The Back to School Thread

lindz_sl said:

I'm looking to go back to school part time and want to get into programming. Could someone explain the difference between a Computer Science degree and a Computer Engineering degree? The description on University of Washington's site sounds pretty much identical so I'm not really sure how determine which is the right fit.

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I haven't been in college in 15 years, so take this with a grain of salt...

But when I was in school, Computer Science/Computer Engineering was usually only different at universities depending on which school they were part of. When I went to Mizzou, both Computer Science and Computer Engineering were in the School of Engineering, and thus both had a HUGE math emphasis(both programs put you within a few credits of a second major in mathematics), but then we had a "Computer Programming" major that was in the college of Arts & Sciences, and had very little math beyond just college algebra and maybe Calc 1 at most.

However, I did apply to some schools and when checking out their programs, Comp Sci might have been in Arts & Sci with less math, while Comp Eng was in Engineering with tons of math, etc.

The actual computer classes were probably 90% the same, but the side requirements were vastly different. The Engineering school at my university required very little english and NO foreign language, so I wanted to go that direction. I'll take more Math over having to take French or some shit any day of the week.

So tl;dr, see which school within the university each course is based in, it makes the gen ed requirements VASTLY different, even if the actual computer classes are very similar.

Looking at those programs, it looks like if you want to get into programming then the Computer Science degree is what you want. The Computer Engineering degree is more like what you would want if you were interested in robotics or something.

Ok thanks guys.

I'm a computer engineer. I would advise computer science if you want to program. Best way to describe computer engineer is a blend between electrical engineering and computer science. If you have no interest in engineering then stick to compsci.

Troll_sl said:

And if you have an interest in EE you're weird.

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Probably, most of the EE's were the weirdest fucking people I've ever met. But if you want to be rich CPE/EE is the way to go. Software engineers make good money too though, $76k/year starting at my company fresh out of college.

Ok. I have never gone on to college or even CC at this point in my life. Never knew what I wanted to do, really. I have mainly held customer service/restaurant style jobs since getting out of HS. Just never wanted to get in debt when I had no clue what I wanted to do. That said, I am seriously contemplating going back to get a degree that would help me in my current job, in house tech support for a large company. No idea what to do, where to start other than taking a few refresher courses at the local CC and then try to finish at a state college. I know I like working on computers; building and fixing them. That sort of thing. But I have had no real training with them other than what I have picked up over the years through friends and the internet.

So, with all that said, what sort of degree should I be aiming for? Computer networking? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Just tired of having jobs where it is living pay check to pay check : /

How many classes do you take per semester for that Master's program? Work offers to pay for it as well for me for the exact same thing (software engineering), and I'm thinking about doing it.

Will they only pay for software engineering? I would ask if you could complete your MBA. If you are like TJT, you may not learn much but you would be surprised how many work applicable things you will learn during your MBA.

wormie_sl said:

Do it from home:

Penn State Online | Bachelor of Science in Information Sciences and Technology | Overview

They have a few terminal masters you can follow up with.

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Christ, $65-70K just in tuition fees for that online degree.

That's pretty much what has been keeping me from going back and getting my degree online, I don't have any decent option in-state for an online Comp Sci degree(in state tuition) and every decent option out of state costs a damn fortune. I don't want to take out any student loans to do it either. I also don't want a degree from a for-profit university (UofPhoenix, etc)

dolaan_sl said:

Will they only pay for software engineering? I would ask if you could complete your MBA. If you are like TJT, you may not learn much but you would be surprised how many work applicable things you will learn during your MBA.

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They'll pay for anything "related to our business", so MBAs are covered in most cases. The reason I'd go for software engineering is it's the logical path for me, although right now I'm not in a software role so perhaps an MBA would be better.

Shit. I thought this thread was all about "kids" going back to school, not anyone going back to school. I thought for sure I was going to come in here, and read all about how the cost of school supplies for their 6th grader has sky rocketed.

Lol! now I'm going to go re-read the whole thread, because I'm a working professional that has no degree, and I too want to get out of the customer service industry.

Big Data and Analytics sounds most interesting to me, but not sure where I would start.

