Board 8 > Thinking about going back to college. Thoughts?

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Corrik7
05/19/22 2:48:25 AM
#1:


So, I was considering a few things, but here is what I came up with.

I have 2 degrees. A BA and a BS. Both from about 15 years ago now.

Some schools won't accept these as prior degrees or as satisfying prerequisites.

The ideal programs I was looking at are...

1. Computer Science Masters
2. Information Technology Masters
3. ABSN Nursing

Now here is the catch. My degrees are in unrelated fields. I also would need fully online classes with lenient structure.

This makes almost everything ruled out as far as I can tell.

I looked at SNHU. They would let me do the Masters IT program, but they are generally not considered a good school.

Arizona State University. Can't meet related field prereqs. And super expensive.

Cal U of PA. Doesn't offer IT or CSci. Does offer computer systems.

Penn State Worldwide. So, it doesn't really offer what I can apply for, but it does have a Process and Control Systems certificate which would be good for instrumentation for $2500. Interesting.

Cincinnati University. Has a bridge program to the Master IT to get people not related field eligible for Masters program. Surprisingly kind of affordable.

Couldn't find anything really that would work for ABSN.

Any thoughts or input or advice? Am I wasting my time looking at this?

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LordoftheMorons
05/19/22 3:06:49 AM
#2:


Do you have a base of knowledge in these fields?

I dont know anything about IT or nursing programs, but a legit CS masters program is not going to be amenable to someone coming in without knowing CS at a Bachelors level (or at least something close to it).

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Corrik7
05/19/22 4:39:45 AM
#3:


LordoftheMorons posted...
Do you have a base of knowledge in these fields?

I dont know anything about IT or nursing programs, but a legit CS masters program is not going to be amenable to someone coming in without knowing CS at a Bachelors level (or at least something close to it).
No, I won't have a base of knowledge in these fields. I will learn it as needed though. I need to know what I need to know in order to learn it. And there is zero point to attempt to learn it prior because if they require course loads as prereq, then it doesn't matter what I actually know prior.

I think I am more aimed at IT than CS though.

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MZero
05/19/22 7:47:28 AM
#4:


Corrik7 posted...
Arizona State University

oh ya go my ASU


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HanOfTheNekos
05/19/22 7:51:19 AM
#5:


Cincinnati!

If you wanted to go into CS, I'd suggest just finding a boot camp and going that route. If you don't suck, it's not hard to find a job by just learning from that and interviewing well.

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masterplum
05/19/22 7:57:41 AM
#6:


HanOfTheNekos posted...
Cincinnati!

If you wanted to go into CS, I'd suggest just finding a boot camp and going that route. If you don't suck, it's not hard to find a job by just learning from that and interviewing well.

Eh, the two problems with that are there are a million junior devs trying to find non existent openings and people wildly underestimate the difficulty development.

If you are interested in a development route I would highly recommend you trying to learn to program stuff yourself immediately. It will quickly let you find out if it is what you want to do, and if it is then it will help you get hired as you will need projects. If you are really liking it then sign up for a boot camp

source: I hire developers

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HanOfTheNekos
05/19/22 8:01:58 AM
#7:


I feel like there were plenty of places to apply for coming out of my boot camp. But I'll admit my situation was a little different for being hired because I was far and away the best programmer of my class.

Got a job 2 months after finishing.

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Isquen
05/19/22 8:02:49 AM
#8:


I'd advise against nursing, but it could be a personal bias - back when I was going to school, "getting a nursing degree" was a colloquialism for "I or my partner got pregnant and I can't keep up with my current field."

For either CS or IT you're going to need at least some base knowledge in either. Of the two, I'd recommend IT, with the knowledge that, a lot of the time, your job in the field will be telling people to reset their equipment (while your day-to-day involves stuff like making sure your company is protected when your colleagues click a very obvious phishing link. Again.)

Not that I know anything about this at all, either, since it's hearsay from our IT guy.

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masterplum
05/19/22 8:04:13 AM
#9:


Oh yeah, if you are great it is probably easier, but I am leery that boot camps are the new real estate seminars where people who want to get rich quick go to because they hear about the 30 year old making 400k at google.

Even my mom asked me what I thought of boot camps haha

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Corrik7
05/19/22 8:07:13 AM
#10:


Isquen posted...
I'd advise against nursing, but it could be a personal bias - back when I was going to school, "getting a nursing degree" was a colloquialism for "I or my partner got pregnant and I can't keep up with my current field."

