Hello all, I'm hoping to get some advice for my situation. I've entered a second degree (in CS) program at the University of British Columbia while working full time. My first degree is a BSc in Econ. Basically I'm wondering if I should continue with it, or instead focus on self teaching and contributing to open source/building a portfolio.
I quite like my job at the moment (public sector data analysis, with experience programming in R & SQL) and am not willing to quit to study full time, but would like to move into a software development role. Although I'm doing well enough in the one 4 credit course I'm taking, my mental health is not at its best and I'm finding it very difficult to manage work, school, and life. The program I'm taking is great, UBC has a top notch CS department, but it must be completed in 4 yrs.
The concerns I have are 1) getting burnt out, and 2) finishing the degree without having relevant work experience/a portfolio due to only having time for coursework. Another bachelor's degree takes a long time, especially part time, and I'm wondering if, given I (think) I have some aptitude for programming, my time would be better spent putting a dent into that 10 yrs of learning by doing that Norvig talked about. I would do this by working on large open source projects, reading lots of code, and studying (at a more manageable pace, from good sources like those on teachyourselfcs.com) CS theory. The thing holding me back from forging my own path is the worry that I would never be taken seriously without a formal education in the subject.
Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
I quite like my job at the moment (public sector data analysis, with experience programming in R & SQL) and am not willing to quit to study full time, but would like to move into a software development role. Although I'm doing well enough in the one 4 credit course I'm taking, my mental health is not at its best and I'm finding it very difficult to manage work, school, and life. The program I'm taking is great, UBC has a top notch CS department, but it must be completed in 4 yrs.
The concerns I have are 1) getting burnt out, and 2) finishing the degree without having relevant work experience/a portfolio due to only having time for coursework. Another bachelor's degree takes a long time, especially part time, and I'm wondering if, given I (think) I have some aptitude for programming, my time would be better spent putting a dent into that 10 yrs of learning by doing that Norvig talked about. I would do this by working on large open source projects, reading lots of code, and studying (at a more manageable pace, from good sources like those on teachyourselfcs.com) CS theory. The thing holding me back from forging my own path is the worry that I would never be taken seriously without a formal education in the subject.
Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!