
I'm 33. Starting my CS degree on Monday - InInteraction
https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/ibtrox/im_33_starting_my_cs_degree_on_monday/
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tester756
My knowledge is limited when it comes to USA school system, but is it very
uncommon there?

"Here", you can study at weekends (4 or 8 days a month system) and it costs
you like (ofc it's degree dependent, but we're talking about CS) like 10
minimal wages for 7 semesters and that's where people with jobs/kids/married
go

Of course you can also choose that path when you're 20, so this way you can
have 3.5 years of experience at the moment of graduation

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badrabbit
If you don't mind my asking, where is 'here'?

In the US if you get a Bachelors at 30 you'll probably be paying for it until
late 50's or 60's

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s1artibartfast
Cal state school tuition is <8K yr. If it takes 25 years to pay off a 32K debt
with a CS degree in California, you may have other challenges.

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badrabbit
When you do it part time, it takes much more than 4 years. Interest
accumulates over time too. I knew a guy with a CS degree that couldn't get a
job 5 years after too. Even if you do get work with only CS it won't pay as
much as even junior jobs at tech/finance/oil firms (which are picky and cheap)
on top of that people in their 40s usually support a family so loan payments
will usually be minimal. A decade at least even for the dilligent

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s1artibartfast
I agree that the CS degree isn't without risk. I also agree that it wouldnt
make financial sense to leave a career in tech/finance/oil to go back to
school in CS.

That said, the median individual income in the US is about 35K [1] and the
median entry level CS salary is about 80K [2]. For a lot of people, that is a
great deal for the cost. My big concern is what happens to the people who
don't make it through the program, but get stuck with debt they can't
discharge.

[1]
[https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N)
[2] [https://www.indeed.com/career/entry-level-software-
engineer/...](https://www.indeed.com/career/entry-level-software-
engineer/salaries)

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badrabbit
A late 30s guy with a CS degree and no experience will get far less than the
median entry level. I think having sufficient social services and interest
free tuition assistance for working adults would help a lot.

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legerdemain
Late-30s career changers with a fresh CS degree are rare enough that it's hard
to talk in knee-jerk generalities.

Did you have stats for a population of people like this? Do you have friends
or relatives in this situation? Have you hired a person like that for
horrifically low pay? I'd very curious to hear about your experience!

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badrabbit
Just vaguely remembered stories from people at a community college course I
attended a few years ago, some were trying to do more after a CS degree.

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_alxk
Best of luck.

I'm 32 and just started my data science course. I'm so excited and terrified
by what seems to be basic calculus and logic for others.

I'm a pentester/security guy with no formal background in anything. I was a
waiter until I was 27, but always hacked and coded around a bit since I was a
young kid. I've done well for myself professionally in the last 5 years, I'm
good at the soft skills and speaking, but I always felt so inadequate compared
to the serious engineers who did "serious" degrees. Hence why I want to get a
serious degree to talk serious stuff with my ML engineer colleagues.

