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A Guide for Adults Going to College

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Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#201

Post by 171243 »

gnulinux wrote: post #196

I want to go back to school. I graduated undergrad in 3 years so even though I have a Bachelor's in CS, I still feel half-baked. I studied CS only because I freaking love it and learning more is my utter passion. I want to have a graduate degree in CS... but how? I have a job, I have other stuff to do now, and taking an almost decade investment sounds way too much (in US PhDs can take very long). I'm a very socially…

Georgia Tech's Online Masters of Computer Science. 100% online and same degree you get from the on campus program which happens to be a top 10 in the nation. There is no research track unfortunately which means it is a terminal masters program.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#202

Post by 171243 »

jeena wrote: post #104

Because of how the German school system is build (Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium) and me migrating to Germany at 11 years of age without the knowledge of the German language, I had to do it differently and attend something like Gymnasium as an adult after my first vocational training (to become a heating engineer) and because of life happening and me once again migrating to another country (Sweden) without the kn…

Yeah but what you gained from that experience is beyond measure. I assume you're bi or tri-lingual now?

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#203

Post by gnulinux »

171243 wrote: post #201
gnulinux wrote: post #196

I want to go back to school. I graduated undergrad in 3 years so even though I have a Bachelor's in CS, I still feel half-baked. I studied CS only because I freaking love it and learning more is my utter passion. I want to have a graduate degree in CS... but how? I have a job, I have other stuff to do now, and taking an almost decade investment sounds way too much (in US PhDs can take very long). I'm a very socially…

Georgia Tech's Online Masters of Computer Science. 100% online and same degree you get from the on campus program which happens to be a top 10 in the nation. There is no research track unfortunately which means it is a terminal masters program.

What is "terminal masters program"? Does it mean I won't be able to have a research track in the future even if I wanted?

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#204

Post by sys_64738 »

There's a pivot point for when going to college doesn't have the ROI, IMO. I got a CS degree at 22 and did an MBA in my 30s. When I did a law degree in my late 30s I quickly realized it wasn't worth it unless I was doing it for the pure academic PoV. But I wanted a law degree to practice law but decided that it wasn't worth it in my case. I was almost 40.

FWIW, I also discovered there are two types of law degree. A Harvard law degree and a non-Harvard law degree. It was quite an eye opener that one.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#205

Post by zigzaggy »

sjg007 wrote: post #44
zigzaggy wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All very good questions. I’m at the Senior Manager level in my profession, trying to switch to entry / junior level in IT security. I have solid experience and great references, and I get calls from clients and recruiters constantly for work in my current field. But I get practically no responses when I submit myself for positions in the new field. I tracked one recruiter down recently and she basically told me she’s…

You might have better luck becoming a manager of or in an IT security company. That way you can learn the technical details on the side. So you sell your value as a manager. Lateral moves happen all the time across domains. You don't have to start from the beginning again.

This is a good idea too. I guess I always assumed I would need to “work my way up” from entry level. But I do have a lot of experience running teams and managing budgets.

Thanks for the input. I’m going to broaden my search and look for these roles, and see what happens.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#206

Post by mixmastamyk »

knicholes wrote: post #151
CalRobert wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you!!! I spent way too long getting a useless degree in physics at Cal Poly SLO. They wouldn't let you switch majors (because every 17 year old knows what they want to do with their life) but it turns out changing schools is tough when your grades show you've hated your major the last 2 years. The best thing I EVER did was sign up for classes at Santa Monica College after getting my Bachelor's. They're fantasti…

How did you and your wife take German from the same professor at the same time? Was he broadcasting his lesson, were you and your wife in the same location as the teacher, was the teacher able to duplicate himself, or is "at the same time" more of a "during the same semester" and not literally at the exact same time?

Same semester, different hours, most likely.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#207

Post by mixmastamyk »

cliffdover wrote: post #150
two2two wrote: post #63

I'm a returning student about to complete my degree at the end of this year. I went to an art school for a few years out of high school and ended up in customer service positions with some great companies. I didn't want to continue in customer service, so I decided to go back to school. Started with two years at community college, and now finishing up my last two at university. Some insights I picked up along the way…

>I don't think anyone needs a degree anymore to get to where they're going False, unless by "anyone" you mean people in the US. I'm from Colombia and back to college to get the degree because I can't find a job anywhere without it. In here 90% of job offers require a degree and some only count your experience after the graduation date.

Any coveted job in the US is the same. First step in hiring funnel is to throw out resumes without 4 year degrees.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#208

Post by skookumchuck »

two2two wrote: post #63

I'm a returning student about to complete my degree at the end of this year. I went to an art school for a few years out of high school and ended up in customer service positions with some great companies. I didn't want to continue in customer service, so I decided to go back to school. Started with two years at community college, and now finishing up my last two at university. Some insights I picked up along the way…

> there should be 4 semesters a year

My father went to university after WW2 on the GI Bill. They ran semesters year round, because there were so many vets wanting to go. End result was he graduated in 3 years.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#209

Post by InclinedPlane »

two2two wrote: post #63

I'm a returning student about to complete my degree at the end of this year. I went to an art school for a few years out of high school and ended up in customer service positions with some great companies. I didn't want to continue in customer service, so I decided to go back to school. Started with two years at community college, and now finishing up my last two at university. Some insights I picked up along the way…

What are you studying, out of curiosity?

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#210

Post by opportune »

171243 wrote: post #201
gnulinux wrote: post #196

I want to go back to school. I graduated undergrad in 3 years so even though I have a Bachelor's in CS, I still feel half-baked. I studied CS only because I freaking love it and learning more is my utter passion. I want to have a graduate degree in CS... but how? I have a job, I have other stuff to do now, and taking an almost decade investment sounds way too much (in US PhDs can take very long). I'm a very socially…

Georgia Tech's Online Masters of Computer Science. 100% online and same degree you get from the on campus program which happens to be a top 10 in the nation. There is no research track unfortunately which means it is a terminal masters program.

Not sure where you're getting that a non-thesis masters program is "terminal". You can still go somewhere to get a PhD with a non-research master's degree, not even necessarily somewhere "bad". If anything the fact that the degree is online would hurt you more than the fact that there was no thesis
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