[HN Gopher] Ask HN: Difficulties with going back to school
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Ask HN: Difficulties with going back to school
I'm 32, no degree, been working in software development for the
last 8 years, and I want to go back to school for
mechanical/electrical engineering. The problem is, I can't find a
way to make it work. To really commit to it I'd have to do it in
person and it would be hard to balance with a full time job and I
would need to work to just pay for life. Otherwise, I could take an
online only degree which would allow me to work but I know that
bench time is really important. I'm not sure how it would work with
a fully online degree. There's also the costs. I'm having trouble
finding programs under 80k, and coming out of it I would be
starting at the bottom of the ladder not making as much. I do have
an option to attend at my country of birth, in Eastern Europe, for
much cheaper but I don't think it's easy to transfer that outside
of the EU. I just don't know how to make it work, if I can. I
would at least like to have a degree of some sort, even if it's
computer science (easier online) but it's still an expensive one. I
don't have anyone that can really give me great advice on this so I
would appreciate any advice from you all.
Author : hndecision1234
Score : 31 points
Date : 2025-03-23 13:54 UTC (9 hours ago)
| richardboegli wrote:
| Drop me an email at HN at richardboegli dot com
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| Sorry just sent one to the original, will send one to this as
| well.
| markus_zhang wrote:
| I'm in Canada so the fee is a lot more manageable, but I
| absolutely have no time.
|
| TBH I don't think going back to the school is a good idea. They
| have weird rules that you have to follow as a customer; You have
| to take a ton of BS courses to make the degree. It's just BS
| considering that they just have a monopoly of degrees and you
| have to go through one of them.
|
| If you want to go into EE, maybe try finding some embedded job?
| pavel_lishin wrote:
| I wonder if OP would be able to test out of the basic
| requirements - algebra, language, etc. I was able to skip some
| of my curriculum because I took some of classes in high school
| that transferred over, and some I just fully tested out of -
| saved me probably at least a semester's worth of classes.
| markus_zhang wrote:
| Yeah that's a good thought.
|
| I'd say OP can probably do it a lot better and cheaper by
| building his own benches. I don't know what he exactly wants
| to do, but an introductory bench including an Oscilloscope, a
| multimeter, a dedicate power source, a function generator, a
| soldering station, a desoldering station and a logical
| analyzer is going to be a lot more affordable, especially if
| OP is willing to ask around for second handed equipments.
|
| Then OP can take a look of MIT open course and similar
| materials to find labs to work on.
| ryandrake wrote:
| What are some of these "BS courses" that you think you could
| have left out? I used to think this way when I was younger, but
| now I'm glad my undergrad university had at least _some_ arts
| and humanities requirements to round out the degree. IMO we
| have too many Spock-like figures in tech who aced linear
| algebra and can balance a binary tree in 13 programming
| languages, but have not even a remote exposure to ethics,
| philosophy or history. They end up working for terrible
| companies, happily building the Torment Nexus because it 's an
| interesting technical challenge. Or they just can't have an
| educated conversation about a topic that's not tech related.
| University is not _just_ job training.
| markus_zhang wrote:
| I guess it's different for each of us, but I would be
| surprised if you think EVERY course you took is useful. There
| must be one or two?
|
| I used to read a lot of history and humanity books so I don't
| really want to spend money on any such courses. Plus there
| are so many free ones online so I can take whatever I want
| instead of being forced to take something I might dislike.
|
| Some universities offer independent studies which is cool, in
| which people can take courses they want. But for OP's cause I
| think just building a bench by himself and working on open
| courses is better, unless that degree is really useful.
| ryandrake wrote:
| University degrees provide (among other things): Job
| training, a broad, well-rounded education, and a piece of
| paper at the end that _certifies you got_ both. You may
| have independently studied the arts long ago, just like you
| may already have been a math or programming wizard, but the
| university doesn 't know this and cannot certify it in
| writing.
|
| Reasonable people can argue whether or not universities
| -should- just be single-subject job training. But as it
| stands today, they aren't.
|
| I agree with you though: If OP just wants training in a
| single discipline, there are tons of online engineering
| courses, many of them free. That's not what a university
| degree is for.
| brudgers wrote:
| If you want a degree get a degree. All the concerns you list are
| the least hard part of getting a degree.
|
| Giving yourself permission to get a degree...permission to live
| your actual values...permission to make yourself happy...those
| are the hard part. Good luck.
