<p>due to financial reasons, I will be attending a community college in the fall. My plan is to transfer to a four-year university and get a degree in computer science. I'm thinking of getting an associate's degree in computer programming but when I looked at the courses I had to take, they were mostly just programming classes, there weren't any classes about computer science (discrete math, data structures, or operating systems etc.). If I do a finish an associate's degree in computer programming not all of the classes I'll take will count towards a BS in Computer Science degree (only about 2 or 3 programming classes). So should I just take a couple of general ed and some computer programming classes at a community college then transfer to a 4-year university or finish the associate's degree and then transfer?</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation when it comes to Physics (Not much is offered, and not much transfers), and I intend on getting my General Education credits out of the way and transferring before I complete the Associate’s requirements.</p>
<p>Generally, it will be worth it to stay at CC and finish all of your geneds. They’re courses that you’ll have to take anyway, so it’s usually better to get them done for significantly cheaper. It’s also worth considered that it is much easier to transfer into better schools if you have an associates.</p>
<p>A lot of that depends on exactly what courses are offered at your CC though, and what the university would want a transfer applicant to have completed.</p>
<p>so I’ve decided to finish the associate’s degree in my current community college. Out of curiosity, is it possible to get a programming job with just an associate’s degree in computer programming? After I finish my associate’s degree I plan on transferring to a 4-year university and get a bachelor’s degree in computer science and I was hoping I could work at least part time (preferably in IT). So yeah, my question is, can I get a programming job with just an associate’s in computer programming?</p>
<p>Since it’s a really big/growing field, you might be able to get that part time job, but your options are going to be quite limited with just the associate’s degree, I think. There are a lot of well-qualified applicants with bachelor’s degrees or more.</p>
<p>It would be tough to get a programming job with just an associate’s, unless you had some kind of portfolio of apps you’d written that would demonstrate your skills.</p>
<p>Other than some small start-ups, almost all companies will require some kind of bachelor’s degree for a programming job, although it doesn’t necessarily have to be CS.</p>
<p>Possibly with certs. Certs can overcome lack of college degree but is becoming harder and harder as requring a BS is a lazy HR way of reducing the number of candidates they need to consider.</p>
<p>The only issue you may run into is when you want to transfer to a 4-year school to finish your B.S. degree. Most universities will transfer only the following CS courses from a community college:</p>
<p>Introductory Programming I
Introductory Programming II
Discrete Mathematical Structures</p>
<p>…and even the Introductory Programming I/II is “iffy” if your community college starts off with C++ and your university starts off with Java (or vice-versa).</p>
<p>Computer Organization (usually the 4th course in a typical CS program) is “iffy” because some schools include Assembly Language and some don’t.</p>
<p>Data Structures and Algorithms transfer will depend if the university offers those courses at the sophomore level.</p>
<p>Operating Systems and Theory of Programming Languages are junior/senior level so if your community college offers “sophomore versions” of those courses, they will not transfer. In general, a CS-topic offered at the sophomore level will not transfer to a university if the university offers it at the junior/senior level…AND/OR…the university’s prerequisites are different.</p>
<p>@sschoe2 where can I get these certs you’re talking about? My roommate’s a full-time programmer and he’s currently working towards his associate’s degree part-time although it’s different in his case since he’s been programming for a while now.</p>