For the last few years, I’ve met people who are self-taught programmers or at least have done boot camps and were able to find jobs. Being a self-taught developer from scratch, I know I was able to find a job but it took a lot of sacrifice and a little bit of luck for me to land my first job. So if I can do it, anyone can do it. And if anyone can do it, is a Computer Science degree even worth it anymore?
What’s your end goal?
Whether or not you decide to pursue a computer science degree depends on where you are at your stage in life.
If you’re a recent high school graduate and want to be a Software Engineer, then by all means a computer science degree is definitely worth your time.
If you have a family to support and are looking to get a Software Engineering job quickly, a computer science degree might not be worth it.
A computer science degree is only worth what you make of it. You can get a job in Software Engineering with or without it. Whatever path you decide to take, you CAN get into tech, provided that you are disciplined enough to educate yourself.
Why a Computer Science degree IS worth it
More Job Opportunities
Getting a Software Engineering job without a degree isn’t difficult. Getting a good one is. Simply put, your ceiling becomes much higher as the number of companies will prioritize your resume first, based on the system that the HR department uses for scouting potential employees.
The majority of recruiters won’t look at candidates without a Computer Science degree, especially if you don’t have prior experience. That’s just the nature of the recruiting industry: your resume will be passed over before you get an initial phone interview.
Think about it. You’re asking a company to take a risk on you if you don’t have the education and/or prior experience. Having a Computer Science degree alone automatically puts you ahead of other candidates that don’t have a degree.
Education from a reputable university
Getting a Computer Science degree teaches you the fundamentals of programming. I’ve known many self-taught developers (myself included) that panicked at the idea of O Notation. Not knowing the fundamentals of programming contributed to me struggling on the white-board problems, resulting in a lot of rejections.
Furthermore, only at a university will you be surrounded by like-minded individuals like yourself. The opportunities to be in such an environment is unique and can’t be replicated anywhere else. Take advantage of that.
And if you decide not to pursue a career on Software Engineering, that’s ok. You can pursue a career in project management, business analyst or data scientist. Or even go into product design and management. You’d be in a good position with a CS degree whatever career path you may decide.
I’d like to think getting a degree is like the instruction manual for a Lego set. Can you complete it without the manual? Absolutely. However, it will take you a VERY long time and not many have that kind of patience.
Why a Computer Science degree ISN’t worth it
The biggest knock on getting a Computer Science degree is the cost. Tuition may vary for you, but the College Board reports that a degree from a four-year, public university costs $10,740 a year for 2021-2022, a bit above $40,000 total.
Compared to a coding bootcamp, costs typically range from $10,000-$15,000 for a 3 month course. If you’d like to get into the tech industry faster, coding boot camps are the way to go. Check out my other blog post, are coding bootcamps worth it where I go over why you should take a coding bootcamp.
Of course there’s more to worth than just the dollar amount.
If you value practical results (aka getting a job), a degree might not be worth it. Universities primarily teach topics that, while good to know, aren’t used in real world situations. Very few times are we required to think about the time space complexity of our function, or worry about linked lists, B Trees and search algorithms.
Classes teach theory, where the algorithm is clean and can run at optimal conditions. In the real world, your environment isn’t very optimal. It is in fact quite messy. A Computer Science degree might not prepare you for such chaos.
I’m not saying a Computer Science degree is worthless. My approach would be to pursue a Computer Science degree when you’ve already had a few years of experience. That way, you can supplement your self-taught skills with proper education.
So is a Computer Science degree worth it?
As someone who is self-taught and has been in the software industry for a few years, if I was given the opportunity to get a Computer Science degree, I would absolutely take it.
I jumped straight into the code without any plan or structure. It took me years to learn a programming language and there are some aspects that I still don’t understand to this day.
I truly believe with a Computer Science degree, my path towards learning to program would have been smoother. The two concepts that computer science courses teach are data structures and algorithms, something that I regret not learning earlier.
Nonetheless, I’m making a living from programming, degree or not.
You’ll see tons of arguments about self-taught vs computer science degree: it doesn’t have to be one or the other. After all, there are pros and cons to both approaches. Like all things, it’s important to find a balance.
If you’re a self-taught developer, take some time to learn computer science fundamentals. You don’t need to earn a degree to do so. You can teach yourself CS. There are unlimited resources online.
And if you’re studying for a Computer Science degree, practice and hone your programming skills with side projects.
Is a Computer Science degree worth it? For me, kind of. For you, that’s for you to decide.
-Bao