| 9rx wrote:
| _> If you want a degree get a degree._
|
| If he truly wanted a degree, he'd already be doing it. It reads
| more like what he really wants is a break from software but is
| still in an economic reality of needing a job.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| You're right. I just struggle with the cost because that
| amount of money could sustain me for some time if I lost my
| job.
| pavel_lishin wrote:
| > _All the concerns you list are the least hard part of getting
| a degree._
|
| I don't think that "paying $80k" and "finding the time to
| actually get the degree while maintaining a full-time job" are
| the "least hard" parts.
| brudgers wrote:
| The author said they don't have to pay $80k because degrees
| in their home country are cheaper.
|
| The author could work part time for less money.
|
| They are not giving themselves permission.
| dvh wrote:
| Imagine the lab you could set up for 80k. And the projects you
| could do. IMHO not worth it going back to school.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| Yeah I've thought about going this route as well, but on the
| other hand the degree opens up more opportunities. Would it be
| possible to get a position in the field just with home lab
| experience?
| tayo42 wrote:
| Where are you looking for a bachelor's degree that costs 80k?
|
| Start with an associate at community College. It's way cheaper,
| maybe even free.
| sfpotter wrote:
| A lot of places will allow you to transfer an associates to a 4
| year. Do the general education requirements at the CC, which is
| practically free and will be easier to work into your schedule.
| Then transfer directly into your major of choice (talk the uni
| about this first).
|
| Some states also have "adult learner" deals which bring the
| cost down if you're older. Not sure if you're old enough. If
| you aren't yet, you're close--I knew someone in their late 30s
| doing this when I was in undergrad. If you're too young, wait a
| couple years, save up, get a head start on your degree of
| choice, them do it.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| In my local area, a relatively middle of the round state
| college, it's 30k a year. It's good advice on the associates
| though. I do actually have one but not many credits transfer
| over (which is why I put "no degree" in the post). I could go
| back and get more credits that would transfer for cheaper.
| csantini wrote:
| Degrees from Europe are very transferable. Germany, Italy,
| France, the nordics etc. all offer engineering degrees in english
| basically for free (or close) for all EU citizens. I cannot think
| of any better and cheaper education path. Some of the best
| engineers (and professors!) in the US actually got their
| education from minor and major Universities in Europe where they
| got their education for free.
| cocoto wrote:
| I think you now have to pay for education if you come from
| outside the EU, at least in France. It is still cheaper than
| the US because it is massively subsidized by the working class.
| A person coming to EU only for free /cheap education is not
| welcomed.
| cinntaile wrote:
| OP is originally from the EU.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| This is interesting, I only ever thought about my home country
| but since it's a part of the EU I could attend another EU
| country's college for cheap?
| mettamage wrote:
| What about MSCSO at UT texas?
|
| Online but same degree as offline, good AI offering that is
| recent and around $10K.
|
| Georgia Tech is also a good one.
|
| The university of Helsinki has similar things [1].
|
| Germany and the Netherlands have affordable degree programs open
| universiteit/open universitat are the keywords. Not sure if you
| need to learn the language.
|
| I hope this seeds your creativity a bit so you can look for a
| solution that fits you.
|
| [1] https://www.helsinki.fi/en/admissions-and-education/open-
| uni...
| mouse_ wrote:
| > I do have an option to attend at my country of birth, in
| Eastern Europe, for much cheaper but I don't think it's easy to
| transfer that outside of the EU.
|
| Even if that is the case, which it might not be, you'll still
| receive the skills and experience you are after. Personally, I
| say go for it, however of course adding moving on top of any
| situation may constitute a dramatic increase in leverage, so.
| Know your personal tolerances and work sustainably!
| bsoles wrote:
| I don't know where you are located but Massachusetts has free
| community college for adults 25 years old and older:
| https://www.mass.gov/info-details/free-community-college.
| bglazer wrote:
| Just thinking outside the normal options, you could try to apply
| for PhD programs.
|
| They typically pay doctoral students, albeit not very much
| (~$30-40k), which could lessen the financial burden. With a
| little creativity in your application, you could certainly write
| a convincing case for why 8 years of software engineering is
| superior to an undergraduate degree.
|
| Also, I would very strongly encourage you to take one or more
| intro classes on the side before you jump in full time. It's
| critical that you don't delude yourself about what you're
| actually getting into before you fully commit.
