Find solution
How can I start my career in Computer Science?

If I want to be a programmer, but have an undergraduate degree in something unrelated to science/math, should I apply for a masters in computer science to start a career?

  • I'm researching masters programs that are designed for people who did not major in Comp Sci in undergrad, ie Carnegie Mellon, Penn, U of Chicago & Boston University all have special programs for people with a non computer science background. Is it better to get a master's degree or to teach myself programming and get a junior-level job once I've reached a certain level of mastery? I am ~30 years old.

  • Answer:

    I'd suggest deferring the masters, mostly because you don't need it to get a junior programming job, and I think it's a good idea to try out a career before investing all that time and money in it, just in case you don't like it.  Plus, if you get some experience under your belt and then go for a masters, you'll have more context for what you'll learn there and will in all likelihood get more out of the program.  You may also find that you don't need a degree after all, or that taking a class here and there provides you all the CS you need. It's also a good idea to get good at self-teaching, since you'll be doing a lot of it as a programmer. There are plenty of resources out there -- I'd just pick a language and go for it. (Let me know if you'd like recommendations & I can let you know what I used when I was getting started with Ruby/Rails.) Either way, best of luck with your decision!

Helen Hood at Quora Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

I'm inclined to think the MS isn't worth it; see

Jason Crawford

Do the Masters. Some degree of formal training would help you a lot. I would say if you want to be a "real" programmer, not someone that just messes around with web programming like HTML/CSS, you should definitely do the Masters. Before any web programmers get offended, you have to admit that web programming involves almost no work in algorithms.

Dan Zhang

Do the masters.  You will learn real CS which is critical to being an engineer and not just a "programmer." When I was a CS undegrad, a good friend of mine was a CS grad student with a psych undergrad.  We did almost the exact same classes but he has an MS and I have a BS.  So his degree is actually worth more. Personally, I dont think thats entirely fair, but its how academia works.

Jeff Kesselman

Hi, if you want to be a programmer, you do not need a degree for it. I have an undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture and a master's degree in Forest Science...  now I am a web developer to pay for the student loans for the very expensive ivy master's degree. The 50k loan has been almost paid off in one year. What a relief. The good thing is, I really enjoy programming :) It's an area heavily relying on self-teaching. My friends who are experieced programmers told me they learn 95% of the stuff by Googling. So did I. So, there is really no point to waste the money. Master's degree, should be your last choice if you are not an international student who wants to find a job in the States (those literally pay for the opportunity to live in another country by providing the university their time and money, and luckily you simply do not need that). By the way, there is a search engine I create & use to find all the tutorials: http://learnhow.narrativecard.com

Coy Yang

As others have already mentioned, you don't need a degree in CS to work as a programmer. I have colleagues coming from very different backgrounds (one former colleague studied theatre and music). It is importaant to get good programming and application design skills. Start to learn programming in a language you like. Understand the language concepts and how to use one or the other framework of that language. Learn how to write tests and from there on learn about programming paradigms like test driven development. If you are there you are already on a good track.If you like the scientific part of computer science, then feel free to make a master degree. But it is far from being a requirement.

Bernhard Støcker

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.