For either CS or IT you're going to need at least some base knowledge in either. Of the two, I'd recommend IT, with the knowledge that, a lot of the time, your job in the field will be telling people to reset their equipment (while your day-to-day involves stuff like making sure your company is protected when your colleagues don't click a very obvious phishing link. Again.)

Not that I know anything about this at all, either, since it's hearsay from our IT guy.
I think IT makes the most sense for me. It's going to be the easiest to bridge into, and Cincinnati has a bridge program. CS is going to be a lot of coding, but this is a fallback if needed, not a get a job now sort of thing. This might sway things away from CS. Cincinnati apparently has one of the few NSA accredited cybersecurity programs in the country also. Supposedly.

CS probably requires a lot more creativity as well, which meh. It's an idea though. I definitely want to be in the medical or computer field.

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HanOfTheNekos
05/19/22 8:09:42 AM
#11:


What really helped with my boot camp was the career services portion - someone on staff helped with resumes, cover letters, finding places to apply for and interview prep. Since hire rate is important to these places, finding a camp with a high rate usually implies they got the connections or pipelines to get you hooked up.

My current job was a recommendation from our career coach. Said they hadn't had anybody hired at this place as nobody had gotten past the aptitude screening, but shit like that is one of my strongest skills.

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HanOfTheNekos
05/19/22 8:10:31 AM
#12:


If you choose Cincinnati are you going online or moving?

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foolm0r0n
05/19/22 8:54:27 AM
#13:


masterplum posted...
Eh, the two problems with that are there are a million junior devs trying to find non existent openings and people wildly underestimate the difficulty development.
Where are there no openings? I'm sure it's hard to get that first foot in the door, but there's tons of places that need devs. The demand for seniors is massive, and they will almost always be willing to cut corners to hire a junior to do the same job for 1/4th the salary.

But I do agree that you can spend a month on self learning coding and logic to see if you absolutely detest it or not (most do).

Oh I see you want IT. Kinda more difficult imo but I suppose less logic/creativity.

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masterplum
05/19/22 9:07:49 AM
#14:


foolm0r0n posted...
Where are there no openings? I'm sure it's hard to get that first foot in the door, but there's tons of places that need devs. The demand for seniors is massive

These things are both true. The demand for seniors is massive, and juniors are avoided because job hopping in development is extreme. We are at the point where people are jumping every year now. Nobody wants to foot the bill and train a junior how to do basic stuff just for them to leave a year later

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ChaosTonyV4
05/19/22 9:12:48 AM
#15:


Check out Purdue University Global, I just got my BS and am going to do my Masters but need to take a break for kid reasons.

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Corrik7
05/19/22 9:30:08 AM
#16:


HanOfTheNekos posted...
If you choose Cincinnati are you going online or moving?
Online. Specifically their online program fits what I need the most.

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HanOfTheNekos
05/19/22 9:54:57 AM
#17:


Fine, guess I won't take you to Madtree.

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foolm0r0n
05/19/22 10:24:21 AM
#18:


masterplum posted...
Nobody wants to foot the bill and train a junior how to do basic stuff just for them to leave a year later
Where is this the case though? In my career I jumped every 15 months on average for 9 years (not counting 3 years of contracting which was a new job every 6ish months). I did a shit ton in that time as a junior in the early jobs, working more hours and taking on more than I should've, and bosses love juniors for that. 1 year is a very good tenure for a dev nowadays. Only reason it would be different now is if the demand for coders dropped.

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Corrik7
05/19/22 10:26:04 AM
#19:


Holy shit dude. Like, every one of these programs I asked for information from was like all over me within a day, but Purdue Online literally called me almost instantly after I hit submit (in a side note, SNHU keeps calling me and hangs up on me every time I answer lol).

So, Purdue Online fits very well also. They wanted me to enroll today lol. I was like, yo, I still need to talk to Cincinnati.

Purdue costs more despite the lower credit cost. Cincinnati is nice because it is one of those schools where 12 or 18 credits a semester all cost the same (and I always take the full 18). But, I would need a bridge certificate to be eligible for their IT Masters, whereas Purdue doesn't need it and is good to go already.

Hmmm.

Anyone else wanna throw out a contender out of nowhere?

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Corrik7
05/19/22 10:30:03 AM
#20:


so Purdue Global University is Kaplan University renamed and a for profit school... HMMMMMM.

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Isquen
05/19/22 10:31:59 AM
#21:


Overly predatory behavior like that is instantly suspicious.

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ChaosTonyV4
05/19/22 10:33:38 AM
#22:


Corrik7 posted...
so Purdue Global University is Kaplan University renamed and a for profit school... HMMMMMM.