| koliber wrote:
| Without a BS or a master's degree it will be hard to get into a
| PhD program.
| grandempire wrote:
| > I'd have to do it in person and it would be hard to balance
| with a full time job and I would need to work to just pay for
| life
|
| This is true. Don't compromise. To get the value of a degree you
| need to be studying full time for something like 8-9 months of a
| year for 3-4 years.
|
| To make the community college idea concrete, the first 2 years of
| engineering are fairly standard. Take these and then transfer:
|
| - calculus (2 semesters) - chemistry and labs (3 semesters) -
| physics and labs (3 semesters) - engineering stats (1 semester) -
| intro sequence in your field (circuits or statics/dynamics, 2
| semesters)
|
| Bonus if they have differential equations or linear algebra, but
| they usually don't.
|
| Get a requirements list for your major from the state school.
| Know every course. Make sure every class transfers from community
| college. They should have it in writing which courses are
| equivalent. Don't trust that the counselor will get it right for
| you. Don't take any course that doesn't explicitly have an
| equivalent course number.
| axpy906 wrote:
| I feel you. I am 43 and have two kids and already have a masters
| but not in CS. I want to go back because even though I am working
| in industry for quite some time, their a foundational gaps I have
| since I learned things on the fly. Very little time between work
| and life to do so, and at the end of the day, really have a hard
| time justifying cost when I've got so much experience already...
| giovannibonetti wrote:
| Maybe attending online college courses like Coursera could be a
| compromise?
| pfannkuchen wrote:
| Would you mind sharing an example or two of what sort of
| foundational gaps you feel you have?
|
| I didn't go to school for CS either and I felt like that for a
| while too, but at some point I stopped feeling like that. I
| think the feeling for me was some kind of imposter syndrome
| that I was attributing to the degree, but I think it turned out
| to actually be coming from somewhere else.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| I very much feel like this also. Even after years of experience
| I just feel like I'm missing things, at a deeper level. I spend
| a lot of time learning on my own but it doesn't stick as well
| as I'd like it to.
| lizknope wrote:
| What country are you in now?
|
| The difference between mechanical and electrical engineering is
| huge. Why do you want to do either? In your last paragraph you
| are also considering computer science.
|
| You need to decide which degree you actually want and why. What
| will you be able to do with a degree that you can't do now?
|
| I can only speak for the US but I would look at college
| curriculums and look at the actual classes you need to take. Many
| public universities in the US have partnerships with community
| colleges where you can take many general education classes from
| the first 2 years and get the credits to transfer.
|
| I have an electrical engineering degree and there were labs in
| some classes but others had none.
|
| Maybe when you get to that point you can work part time or with
| flexible hours and go to those classes during the day a few times
| a week and work during the night.
|
| All of this means you are going to have a big change in your
| life. That could be cheaper housing, cheaper vacations, less time
| for a personal life, etc.
| ghaff wrote:
| As someone who has a BS and an ME, electrical and mechanical
| are very different. I got a mechanical degree undergrad and I
| might have done things differently in retrospect because
| fiddling with mechanical things is not really my forte. Though
| ended up as essentially a project manager and then a product
| manager so didn't really matter.
|
| I fully agree that, especially as someone who has worked, the
| key question is "Why?"
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| It's just something that I've always wished I pursued, and on
| a general note I would like to just have a degree in
| something.
| ghaff wrote:
| >I would like to just have a degree in something
|
| Maybe get a certificate in something you're genuinely
| interested in? If you're a Linux person, there are any
| number of Linux Foundation and Red Hat certificate
| programs. See also Microsoft.
|
| There's a lot of time, money, and generalized BS involved
| in a university degree. Sure, it's sort of a rite of
| passage out of high school. But I never seriously
| considered getting another degree later in my career.
|
| There are tons of probably more practically useful
| certificate programs out there for someone who is already
| working. Maybe if you're seriously thinking about switching
| fields/roles but, again, that comes back to "why are you
| doing this?" It's presumably not for the piece of paper. I
| don't even know where my pieces of paper are.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| I'm in the US.
|
| Really it just boils down to I've always been enchanted by
| engineering but never had the ability to due to having to work
| to make money to keep going. I'm considering computer science
| just because it would be easier to do while working and
| recently I've heard it's cheaper.
|
| I do have a 2 years at a community college but most of the
| credits won't count which is why I said "no degree" but you're
| right, I can transfer some.
