I’m about to complete my undergrad at NYU in economics but my passion has always been computer science since the very beginning. I was taking a few computer science classes my sophomore year but was told I wouldn’t be able to graduate on time so I continued pursuing an economics major because I had already taken most of the classes.
I’m about to graduate now and don’t have the technical skills to go to graduate school for computer science. Luckily my mom has been very supportive of me pursuing my dreams. Computer science and the skills that come along with it is something I am really motivated to study but I don’t know if it’s a good thing to spend maybe 2-3 more years at undergrad.
Question is…should I delay my graduation and stick it out at NYU for a couple more years, should I graduate and finish my bachelors at stony brook or should I not graduate and transfer to stony brook?
Please help me out. What would be some alternative options/Would it affect my job chances?
I have a similar story. I earned my undergraduate degree in business administration, but a strong passion into computers and technology. Still on the fence this decision, but I attempted a career switch by going back to school and earning my master’s in IT. I finished it a couple months ago, so now I’m job hunting for a job related to my master’s degree.
Anyways, have you considered attempting technical certifications, such as CompTIA A+, CCNA, MCITP, etc? If I could go back in time, I would have not started my master’s and aggressively gone into technological certifications for a career switch. Don’t get me wrong, the graduate degree is nice, but I think in the area of technology, certifications bring a bigger impact. I say that because it tests your skill set in a given area, such as Cisco networking. Of course I am referring to an individual with no job experience in a technical field, but has a strong interest to enter into it. This would save you a lot of money and time, and may demonstrate your passion and competency better. Plus, if you were to enter the field with those certifications, you could get a feel of the industry. Then you could attempt a salary increase by going back to college for that computer degree. Using the above, I know a few folks that have non-computer degrees and are working in the computer field. Just my 2 cents.
So everything depends on what you want to do and what you would be happy doing. You may be interested in IT consulting - in many cases, you will need a technical mind and will work on technical projects, but you will not need specific coding knowledge beyond what can be taught during initial on-the-job training. For example, if you can secure a job at IBM, you may do work on SAP implementations - a highly technical job - but you do not need to have the specific technical knowledge that would come from a CS degree; rather, you would be tasked with understanding business process and business rules, and to a certain extent, you would be responsible for “translating” from business language to technical language.
If that kind of thing is something you would be interested in, then a degree in economics is exactly what you would want - you need to think analytically to get through the math-intensive courses, but you also need to understand business concepts and market forces. You will be able to succeed without any different education.
If you are more interested in being on the receiving end of the translation between business and technology, and if you don’t want to do the translating, then you may want to look into getting some more technical training, which could include a CS degree.
Most people who want to change their field do so via a master’s degree. Very little reason to get a bachelor’s again unless the field is vastly different, like physics and fine arts.
If your parents are supportive, you could contact a few schools and see what courses you would have to make up to be eligible for a master’s degree in computer science.
One way to check is to see what a CS degree at NYU looks like compared what classes you have taken already. It is odd though, that if you have this interest you did not try to double major or minor in CS.