I thought about getting my MS in data analytics and then I saw that wtf hard as balls stats course I would have to take and I was all "nah bro, nah."

I may revisit that. I think being in it security that might actually be worthwhile.

joeboo_sl said:

That's pretty much what has been keeping me from going back and getting my degree online, I don't have any decent option in-state for an online Comp Sci degree(in state tuition) and every decent option out of state costs a damn fortune. I don't want to take out any student loans to do it either. I also don't want a degree from a for-profit university (UofPhoenix, etc)

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Is in-state/out-of-state really a thing when talking about online degrees? I thought they were basically one flat fee no matter where you were. For example, I'm doing a degree online through UMass Boston and as far as I can tell there is no difference in tuition depending on location. I've looked at some University of Maryland programs as well, and there was no difference there, either.

Anyway, since it looks like there are a lot of people here considering online degrees I'll give my experience with the aforementioned online degree through UMass Boston. I was pretty hesitant to do a degree--let alone a master's degree--online, but I have to say that I have been nothing but extremely pleased and impressed with what I've experienced at UMass Boston. First of all, all of the classes are identical to the ones in the on-campus program, which means my transcript won't have any mention of "online" or "distance". Secondly, all of the classes are taught by the same professors who teach the on-campus classes and, in fact, I've had a few classes where the professor has the online students work together with the on-campus students since we're covering the same material at the same time with the same professor. The only negative thing I have to say is that I'm not too fond of the online learning software they use: Blackboard. It's not very user friendly, kind of sluggish, and has problems in some browsers. I know for a fact there is better online learning software out there, so I'm not sure why they use Blackboard.

Assuming all of the online programs at the Umass schools (Boston, Dartmouth, etc.) are similar to this one, I would highly recommend it if you're looking for an online option from a "real" university.

How is it that you guys picked what you want to do?

I feel it's pretty common reason of dropping out a decade ago (funny how we are all in the same age range), because we didn't know what we wanted to do. Then life happens, and now here we are, 10 years later and looking to go back to school.

Some of my own personal experiences, and this may get a little long winded... tl;drI have no idea what I want to do, tried lots of things, none stick. Help.

I've looked into computer science and engineering degrees, and discovered that while I like computers, I find it all tedious and boring. A networking class taught me this, because I thought it fun getting computers to talk to each other, then they started getting into the network stack, and some of the finer details and I was falling asleep.

Fell into the financial services industry after that, doing customer service, and after seeing broker after broker be terrible with peoples money I thought hey, I like working with people, and I could do better than these crazies! Took a couple weeks and was looking more into stocks, and the industry. Yet again, boring. Hated it all.

Then I thought hey, I like knowing how the brain works, and why people think what they think. Looked into, and actually took a few classes at local CC on psychology. Then I realized I'd have to get a PhD before I made the kind of money I would want to make, so I said F that. Liberal degrees! amirite??!

I've thought about hotel management degree, as again, I like making people happy, like servicing people, but I'm afraid of being stuck in a low pay grind of a job before I'd ever get to where I'd want to be. Scares me off. It's kind of like those stories you hear of the McDonald's franchise owners starting to work there when they were 14 and now own a few restaurants, and are awesome. Well ya, after 15-20 years I probably could be a manager of a meaningful hotel, but not sure I'm willing to go through all the shit and slums it would take to get there.

I'm not technically dumb, and I feel that's where the most earning potential is. I like statistics, and combining that with some business degree pieces, the latest trend of Big Data, and analytics sounded interesting, but I have no idea. I enjoy business and economics, and technology. I think.

Any ideas. I'm spinning my wheels. Cool thing is, work will pay up to $5k a year towards a bachelors and it can be in anything. Then they will also pay towards my masters as well, but no idea what I want to do.

Good info. I find it fascinating the data that can be gleaned from what's out there right now. And then being able to take that data and turn it into something usable. I suppose it kind of goes hand in hand with marketing, which is another thing I've had interest with in the past, but heard it was a terrible field unless you had artistic talent.

Right on in getting in on the bottom floor. I think it's only going to get bigger and bigger!