| lizknope wrote:
| Start by googling "university_name degree_name curriculum"
|
| Here is my school's 4 year course curriculum including all
| senior year elective choices with descriptions of the classes
| for electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer
| science, and mechanical engineering.
|
| https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/engineering/electrica.
| ..
|
| https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/engineering/electrica.
| ..
|
| https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/engineering/computer-.
| ..
|
| https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/engineering/mechanica.
| ..
|
| Take some time to look at the sequence of classes. Some stuff
| is obvious like Calculus 2 comes after Calculus 1. Look at
| the classes in common during the first 1-2 years.
|
| I strongly suggest reading every single class description and
| especially every senior year elective class description.
|
| Too often people think "XYZ sounds cool, that's what I'm
| going to study" without actually knowing the names or
| descriptions of the classes they will study.
|
| Circuits 1 was the weed out class at my school. The first day
| of class the professor said 1/3 of you won't be here next
| year. He was correct. About 20% of the students dropped the
| class after the first test. Many of them switched to computer
| science which I think is a much easier major.
|
| When I see someone say "electrical or mechanical" that is so
| broad that I feel like you don't have a good understanding of
| what either really are. That's okay but you shouldn't be
| making a big life decision with a vague understanding of what
| they are. That's why I took the time to post all those links
| for you to read.
| giaour wrote:
| What state are you in? A lot of community colleges have
| "articulation agreements" or "guaranteed admissions
| agreements" with nearby public universities that give you
| guaranteed transfer admission if you meet the requirements.
| You may be able to transfer more of those credits than you
| think if you jump through the right hoops.
| elteto wrote:
| If in the US first attend a local community college to knock out
| the first two years of general requirements for your degree. You
| can continue working and start saving aggressively. Then transfer
| to a state college to attend in person and finish your degree.
| dahart wrote:
| Try talking yourself into it; the question sounds like you're
| talking yourself out of it.
|
| You don't need all the money at once, $80k degree is $20k/year -
| and only if you do it in 4 years. You are allowed to take longer
| (and spend less per year). If you're working while you do the
| degree, the yearly cost isn't a very big problem. Find out how
| online degrees work, don't use that as a reason to not try. Apply
| for grants, loans, and scholarships. Some grants and scholarships
| are need based, and you may be easily able to demonstrate need if
| you explain your situation. Some grants and scholarships just go
| to people with interest and promise, and you don't know if you
| don't apply.
|
| Many employers offer tuition assistance, as well as some amount
| of time for school. If your employer doesn't, consider looking
| for one that does. You might have to work there for a year before
| being eligible.
|
| If you want a CS degree instead, you can easily do that online,
| and it's not very expensive, and you can do it on nights and
| weekends.
|
| If you want to change careers after receiving the degree, you
| might indeed be back on the bottom of the ladder, but that's not
| a good reason to avoid it. Imagine staying at your current job
| for 30 more years vs doing mechanical engineering - which would
| you rather? Also your growth may be more limited without a
| degree. While you might take an income hit temporarily, you can
| also advance faster and end up making more money later.
|
| I'm pretty sure going back to school while working full time can
| be quite difficult depending on your ability to sacrifice social
| life and free time for 4 years. Full disclosure, when I thought
| seriously about doing a graduate degree after working for 7
| years, I opted out. The school even offered a fellowship, but I
| had 2 kids and a house already and the fellowship didn't even
| cover the cost of health insurance for the kids.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| I appreciate this. I do indeed talk myself out of it because I
| keep coming back to the thought of "it's a lot of money, an
| amount of money that could sustain me if I lost my job for a
| while". I've dismissed scholarships because I figured I make
| too much and I'm too old for them, so now I'll give them a
| closer look.
|
| Do you have anywhere you recommend for a CS degree? I've found
| it's still the same price as any other degree at the colleges
| I've looked at.
| dahart wrote:
| You could look at WGU for online CS, they're under $10k/year
| and they assume you're working. There's lots of online
| information so you can do some research about whether this is
| really an option that fits you well or not. With work
| experience in software engineering, you might be able to
| complete an online degree at somewhere like WGU much faster
| than 4 years.
