A return to education - Hello World! (programming)

Aumni

Hey all,

Recently I've been looking to develop myself further. I've been fortunate to have a relatively successful career in IT, but I feel like it's time for a next step. My development has been pretty steady over the last several years, moving up from support to system engineering. I've acquired certificates and training in addition to working on a few small projects on the side to build up my skills. I've begun to gravitate more towards programming and have started looking at incorporating that into my career trajectory. I want to take this career to the next level and maybe make a "side-grade" to really get involved in DevOps, or straight development work.

Throughout my IT career I've had opportunities to work on programming-adjacent projects and eagerly took those tasks. I've built several small projects using languages like PHP/HTML/CSS/C#/PowerShell with some basic back-end work (MySQL/MSSQL/SQLite/etc.). Personally I've also worked on a few small projects in Unity and Unreal to get familiarity with C++ and C#. I'm fairly comfortable with OOB programming but start to lack when it comes to the math behind things. I feel like learning some of the theory behind sorting algorithms and other subjects would really flesh out my skills. I've gone through a few online tutorials and spent a lot of time reading on some advanced programming concepts like reflection. However, it's not enough and I need more structure. Do I go back to school? Take a bootcamp?

Education is a sore spot for me - I made it to be a 'senior' in college (roughly 3 years) towards a liberal arts degree. Around that time had some difficulties, started my IT career and never really got back to finish the degree. It's been over a decade since then. The college I went to is pretty average - placement rate, quality, etc, but the price has climbed quite a bit in recent years.

Right now I feel like I have a few options but really could use some feedback to help.

• Return to my familiar college, change my degree over to CS and spend 3'ish years working towards a degree. Their online courses may be hit or miss based on feedback I've read.
• Try a new online college with the hopes of a well-designed workload with slightly lower costs.
• Do a bootcamp. This seems to be a more focused and potentially direct approach. However they are the 'new thing everyone is doing now' so picking the right one is cruicial - landmines everywhere.

I also was planning on asking a senior/lead dev at my company now what they suggest, but they're out on vacation for the next few days! I'll be asking them when they get back.

My goal with all of this? Look at potentially side stepping into more of a dev position in my current company or look at new opportunities in a few years from now.

Are bootcamps worth it?

Is it worth dropping the college I had being going to, carrying credits over elsewhere, and starting fresh at a college with a better rated CS department?

My current job does offer reimbursement for training/education so I will be definitely taking advantage of that.

Thanks for your time!

Soggybiscuit

While I can't answer your questions regarding programming, I can offer some advice on going back to school because I've done that. I quit my job in 2016 and started back as a Physics undergraduate, and I'm about to complete my MS in Physics next week, hopefully continuing on towards my PhD.

Going back to school is tough. I don't know your age, but you probably have more on your plate to think about now than you did at ~20ish years old. Assignments will always take more time than you think they will initially, and it can get hard to complete them when you've got a yard/kids/dogs/partner/etc. taking up your spare time. On the plus side, for a CS degree, you probably have most if not all of the electives such a degree would require (based on what you said above), so you likely wouldn't need to take a bunch of those assuming those credits can transfer. On the down side, this means that core curriculum courses will be all you can take, so it will be a very heavy load.

Is it worth dropping the college I had being going to, carrying credits over elsewhere, and starting fresh at a college with a better rated CS department?

That depends, are you happy with the school? If you aren't, transfer the credits to a school you like. Don't waste time somewhere you won't be happy. One thing that could be a good option here, assuming you want to go back to school (and can get someone else to pay for it), would be to take the required math and early computer science courses at a community college you can transfer credits to where you will eventually complete the degree. Will definitely be cheaper and have smaller class sizes, and probably also be more friendly to part-time learning.

Completing a degree can be extremely rewarding, and just not from the increased opportunity it brings. I originally got an engineering degree nearly 15 years ago, and I was never satisfied with myself until I went back to school. Much happier now, and as frustrating as it is at times, totally worth all that hassle. My wife has been an amazing support for me, so that's helped as well.

Tofystedeth

A bootcamp will almost assuredly not cover the math bits you're looking for, as they tend to focus on the very practical bits like, how to build a webapp/ phone app, how to use build systems etc.

However for most professional purposes, that's probably all you need. Having the foundational math stuff is helpful, but not necessary.

Aumni

Thanks all! I think from a satisfaction and practicality standpoint finishing a degree would be more reasonable. Based on what you said Tofystedeth, it might be worth going to a bootcamp afterwards if there is a specific tech I need to dive into, but for now general education seems better. I'm going to start looking at online courses and register!

This can be closed - thanks again for your time!

Mugsley

@Aumni I recommend you reach out to the college you previously attended to get official input on if any of your credits are still valid. Try to see if they have a Continuing Education / Continuing Studies dept that will have better answers than Admissions.

Also see what classes they are offering via remote learning, which should help you focus your efforts.

Finally, ask if there are any courses at nearby Community Colleges that will transfer credit. These are typically cheaper and provide more interaction with the professor since class sizes tend to be smaller.