I have a young homeschooled son who is a self-taught computer whiz. He is ready for college-level classes (probably beyond some). If he continues to insist on foregoing degrees/certificates that require gen ed, what’s a good path for him? He’s taking his first Community College class this Fall. Is a Community College certificate program a good way to go, or what about a technical “college,” or a bootcamp? I have tried to find him an internship, but his age (15) and his dyslexia (which makes mom nervous, not him) make that difficult. I would love to hear from people who work in the field who know something about who gets hired in entry-level jobs.
I presume he still has some time in high school (?), so perhaps he could try CS/coding competitions such as USACO if he’s interested. Otherwise CC classes or software engineering internships are a fine way to go.
However larger companies tend to prefer people with degrees, so he’ll probably have to deal with some gen ed requirements at some point - they’re not that bad, although some are worse than others.
Those without degrees, or unrelated degrees, working in technical jobs in computing typically have high enough ability and motivation to self-educate the needed CS concepts and skills. Because such a high level of ability and motivation is uncommon, most people in such jobs do have formal education where they learned the needed concepts and skills in a more structured manner.
General education requirements do vary considerably across colleges. Some colleges may be on the lighter side of general education requirements compared to others. But he should note that some general education courses could leave him with information useful in a career (e.g. social studies courses can give him insights on how people behave).
Community colleges may offer frosh/soph level CS courses, but he would then have to self-educate some of the more advanced concepts if he does not want to attend a four year school for them. Some four year schools allow non-matriculated students to enroll in courses that have space, but it is less likely that CS courses have space due to the popularity of CS these days.
If he is motivated to self educate, there are CS course materials available on some colleges’ web sites.
Don’t do a bootcamp. Those were a fad for a year or two, and then people figured out they weren’t producing good job candidates. It’s almost analogous to trying to go through medical school in six months. It just doesn’t work.
20-30 years ago, some technical schools like ITT and DeVry could get you an entry-level job. That’s not the case anymore.
These days, most big companies require a bachelors degree for any kind of programming job. The last time I knowingly worked with a programmer who didn’t have a four-year degree was about 20 years ago. In the case where you don’t have a bachelors, having written applications that you can show people can help get you a foot in the door in a small or start-up company.
The good news is that once you do get your foot in the door, work experience is generally more important than formal education. So after a couple years on the job, your son should find it much easier to find other programming jobs. Still, opportunities for formal promotion may be limited without a degree.
Thank you all for your replies. There were some things we did not know or had not yet considered. We will take them all into consideration.