Degree advice...
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I had to quit working toward my BS of Computer Science several years ago because my father became terminally ill. After he passed away I never found time to go back to finish it. I did go a few semesters part-time, but at that rate it would take forever to finish. I do have an AS in Electronics Engineering already and about 35 hours toward my BSCS. I want to get at least a MSCS, but I am now 28 years old. I have been looking into some online schools that provide an ABET and reginally accredited BSCS program. I have only found one that is both http://www.njit.edu/, and http://www.fsu.edu/ which is only regionally accredited. Since I want to go on to get my MS (maybe PhD) I am thinking about using one of the regionally accredited online universities http://www.regents.edu/ to get a BS in something and then use that to get into grad school. I learned programming through years of self-study and experience. It's definitely what I was meant to do. I would want to degree for personal reasons even if it didn't help me in my career, which I believe it will. Any CPians have thoughts on these or any other options I might have? -- Dana Holt Xenos Software
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I had to quit working toward my BS of Computer Science several years ago because my father became terminally ill. After he passed away I never found time to go back to finish it. I did go a few semesters part-time, but at that rate it would take forever to finish. I do have an AS in Electronics Engineering already and about 35 hours toward my BSCS. I want to get at least a MSCS, but I am now 28 years old. I have been looking into some online schools that provide an ABET and reginally accredited BSCS program. I have only found one that is both http://www.njit.edu/, and http://www.fsu.edu/ which is only regionally accredited. Since I want to go on to get my MS (maybe PhD) I am thinking about using one of the regionally accredited online universities http://www.regents.edu/ to get a BS in something and then use that to get into grad school. I learned programming through years of self-study and experience. It's definitely what I was meant to do. I would want to degree for personal reasons even if it didn't help me in my career, which I believe it will. Any CPians have thoughts on these or any other options I might have? -- Dana Holt Xenos Software
NJIT is a solid second or third tier school. Not MIT or Harvard, but respectable. They are known for bending over backwards with regards to returning students and distance learning. Their in-state tuition is reasonable (for New Jersey). They also have part time MS and PhD programs, although I don't think you can complete them by distance learning. One thing NJIT plays down is their location. They are right in the middle of Newark, about 3 blocks away from the projects. I drive through that area to get to an office. Trust me, you do not want to live on campus or attend night classes. It's also one of the most butt ugly campuses I've seen. I think NYU, Pace and Stevens also offer some kind of distance learning. P.S. - Where are you located? You would have more options if you could mix distance learning with evening and saturday classes. I completed a CS degree at Rutgers at through night school.
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I had to quit working toward my BS of Computer Science several years ago because my father became terminally ill. After he passed away I never found time to go back to finish it. I did go a few semesters part-time, but at that rate it would take forever to finish. I do have an AS in Electronics Engineering already and about 35 hours toward my BSCS. I want to get at least a MSCS, but I am now 28 years old. I have been looking into some online schools that provide an ABET and reginally accredited BSCS program. I have only found one that is both http://www.njit.edu/, and http://www.fsu.edu/ which is only regionally accredited. Since I want to go on to get my MS (maybe PhD) I am thinking about using one of the regionally accredited online universities http://www.regents.edu/ to get a BS in something and then use that to get into grad school. I learned programming through years of self-study and experience. It's definitely what I was meant to do. I would want to degree for personal reasons even if it didn't help me in my career, which I believe it will. Any CPians have thoughts on these or any other options I might have? -- Dana Holt Xenos Software
I'm actually considering returning to school, more for personal reasons than anything else. I bailed out years ago I'm in a quandry as the local Uni will let me start a Bachelors, whilst another national Uni has said I can go straight into a Masters Project, using my *work experience* as a credit. { OK I know some folk there which helps } The next headache, is what to study ? A lot of the Comp Sci stuff will be just Gap filling now, and not that interesting. But some of the other sciences would be interesting even some of the social sciences, which are actually useless in the marketplace. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
More about me :-)
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NJIT is a solid second or third tier school. Not MIT or Harvard, but respectable. They are known for bending over backwards with regards to returning students and distance learning. Their in-state tuition is reasonable (for New Jersey). They also have part time MS and PhD programs, although I don't think you can complete them by distance learning. One thing NJIT plays down is their location. They are right in the middle of Newark, about 3 blocks away from the projects. I drive through that area to get to an office. Trust me, you do not want to live on campus or attend night classes. It's also one of the most butt ugly campuses I've seen. I think NYU, Pace and Stevens also offer some kind of distance learning. P.S. - Where are you located? You would have more options if you could mix distance learning with evening and saturday classes. I completed a CS degree at Rutgers at through night school.
Stuart van Weele wrote: NJIT is a solid second or third tier school. Their in-state tuition is reasonable (for New Jersey). I live in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It's about 30 miles SE of Nashville. Their out of state tuition is pretty steep, but they seem to be the most respected BS I found that can be completed 100% online. Stuart van Weele wrote: Where are you located? You would have more options if you could mix distance learning with evening and saturday classes. I completed a CS degree at Rutgers at through night school. There is a fully accredited university (Middle Tennessee State) about 10 minutes from my house, but they don't really offer many night classes in Computer Science. This is where the CS credits I have now are from. Basically I want to test (CLEP, DANTES, etc) out of as many "general" classes as I can, then finish up the CS specific stuff somewhere that is ABET accreditied. My AS is a technology degree, so I still need a lot of general classes. There seem to be more distance learning options for advanced degrees that undergraduate ones. It's so much harder to finish school once you get older. All those bills to pay! ;) -- Dana Holt Xenos Software
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NJIT is a solid second or third tier school. Not MIT or Harvard, but respectable. They are known for bending over backwards with regards to returning students and distance learning. Their in-state tuition is reasonable (for New Jersey). They also have part time MS and PhD programs, although I don't think you can complete them by distance learning. One thing NJIT plays down is their location. They are right in the middle of Newark, about 3 blocks away from the projects. I drive through that area to get to an office. Trust me, you do not want to live on campus or attend night classes. It's also one of the most butt ugly campuses I've seen. I think NYU, Pace and Stevens also offer some kind of distance learning. P.S. - Where are you located? You would have more options if you could mix distance learning with evening and saturday classes. I completed a CS degree at Rutgers at through night school.
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I had to quit working toward my BS of Computer Science several years ago because my father became terminally ill. After he passed away I never found time to go back to finish it. I did go a few semesters part-time, but at that rate it would take forever to finish. I do have an AS in Electronics Engineering already and about 35 hours toward my BSCS. I want to get at least a MSCS, but I am now 28 years old. I have been looking into some online schools that provide an ABET and reginally accredited BSCS program. I have only found one that is both http://www.njit.edu/, and http://www.fsu.edu/ which is only regionally accredited. Since I want to go on to get my MS (maybe PhD) I am thinking about using one of the regionally accredited online universities http://www.regents.edu/ to get a BS in something and then use that to get into grad school. I learned programming through years of self-study and experience. It's definitely what I was meant to do. I would want to degree for personal reasons even if it didn't help me in my career, which I believe it will. Any CPians have thoughts on these or any other options I might have? -- Dana Holt Xenos Software
If you are made for coding, then I doubt you'd be happy as an academic. Development is more of an artistic, expressionistic outlet. Academia is about discovery and knowledge. There are places that straddle the two but they are few. Look hard at what it is that drives you and what you want to do... I like 'em both personally, but haven't seen much compatible mixings...