<p>I already have two undergrad degrees, one in music and one in biology, and have recently fallen in love with computer science. I randomly signed up for an intro programming class this past fall, really enjoyed it, and have continued taking comp sci class (and will be taking classes this summer).</p>
<p>In order to complete the pre-reqs just to be considered for admissions to a Masters program, it would take me at least another year and a half. By that time, I could finish another degree. However, I'm worried that a third bachelor's may make me appear somewhat indecisive and give the impression I am the dreaded "professional student". On the other hand, I've been working for two years, feel I have a much better grip on what I want to do with my life and the kinds of careers I would find fulfilling, and feel that getting another bachelor's would strengthen applications for Masters program in the future. Also, as a note, I'm not particularly interested in pursuing a degree in bioinformatics - while I like learning about biology, it doesn't excite me the way computer science does!</p>
<p>Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I’ve jumped around a fair amount too (I have degrees in physics, biology and computer science), and I can’t say that I actually benefit at this point from having degrees in each of these areas. </p>
<p>What is it that makes you feel you need a degree in computer science? Could you just take a few more courses as a non-matriculated student in order to get the necessary experience to do whatever you want? </p>
<p>If you want to be a programmer for a software company, the company will probably ask for a portfolio of projects you have worked on and some open source code that they can take a look at. They may also ask you to do a live test or submit answers to some programming questions. A degree may give a bit of an edge in getting interviews, but since you already have a bachelor’s in another field, once you land your first job in the field I don’t think your degree status will matter much. It will be more about what technologies you are familiar with and what experience you have.</p>
<p>Alternatively, if your ultimate goal were to get a PhD, you don’t necessarily need a comp sci degree for that. Some computational research experience and five or six of the core courses (machine structures, data structures, algorithms, etc) would help a lot though.</p>
<p>If this is what you want then I think you should go ahead and take computer science courses. As busterbluth said since you already have a bachelor’s degree I don’t think that whether you wind up with another degree is as important as what you learn.</p>