The actual Purdue University bought Kaplan.

Its legit, you can walk at the official Purdue Commencement and everything if you want.

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Corrik7
05/19/22 10:34:39 AM
#23:


Accreditation is legit and has some big names in the same group... including Ohio State and Notre Dame.

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Corrik7
05/19/22 10:36:52 AM
#24:


What did you take there, Tony? Thoughts about it?

Also, if you graduated, what does your degree say your degree is from? Purdue University or Purdue University Global?

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Corrik7
05/19/22 10:39:21 AM
#25:


Arizona State's online program was ridiculously priced and wouldn't take my prereq. Purdue Online says their masters program is baked in with the understanding you are coming from an unrelated field in how it is taught.

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SwiftyDC
05/19/22 10:42:51 AM
#26:


Check out Bellevue or Western Governor.

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ChaosTonyV4
05/19/22 10:47:00 AM
#27:


Corrik7 posted...
What did you take there, Tony? Thoughts about it?

Also, if you graduated, what does your degree say your degree is from? Purdue University or Purdue University Global?

I went for IT Management.

The degree says Purdue University Global, but Mitch Daniels (the President of Purdue) signed it as President.

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Corrik7
05/19/22 10:54:16 AM
#28:


ChaosTonyV4 posted...
I went for IT Management.

The degree says Purdue University Global, but Mitch Daniels (the President of Purdue) signed it as President.
Would you say the degree prepared you well?

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Corrik7
05/19/22 10:55:01 AM
#29:


Bellevue costs more and doesn't have a direct IT program. It does have a Cybersecurity program. Bellevue only requires 45 credit hours but with the added cost per credit, it is more than the Purdue program.

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ChaosTonyV4
05/19/22 11:03:48 AM
#30:


Corrik7 posted...
Would you say the degree prepared you well?

Yeah for sure.

Ive been working an IT job while I was going to school for IT, which helps, but there are aspects I dont do in my daily job (like project management) that I know I could do in the future without OTJ training.

Although I think that with how online school works, you could very easily Google your way through every assignment and discussion post and not learn a thing if you wanted, though.

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Corrik7
05/19/22 11:53:12 AM
#31:


Arizona St... Out
Bellevue... Out
Purdue... looking good
Cincy... sounding good if they ever call me
WGU... probably out
Cal U... out
Penn State... out
SNHU... maybe out? Probably out? They don't seem to have a very good reputation.

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BlAcK TuRtLe
05/19/22 2:55:53 PM
#32:


Unless you plan to go into Academia, a Masters in CS isn't going to do you much good, BS is more than enough. Also "getting into IT" is such a broad statement, do you want to get into programming, , help desk, network administration, systems admin, cloud administration, project management, etc.


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Corrik7
05/19/22 4:41:21 PM
#33:


After talking to Cincinnati. I think that's the choice. Can be done faster ar 15k compared to the 23kish for the others if I overload slightly. Has more certificates, doesn't mention online on diploma. Etc etc. Plus has scholarships they hand out.

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Corrik7
05/19/22 4:41:47 PM
#34:


BlAcK TuRtLe posted...
Unless you plan to go into Academia, a Masters in CS isn't going to do you much good, BS is more than enough. Also "getting into IT" is such a broad statement, do you want to get into programming, , help desk, network administration, systems admin, cloud administration, project management, etc.
Looking at cyber security or cloud.

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BlAcK TuRtLe
05/25/22 1:42:24 AM
#35:


Those are 2 drastically different professions that have their own set of industry standard certifications that you'll need to get (different cloud providers have different certs, and you'll need CISSP for any serious info sec role). On top of that, you don't usually just "get into" those roles off the start. Typically you would start as a general sysadmin before specializing into cloud, and you would need either an admin or networking background before getting into infosec.

I'm sorry but it sounds like you've done very little research into the field and are just picking something that pays well, and thinking that everything will just fall into your lap.

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Corrik7
05/25/22 4:24:33 AM
#36:


BlAcK TuRtLe posted...
Those are 2 drastically different professions that have their own set of industry standard certifications that you'll need to get (different cloud providers have different certs, and you'll need CISSP for any serious info sec role). On top of that, you don't usually just "get into" those roles off the start. Typically you would start as a general sysadmin before specializing into cloud, and you would need either an admin or networking background before getting into infosec.

I'm sorry but it sounds like you've done very little research into the field and are just picking something that pays well, and thinking that everything will just fall into your lap.
I never said half the shit you just said.

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