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Hi all, While a freshman in college back in '84, I was approached about a programming job for Holiday on Ice in Amsterdam. Needless to say, I jumped at it and never looked back. On and off over the years, I've thought about returning and getting my degree (for personal reasons much more than anything else). Does anyone here know of an accredited univeristy that would be good for a 40 y/o to go back and get his bachelor's? I have looked at some places like Phoenix and Devry, but they're saying that it would take 3 years! That would also mean taking classes that I could teach myself. Anytime you go to school there are time when you know what is being taught beforehand, but I just can't fathom not only sitting through, but paying for, classes like "Introduction to Data Processing" or "COBOL Basics". Isn't there something available for those of us who've been doing this for a very long time such that we can get credit for our "life work"? Cheers, Tom Archer "Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - William Blake * Inside C# -Second Edition * Visual C++.NET Bible * Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework
Devry isn't well respected, though some smart people have gone there. It is a tech school, not a college, so they teach you what is useful now, not how to think and learn. Phonix has a fairly good reputation so far, though it is unclear how they will hold out in the long run. In short, if going online, pick Phonix, you already know what Devry will teach you. You need permission to skip things like COBOL basics, but it is normally easy to get. When I went to school the description for classes like C and Cobol included the following: "Comptuer science students may not take this for credit". In other words we were expected to pick this up for ourselves. I wouldn't recomend trying for credit for your experience, unless you are close enough to a degree that you could get one with it, and you need a job now that you can't get without the degree. Otherwise it is better to take all the classes. You may not like Russian litature, but classes like that are valuable in their own way, so just do them. Don't feel like you need to finish in 3 years. Take less classes, and spend more time on them. You have a life to live now. The meat of CS is algorithm, Data structures, design patterns, and analysis of the above. Languages are a just something we need to prove we know what is going on. Last: what schools are in your local town? Most areas have a ok university close enough that you can go. Some people work better in a classroom, some with online schools. Many of the classes I took had at least one person over 70 in them. You might be older than average, but you are not old yet. Young students often like working with older people in group projects. So going to a local university (if one is around) isn't a bad idea.
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Tom, I'm in a (vaguely) similar position. I'm in the UK and went to uni. but there wasn't a digital course, only electrical and electronics. In the first year I learnt nothing knew other than I could b*ll***t my way through physics orals without trying and help the post graduates get their projects working so when someone offered me a job I just took it. Now the site here is closing and I'm looking for a new job most places won't even look at my CV unless I have a degree even though it would have been over 20 years ago and irrelevant to anything I'm doing ! I have an interview on Monday and the guy interviewing me was in a similar position to me and the compant sponsored him through a degree at the Open Univeristy. This is an institution in the UK aimed at mature students and most of the course work is done at home but it does take several years like any other degree. The way I look at it, get myself settled, look at getting a piece of paper for the future and try and choose the course so there will be something useful in it. I'm afraid sometimes it's necassary to play the game. Elaine :rose: The tigress is here :-D
Very informative feedback. Thanks Elaine! Cheers, Tom Archer "Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - William Blake * Inside C# -Second Edition * Visual C++.NET Bible * Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework
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Man, congrats for that decission you've made in returning back. I'm doing the same thing. Good Luck !!! Free your mind...
Good luck to you too, Guillermo!! Cheers, Tom Archer "Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - William Blake * Inside C# -Second Edition * Visual C++.NET Bible * Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework
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Devry isn't well respected, though some smart people have gone there. It is a tech school, not a college, so they teach you what is useful now, not how to think and learn. Phonix has a fairly good reputation so far, though it is unclear how they will hold out in the long run. In short, if going online, pick Phonix, you already know what Devry will teach you. You need permission to skip things like COBOL basics, but it is normally easy to get. When I went to school the description for classes like C and Cobol included the following: "Comptuer science students may not take this for credit". In other words we were expected to pick this up for ourselves. I wouldn't recomend trying for credit for your experience, unless you are close enough to a degree that you could get one with it, and you need a job now that you can't get without the degree. Otherwise it is better to take all the classes. You may not like Russian litature, but classes like that are valuable in their own way, so just do them. Don't feel like you need to finish in 3 years. Take less classes, and spend more time on them. You have a life to live now. The meat of CS is algorithm, Data structures, design patterns, and analysis of the above. Languages are a just something we need to prove we know what is going on. Last: what schools are in your local town? Most areas have a ok university close enough that you can go. Some people work better in a classroom, some with online schools. Many of the classes I took had at least one person over 70 in them. You might be older than average, but you are not old yet. Young students often like working with older people in group projects. So going to a local university (if one is around) isn't a bad idea.
Henry miller wrote: what schools are in your local town? I'm in Atlanta so I've got some great schools to choose from. I'll also be checking into some of these. Cheers, Tom Archer "Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - William Blake * Inside C# -Second Edition * Visual C++.NET Bible * Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework
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Check out ACCIS[^]. They wll accept up to 60 credit hours of life work experience.
This demographic will quite happily click on shiny things however:laugh:
Found on Bash.org [erno] hm. I've lost a machine.. literally _lost_. it responds to ping, it works completely, I just can't figure out where in my apartment it is.
Thanks Steve. I've seen their building downtown and will definitely check out the link. Cheers, Tom Archer "Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - William Blake * Inside C# -Second Edition * Visual C++.NET Bible * Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework