<p>Hello all, recently I've come to an important realization - I'm a computer nerd. I'm currently a lawyer with a BA in social science. When I was in college, I considered computer science but was scared off by the course emphasis on algebra (which I then thought I was bad at) and the stereotype of computer nerds as losers. But over the last couple of years especially, I've realized that I don't belong in the legal field, and I really should be a software engineer. I've taught myself a number of programming languages and find that much of my free time is spent programming in Perl and C# for fun. But I can't get a job in programming because I have no piece of paper that says I'm qualified to be a programmer. So I'm thinking very seriously of going back to school.</p>
<p>Problem is, I'm 30, and already well in debt from law school. I don't know much about how CS programs work, but I really do not want to get a computer science undergrad degree because then I will only get my masters when I'm 37 and $200-300,000 in debt. I want to get into a good school too so I can get a job when I graduate. I already know that I can destroy both halves of the GRE, and I can easily learn whatever I'm lacking in the next year (I can learn very quickly on my own).</p>
<p>I've heard conflicting information about whether a CS degree is necessary for a masters program, and was told by a college-going friend that he's "heard of" people that get into masters programs without doing CS in undergrad. Is there any way to go directly to grad school for a CS masters or otherwise do this quickly and cheaply? If I do have to go to undergrad, is there any way to skip courses by proving my self-taught programming skills somehow? Any help from people familiar with CS graduate programs would be appreciated, thank you.</p>
<p>I have heard from programmers that you don’t need a degree in CS to get a job doing that; you just have to have the skills. But go with what you are finding in the field itself.</p>
<p>You can probably get a master’s in CS without having the undergrad major. You just have to take the prerequisites. Each masters program will tell you the prerequisites for their program on the website. Some programs may require an undergraduate major in CS or a related field, but the majority will probably just require you to take some courses in the field. You can probably take these courses at a public university relatively inexpensively.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I’ve been looking for jobs based on skills, but I can’t get anyone to look and see what skills I have. I’ll keep looking though and see. I also checked some of the graduate school sites and it looks you’re right about there being no requirement for a CS degree, but they do suggest lots of course I don’t have. I’ll ask around at the admissions offices and see if I can get them to cough up some information about my chances.</p>
<p>At my school, it is possible for someone without a B.S. in Computer Science to get into the Masters program. The department requires a 2 semester Programming “boot camp” in order to start taking the other classes. Furthermore, we accommodate working students by making these two courses available over internet. I am sure that other universities have this as well.</p>
<p>Do you think you’d be ready for a graduate program in CS without undergrad coursework? There’s a GRE Subject Test in computer science. If you did well on that, some graduate programs might be convinced to let you enroll without formal CS coursework. You could also take 1 or 2 graduate-level CS courses as a non-degree-seeking students and apply to the Master’s program after you have proven yourself. That strategy seems to work quite well for students whose formal background is not an accurate reflection of their readiness for the program.</p>
<p>A few universities offer Master’s degrees in computer science specifically targeted at career changers. [url=<a href=“Master of Computer and Information Technology”>Master of Computer and Information Technology]Penn[/url</a>] has one of those. Penn’s program covers the undergraduate CS curriculum in one year and then adds one semester of graduate-level electives. </p>
<p>You could also consider getting a second Bachelor’s degree in CS. Many universities would let you transfer in all of the general education courses from your first degree, so that you’d only need to complete the requirements for the CS major. Since you already have solid programming skills, you should be able to skip the introductory programming courses and go straight to intermediate- and advanced-level courses. You could probably finish a CS major in 2-3 semesters if you want.</p>
<p>When I was in my mid twenties, I went back to school to work toward my MCIS degree at Cleveland State University. At the time, a BA or BS in CS was not required. My undergrad degree was in Psychology and I was working full time in social services. My goal was to get a job as a programmer. After a few semesters going to school part time, I joined the Coop Program where you worked full time for a company for a semester and then went to school full time for the next semester, and so on. It’s a good way to get work experience and there is the possibility of being hired permanently by the company after graduation. After a year and a half of the Coop Program, I was hired by a small software company. I was 29. After I was there a year I was promoted to Lead Programmer. I never did complete my Masters but that was not my goal. I wanted a programming job. Not sure if there are still schools that do not require CS degrees for Masters. In the MCIS program at CSU you were able to make up the undergrad CS classes you missed, and then go on to take the 500 level MCIS classed once those requirements were completed.</p>
<p>I had looked into getting a second bachelor’s and found out it would have taken the same amount of time as it would to earn the MCIS, which was basically two years. I had not had much college math and that was probably why.</p>