From a degree in animation to computer science?

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
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<p>Hello all. I have been attending a community college for 2 years now (going on my 3rd year), and have been uncertain to where my future is heading (as I imagine many are). Initially, I went into community college with a plan to complete my general requirements, and transfer to UCLA to continue my studies in animation. However, through talking to several classmates/professors, I have come to the realization that an art degree may not be the best use of my time and energy. I would love to one day procure a job as an animator, but with the current job market (especially in the arts), I can no longer justify this passion to be a stable source of income, and thus a good use of my time. I would rather have a job in a related career and use that to fuel my passion in animation.</p>

<p>Through that logic, I have narrowed my choice down to a career in computer science. A degree in computer science has been in my radar as a possible career choice, but I never really considered it until now. I taught myself some programming in the past, and since some of my animation work is involved with 3D applications, I am thinking knowledge in CS may go hand in hand with animation. It seems a career in CS may be a better investment, but there are so many flavors of CS that I do not know which one I should be focusing on. I am overwhelmed with the options to either get Certificates for programming languages, all the way to procuring a degree in computer engineering. </p>

<p>Which one is the better investment/better outlook in the job market? Considering that I am keeping animation as a minor, my thought process is a degree in CS may provide a good outlook in the job market as well as a good way to diversify my skillset (being in the middle of computer programming and computer engineering), but I do not know enough about software/hardware programming to make a concrete decision.</p>

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<p>You will be painfully in debt and disappointed for getting a degree just for the money. Besides, and I am always mentioning this, Computer Science is (not only) programming, which is a vague perception most people have. There is lots of math, electronics, and theory involved, which revolves around concepts such as object-oriented programming, as well as other topics in software, hardware (for CE majors), not to mention all of the pre-prerequisites you’d have to fulfill, such as the calculus sequence and a few other math and physics courses for a few upper-division courses in CS, such as for discrete math and/or linear algebra.</p>

<p>I’m not trying to burst someone’s bubble, but I believe you should do whatever (really) floats your boat. In the end, even the best programmers won’t land a high-paying job right away. The degree is a piece of paper that lands you an interview, but not the job itself. </p>

<p>3D applications are not only made by programmers, and this applies to Autocad and engineering applications in general. Graduates from a variety of subjects collectively develop the product, as a programmer is not a physicist, architect or animator, and vice versa. I believe you should rethink your decision about animators not being marketable enough. There is a small (and I won’t comment on the legitimacy), but very clever concept: Lumosity. You might have heard of it, but their products merely consist of animations. Of course, animations which were put into code, but these animations still need to get produced… somehow. </p>

<p>Animations are probably the best sales methods regarding software products. The better it looks, the better it sells. If it moves, hell, it sells even better. </p>

<p>Regarding certificates, I strongly recommend not to fall for any of these possibilities and waste your time with it. Most employers are either looking for a degree in CS or related field, such as CE or math. Even so, math majors are at a huge disadvantage due to the lack of experience with their logical proofy courses. </p>

<p>Besides, programming is not something you can’t learn on your own. I’m currently taking a bunch of programming courses, since I am myself a CS major, about to finish my last GE course. However, I find most of them very easy. This is because I’ve been interested in developing software since I was a young teenager, and thus, invested my time into learning it myself. </p>