|
| I'd say don't rule out loans either. I no longer know what
| the landscape is like now, I used subsidized Stafford loans
| more than 20 years ago. But if you can get a loan with a low
| interest rate and deferred payback, then you wouldn't need to
| worry too much. You might be able to piece the funding
| together via a combination of loans and work and maybe grants
| or scholarship if you can find some. If you lost your job or
| wanted to attend in-person school you could maybe also
| consider easier, lower-paid part time work. Is family money a
| potential option? (Don't answer that, I'm just throwing out
| something to consider.)
|
| I don't mean to be glib, I would find the idea of part time
| work pretty hard to imagine for me, so I have some idea of
| what I might sound like to you... I just wanted to be
| encouraging and prompt some creative financial optimism for
| how you might achieve your goals. Getting a degree won't
| guarantee your life or your finances will be better, but
| statistically it helps, and it is a necessary credential for
| most of the best jobs, and it is good to broaden your
| education in non-vocational ways. I'm wishing you good luck!
| canucker2016 wrote:
| Have you looked at colleges/universities that have co-op
| education (alternating study for one term, work at a company
| in relevant field for another term)?
|
| For typical STEM-related work term jobs, the money (after
| expenses during the work term) is enough to cover most of the
| costs for the next study term.
|
| If co-op education is not available, then you'd still have
| earnings from three summer jobs to help offset the cost of
| going back to school.
| webnrrd2k wrote:
| If you need to work, then get a job at a university that offers
| free tuition for employees.
|
| I've had friend that worked as janitors for four years to get
| degrees from good/expensive schools.
| cplat wrote:
| GeorgiaTech's online Master's in Computer Science has lower
| costs. About $8k in total. I did it along with a full-time job
| since I only took one subject per semester.
| Jtsummers wrote:
| You need a bachelors to get into it which they don't have.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| I have a coworker that did this and also recommended it but
| unfortunately I need the bachelor's first. Do you know any
| cheaper CS bachelor's programs?
| 8s2ngy wrote:
| I have been writing software for fewer years than you have. I
| earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and am considering
| pursuing my master's soon. The problem I face is the archaic
| education system in my country--it seems designed to drive
| working professionals away. To get into a good institution, I
| would have to study intensively for most of the year and perform
| exceptionally well on an MCQ test in which each question must be
| answered in about two minutes. Besides that, this entrance exam
| is held only once a year, so if you miss the mark by just a few
| points, you will have to wait another year before trying again. I
| am still torn between returning to my studies and continuing my
| career in the industry.
| neilv wrote:
| Can you do the first two years of education and credits at a
| community college, and transfer to a state school for the last 2
| years?
|
| If you want to learn on your own (or remotely), you can easily
| buy a lot of the EE bench equipment. And there are affordable
| services to do things like fabricate your printed circuit board
| designs.
|
| If you can't handle the cost and time investment of a Bachelor's
| degree, and you really know your stuff in a field, sometimes you
| can do a Master's degree, which is much more focused.
|
| There's a chance your employer has a program to reimburse
| tuition. If you have demanding work, and take a demanding class,
| together these will probably take up all your time, and require
| careful self-management so that you can do well at both, but it
| can be done.
| dllthomas wrote:
| > Can you do the first two years of education and credits at a
| community college, and transfer to a state school for the last
| 2 years?
|
| That's what I did (albeit at a very different time in my life)
| and it worked well. Community colleges are usually quite
| supportive of students taking a light load for longer - it's a
| common need among their (actual and potential) students for a
| variety of reasons.
| programmertote wrote:
| Before you go full in on mechanical (ME)/electrical engineering
| (EE), I'd suggest you to try taking a course or two on it. For me
| personally, EE was a challenge and although I aspired myself to
| be a conventional engineer (either aerospace or electrical
| engineer), I ended up doing software/programming because EE was
| simply a subject I cannot master during college courses. If I had
| enough time in college (I was working 20 hrs part time and taking
| four other courses--was a greedy mistake of mine), maybe I'd have
| enjoyed my EE courses a bit more? Who knows?!
|
| Just my two cents as a mid-40 years old (maybe I'm jaded), and
| don't take it the wrong way. I just don't want you to go fully
| commit to ME or EE without having tried a tiny bit of the college
| courses. Sometimes, we have ideals that we want to do, but when
| we actually go and do them full time, we realize we don't enjoy
| that activity as much as dreaming about the idealized version of
| such activity...
