<p>Long story short, I'm a graduating UCLA senior who was hoping to do what my uncle did and go back to a CSU and get a 2nd bachelor's degree in Computer Science instead of the useless piece of garbage BA degree I will be receiving in a month or so. And then I read this:</p>
<p>You are the biggest f*****g ■■■■■ I have ever seen. Why were you on the UCB page claiming to be a second year law student at Duke, and now you claim to be a graduating senior with a “useless piece of garbage BA degree?” This is really pathetic of you to be surfing CC, writing bs threads.</p>
<p>“This is really pathetic of you to be surfing CC, writing bs threads.”</p>
<p>lmaooooooo. Okay that thread was actually real. I really do have a friend making that decision. But I only said that Duke thing for the sake of argument cause that guy was being an idiot lulz. I sorta try to post real situations about my life without actually giving my identity away. Sorry, but I guess it is kinda funny if you stalk some of my posts. But really, that Cal thread was legit. I do have a friend making that decision (or has already made the decision).</p>
<p>On a serious note…back to the thread…so yeah…what now?</p>
<p>Well I’d need some valuable work experience before I can a MBA. I mean there’s no point getting an MBA if all you have is clerk jobs experience.</p>
<p>As for a JD, as far as I know of, it’s generally only worth it if you get into a T-14 (and probably Texas, UCLA, USC, and Vandy) or a T-30 school with a large scholarship (and I mean the ones without top 1/3 stipulations).</p>
<p>I took the LSAT and studied quite some time for it, but only nailed a low 160s. Sucks…</p>
<p>How much do you want to go into Law? IMO, a wiser choice would be to study for the LSAT again (yes I know very painful), improve, and apply. It will take a lot less time than CS and by the time you are out of law school, the economy will be better.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I can do it honestly do it. I studied for that crap for 8 months and even took a TestMasters prepcourse and the best I could do was 150-162 range. Freaking ****ed me off. I need at least 167 for USC and stuff. Gah. I don’t know how much I can really improve. If I have nothing to do (like I can’t find a job and am just sitting at home unemployed), then yeah I probably would just study as I have no choice.</p>
<p>I have considered grad school, but they’re not “glorious” options, given my BA humanities/social science major. So I couldn’t do nursing or anything like that unless I went back to community college and took some pre reqs, which would take some time and be quite a struggle since it’s really hard to get classes at CC nowadays. Not to mention I’m not very good at bio or chem (I was originally a psychobio major and I got a 2.6 GPA when I took math and chem that quarter). The only grad school I’m considering as of right now is Social Work. I have a friend who got his MSW at the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA and he’s doing alright right now. Making like 53k starting salary. So I might try to apply to some programs, including UCLA.</p>
<p>I think the problem with a lot of college grads is that they think, “I’m a college graduate! I can totally get a high-paying job right out of school!” and while this may be true for engineers, in the rest of the working world you’re still a newbie. There are a lot of people who have been working for a longggg time and have a lot more experience than you. The key is to take a lower-end job with a lot of room for promotion. Then maybe after 10, 15 years you’ll promote to the level you wanted to be at. </p>
<p>A BA isn’t bs (no pun intended…), but it’s not an automatic key to riches. It’s a foot in the door. </p>
<p>That being said, if you really want that CS degree, it’s not like you’re forced to report your first BA. I mean, you should for karma’s sake, but I can’t see any feasible way that they could catch you (unless this is because you’re trying to transfer GEs).</p>
<p>If you want a programming job you don’t really need a degree in Computer Science (though it can help). The most important thing is to be able to prove that you’re a competent coder. Sample code and project experience will get you most of the way there. Of course a portfolio like that takes time to build, especially if you aren’t already a decent programmer.</p>
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<p>I don’t think this is a good idea. I could easily see them finding out.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you have a decent GPA and some type of work experience it shouldn’t be impossible to get a job. It may take a lot of work, and it may not be your dream job, but it’s something. </p>
<p>Your posts give the impression that you have no idea what you actually want to do, and you’re just looking for a degree with “obvious” job prospects. If that’s the case, it doesn’t really seem like a healthy attitude to have when making these types of decisions.</p>
<p>Seems like the only suitable option for me then is just to “find a job.” Gah =( I don’t mind having to work right away, even if it is an entry level position in a company. The problem is how do you get such entry level job in such company where I can find a place that I would eventually move up. It’s heart breaking to see that technically I only qualify for jobs that pay like $10 an hour or something. Yes, yes. I get it. “That’s what you get for majoring in something useless.” I know. But the question is, what can I do now?</p>
this is what you have to love about this forum, if something is beyond a persons knowledge they’re happy to make up an answer. After all it is YOU who will bear the consequences if they’re completely wrong. So if you followed this “advice” and put your eggs in the deceive-'em basket instead of some other course of action for next year, you’d find out when colleges review your app or do final per-enrollment checks that Tia didn’t really have a clue, that the National Student Clearinghouse is set up to track exactly this info and that UCLA (along with other colleges covering altogether in the high 90’s percentage of all college students) is a member so your info is reported. You lose a year of your life, Tia will shrug. Gotta love people!</p>
<p>That’s their problem if they’re stupid enough to take unofficial answer. College Confidential is highly unofficial and wrong probably 90% of the time. Perhaps my guess was incorrect, but it shouldn’t be an issue because if someone is an internet user they should be responsible enough to always be skeptical and double-check sources. You’re right, it’s not my life, it’s his. So I have no responsibility to double check anything since I’m not representing the CSUs.</p>
<p>North Campus isn’t necessarily all BS. However, the principle of “garbage in, garbage out” applies strongly here, more so than it does in a more rigorous field of study. What you get out of a North Campus study is equivalent to what you put into it. Only really intellectually-curious and committed people can gain anything of value out of a humanities degree, because there is really very little practical value.</p>
<p>My general take? If you are majoring in a social science, be sure to take as much math/statistics as you can. If you are majoring in humanities, be sure to have a backup plan.</p>
<p>TC, if you have decent stats skills (and you really should, given that you’re studying political science, which is basically econ-lite in terms of methods these days) consider hunting around for research assistant work. Even if you don’t have stats skills, hunt around for a shop that will train you. </p>