luck!

 

[largebluefox]

Yes. It is worth pursuing. Forbes believes CS graduate degrees are the most valuable grad degrees to pursue, that should tell you something about the great value of a CS degree.

Do not fear the calculus and engineering classes. Yes, you need to pick up some math. CS is more than just programming, you also have to make analytic decisions, and to do that you need math. Most CS degrees focus mainly on programming only in the 2st 2 years (mainly basic programming, OOP principles, and software engineering). Upper level courses are mainly theoretical. Either way, most CS degrees from various universities give you a balance between theory and practice. It is strongly advised to do an internship, as it will give you professional experience before graduation and will give you a decent sum of cash to pay back college. Internships for CS are not hard to find.

Once again, do not fear the math.

A CS degree is a sure way out of a dead end job

 

[Narrator]

I'm in a Technical College pursuing an Associates in Applied Science, as well as an Associates in arts degree. (Dual Major) I started college at 25 years of age. The Applied Science Degree is in Computer Technology. I plan on transferring to a 4 year school next semester. The offered Computer Science Curriculum is in Computer Theory. So I agree that a realization at anytime is never too late. Especially when it involves going back to school and bettering yourself. Keep it up and Good Luck!!!!

 

[Bane07]

Wow great great feedback all around. You guys are along the same mindset as me, which is quite opposite of some other folks around the web. The "don't need a degree, teach your self" group. I believe that's possible for the right person, but for me,l gotta have some kind of structure to keep me focused.

@largebluefox: I see all these best careers, majors, etc. articles all over the place, and computer science is always near or at the top of the list. So there is really is something to all that. And thanks for the reassurance about the math, I definitely getting more confident that i could handle it. Do alot of internships pay these days? I was under the impression that paying ones were pretty hard to come by. If not, that would be awesome financially.

Something else I'm thinking about is the reputation of the university. For instance, my finance degree from Louisiana Tech University isn't very impressive when lined up against grads from big schools in big cities. I wonder if its the same in CS? The college nearby isnt a very well known school outside of this area, but at the same time, it would be alot more affordable. What do you guys think? I don't want to pile on debt for a bigger more renowned school, but at the same time, I don't want my job prospects to be limited to northeast Louisiana lol.
(i wish i would have thought about these kinds of things when i was 18 haha)