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| A great point that I've heard from a couple others by now. I
| would ideally try to get a feel of it without spending too much
| money on courses to see if it's really something I want to
| finish. Do you have any other recommendations for more cheaply
| figuring out if it's something I would actually enjoy?
| etrautmann wrote:
| Don't let others talk you out of pursuing EE if that's what
| you're curious and passionate about. I took a path similar to
| what you mentioned - pursuing mech-e and EE during undergrad
| with a focus on robotics. If you're curious and interested in
| something, then you can absolutely make it work. EE does tend
| to be math heavy, but you can explore a lot of that with
| hobby projects to see if you're interested. Try implementing
| an audio project by designing and audio amp and then using
| digital signal processing. You can get everything from
| Sparkfun or Adafruit and use online tutorials, then run your
| own numbers to customize the design.
| decGetAc wrote:
| Why mechanical/electrical ? Very anecdotal but most of my friends
| from college who got a degree in that ended up chasing software
| engineering jobs.
|
| I mean I'm sure mechanical/electrical jobs exists but from my
| admittedly limited view it always seems like it's the opposite
| move so interested.
|
| Also 80k is ridiculous if it's in the US , maybe it's the
| specific university you're looking at ?
| bilbo0s wrote:
| I think they mean 80k total for all 4 or 5 years.
|
| That seems reasonable to me for a 4 year degree from one of any
| of the 50 public flagships. (I assume that's what they're
| talking about.)
| decGetAc wrote:
| I just looked up the average for public state universities
| per year and it's around 10k (8-15k)
|
| Which lines up with my own costs. Am I missing something ?
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| Really? The state college by me, middle of the road type,
| is 30k a year in state.
| esafak wrote:
| Get an online degree for less. The more important thing is having
| the knowledge associated with the degree, which you can learn on
| your own. Credentials are only important for highly competitive
| and specialized roles.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| Do you have any recommendations? It seems like there's just a
| few EE ones that are accredited, although I'm open to CS as
| well just to have a degree for the opportunities.
| gcanyon wrote:
| For all the people recommending/considering going to a 2-year
| college and transferring, some advice based on something that
| worked very well for a friend of mine:
|
| He talked to his desired 4-year college admissions team and told
| them he hoped to transfer in. He got their advice on the overall
| process, and the classes they recommended he take at the 2-year
| institution vs. leaving to take at the 4-year. He did the leg
| work to research the local options, sent them briefs on each, and
| they recommended which one would fit most directly into their
| transfer application process.
|
| n=1 but he did exactly what they said and ended up getting the
| 4-year degree he wanted from them with a minimum of drama along
| the way.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| This is good advice, I've avoided reaching out to admissions
| teams because they've tended to recommend the most costly
| routes but I can do more research myself and take the
| initiative like you said.
| createaccount99 wrote:
| What is the degree supposed to do for you? Just print a fake one
| if it's for your mom
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| Well, opportunities with employers is one thing.
| IshKebab wrote:
| Hope you know your salary is going to be like 50% lower if you
| switch to mech eng.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| Do you think that will always be true? Are software developer
| salaries going to be this high always?
| IshKebab wrote:
| Very good question. I'm not sure but it doesn't seem like
| anything has changed that would mean they would go down. LLMs
| included.
| bitbasher wrote:
| I don't want to sound negative, but why do you want to go back to
| school? Is this about changing career paths?
|
| If you're already working in software development and you plan on
| continuing that, then I don't think the net benefits would
| outweigh the negatives you outlined (high cost, possibly leaving
| job to have the time to commit in person).
|
| I think a better approach may be the online classes and/or self
| studying (computer architecture, etc). You can always follow
| multiple universities syllabi and do it yourself.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| It's less about changing career paths, since I can always learn
| EE on my own, but I've always wanted to have a degree for more
| opportunities.
| sircastor wrote:
| I went back to school at 37, and got my degree at 40 (2020). I
| don't regret it, though it was very tough. My classes were almost
| all online, and I transferred a "Associates in general studies"
| from a community college (obtained in 2008).
|
| Here are my thoughts: 1) You don't have to study your career
| path. You will almost certainly make more money in software than
| as an EE. I do electronics as a hobby, and I'm pretty happy with
| it. I worked full time while taking two classes a term. You
| already have a career in software. I'm here to tell you: you
| probably won't be learning much you don't already know. I didn't.
| Why do you want to go to school to study ME/EE? If you want it,
| go for it. But if you're just wanting to complete college, play
| to your strengths.
|
| 2) School is expensive. I cheated by going to a church college
| that subsidizes tuition. I have since stopped being a church-
| goer. I'm still proud of myself for getting my degree.
|
| 3) My wife is going back to school in mid-forties. It's not too
| late.
|
| 4) You're younger than you think. If you're not too tied down,
| tear up your life. You've got lots in front of you. I had a wife
| and a newborn (still have both) and a full time job.
|
| 5) US university programs strongly bias toward kids coming out of
| high school. They are a quagmire of bureaucracy. Ask lots of
| questions about the program, find out what you can skip, what you
| don't need, etc. I managed to get out of an internship
| requirement due to my 15 years in the industry.
|
| Good luck, and I'm proud of you. Education is a worthy goal.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| This is a really interesting answer, I'd like to ask some
| follow up questions.
|
| 1) I've heard this from a few people now. It's a bit
| demotivating (just because of paying off school loans from a
| job that makes less money is harder) but do you think software
| will always pay this highly? Or do you believe as one drops the
| other might also. I mention EE or CS because while I love the
| idea of EE, at the end of the day I want a degree for more
| opportunities.
|
| 2) I never thought to look into this, I'll definitely add it to
| my list to research.
|
| 3) You're right, I guess I just think of graduating near 40 and
| starting over in a new field and it's hard to think about.
|
| 4) This made me think a bit, because tearing up my life could
| mean a couple things. I don't have kids and I'm not married so
| I don't have many things tying me down. To me, this would mean
| going to college in my home country or somewhere near for
| cheaper. This is a huge move and would definitely tear up my
| life but I go back and forth about whether it is the best move
| for the future or not.
|
| 5) That's a really good way to put it. Even after mentioning my
| age and that I've been working and I'm currently working, they
| go through the questions you would ask someone outside of high
| school which is strange. They don't like to get too in depth
| and just want me to apply right away. I need to be more direct
| in my communication and ask the questions I want to ask.
|
| Thank you again for the advice.
| joquarky wrote:
| > Why do you want to go to school to study ME/EE?
|
| Because most hiring managers now select "Bachelors Degree" in
| the minimum education drop-down filter and thereby exclude all
| of the other beneficial attributes that a prospective employee
| may have.
|
| I have 25 years of enterprise web application development and
| I'm getting no progress in over a year of job searching.
|
| I have an Associates degree. The web arrived at the same time I
| graduated high school and I hyperfixeated on everything
| internet. I remember when "Yahoo!" offered their index as a
| text file that would fit on a 1.44 floppy. I passed the CISSP
| on the first try at 100 questions. I architected an internal
| OAuth/OIDC SDK for one of the top tier ISPs.
|
| It's becoming obvious to me that the four year degree is the
| only attribute I'm missing.
| vunderba wrote:
| > _You already have a career in software. I'm here to tell you:
| you probably won't be learning much you don't already know. I
| didn't._
|
| Woah. Pump the brakes. Even without precisely knowing what area
| of the IT world OP is in professionally - I can guarantee
| there's a huge amount of knowledge in a proper CS degree that
| they don't have. Granted a lot of that might be theoretics, but
| it's all _fundamental to computer science_.
|
| Just off the top of my head - it's highly doubtful that they
| have familiarity with any of the following topics (all of which
| are found in rigorously academic CS programs):
|
| - Linear algebra (eigenvectors, vector spaces, least squares,
| etc.)
|
| - Discrete maths (recurrence, graph theory, tree spanning,
| grammars, etc.)
|
| You can dispute how much _practical value_ this might have -
| but OP will 100% learn a great deal from a BS /MS in Computer
| Science.
| tossandthrow wrote:
| I run by a dogma that is an education every 10 years.
|
| I have a masters in computer science (my 20s) and am finishing a
| business degree for my 30 - which was less intense and allowed me
| to work full time.
|
| My goal would be to embark on an phd going into my 40s - where I
| again would be at a place to give myself into full time studies.
|
| I strongly believe in continued education.
|
| Not any answer to your question, merely a perspective.
| Jtsummers wrote:
| A US-centric answer because that's what I can help with:
|
| Regardless of the school you go to, look into community colleges
| and associates degrees. Talk to the schools you're interested in
| and find out what will or will not transfer in. Some schools are
| very picky, so don't waste two years on a EE-related associates
| when they only let you keep your english and history classes. But
| if they do let you transfer those in, spend a year knocking out
| those courses at a cheap (maybe even free) community college
| before going to a university for the engineering program.
|
| $80k is high, but not insane unfortunately in the US. It goes
| higher. Your best quality-for-cost option is probably going to be
| Georgia Tech. It's about $6k (plus a bit more for some lab fees
| and things) per semester, so you're looking at around $48-60k for
| a 4-5 year program. This is for in-state students. I'm not sure
| given the current issues in hiring how Atlanta is, but it has had
| a pretty good job market over the years. Move to Georgia for one
| year, you'll qualify for in-state tuition. I believe this tuition
| is also available for green card holders, but I'm not certain.
|
| GT also has (had?) associated programs with other universities in
| GA, often in lower cost of living areas for similar tuition
| costs. You'd attend those schools and get a GT engineering
| degree, some required you to transfer to GT main campus after
| your second year. I'm not familiar with how these programs
| currently work or if they still exist but they did a decade ago.
|
| Downside of GT is that they're _very_ picky about transferring in
| credits for math and science courses. They 're less picky about
| the english and history and other courses that are required. So
| the community college/associates degree thing only takes you so
| far there but you can probably knock out 6-8 courses at a
| community college and transfer them in.
|
| For other state universities, like with GT, you'll want to
| consider moving to the state for a year or so before attending to
| establish residence in the state.
|
| For private universities, you can look into them but three
| things: They're very picky on admittance (because so many people
| try to get in), their costs are much higher though they offer
| discounts based on your income/wealth, they're often in higher
| cost of living areas. Even if you get steeply discounted tuition
| costs, the cost of living will still give you a high annual cost
| for attendance.
|
| MS/PhD - Everyone suggesting this is delusional. You cannot start
| these programs without a bachelors _unless_ you 've somehow
| demonstrated exceptional ability in the field already. From your
| post, you've done nothing with either mechanical or electrical
| engineering so these are non-starters for you.
|
| Online - This is an option. However for engineering degrees
| you'll be missing out on all the hands-on work. If you're an
| unusually dedicated student (this is more common with older
| students though), you can get some of this with a home lab but it
| won't be the same. Get internships and coops to make up for your
| lack of hands-on experience. Speaking frankly, I would be very
| disinclined to hire a student with an online engineering degree
| and no internships or coops in the field (I would hire them into
| an internship or coop program, though). The lack of hands on
| experience would suggest they're all theory and no practice,
| that's not a useful person to hire and would make you less
| competitive if up against candidates from an in-person program
| with a decent reputation.
| hndecision1234 wrote:
| This is very helpful, thank you. I have an associates but not
| many of the credits are transferrable for EE so I put "no
| degree" but I should start at a community college and get more
| credits that can transfer for cheaper.
|
| Also, really interesting about GT. That's definitely a good
| chunk of savings so I'm going to look more into that today.
|
| I agree about the online, when I was looking at the programs I
| figured there was no way someplace I'd really like to work
| would hire me without hands on experience. The hands on
| experience is what sounds the most exciting to me and it's by
| far the best way I learn.
| Jtsummers wrote:
| The UNC system and NCSU is also very affordable if you're in-
| state and very good. Also around $10k/year for tuition and
| fees. The Raleigh area (NCSU) and the broader RDU area could
| also be a good area for you to seek employment for 1-2 years
| before starting school to establish residency.
| anonymousiam wrote:
| I was in a similar situation at a later age. You need to think
| more about what you want from the degree. For me, I just needed
| the sheepskin to advance my career, so I enrolled in an on-line
| program. If your present knowledge/skill-set has holes that a
| degree program would fill, you're better off making it a high
| priority, which means full-time in-person classrooms/labs, and
| sacrifices/changes to your current lifestyle. One problem you'll
| have is your salary history. It will preclude you from
| scholarships/grants that you could otherwise get. If you still
| have the option of living with your parents, and they're willing
| to help you, that could relieve some of the financial burden.
| After you complete your degree, you will not be "starting at the
| bottom of the ladder" because you have eight years of experience
| on your resume'.
| turtleyacht wrote:
| Have you considered mechatronics? There may be some curricular
| differences among mechatronics, EE, and mechanical engineering to
| consider, especially coming from a software development
| background.
|
| How's your interest in embedded and robotics, versus
| thermodynamics and stress of materials?
|
| What about the electrochemistry of wafers and ultraviolet
| lithography, versus circuit simulation and logic gates?
| xupybd wrote:
| [delayed]
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