
Ask HN: Should I go back to academia? - sktrdie
I&#x27;m 30 and have worked as a software developer for the past 10 years. Travelled the world, worked with amazing people, and for inspiring companies. I don&#x27;t regret any of it and have learned a tremendous amount during this time.<p>Recently however I&#x27;ve been feeling a bit burned out and the idea of doing something for myself (and nobody else) such as studying, has really inspired me to take a deep look at my life and see what I should be doing about it.<p>I can continue doing software development, which will involve working for others of course (as most other jobs require). Or I can of course start my own business, which I also tried and seemed like in the end I was still doing things for other people - after all, markets are driven by users&#x27; needs.<p>After thinking about it some more I thought, why not go back and finish my CS degree? I have about 2 years left (have 2 left from my younger years which I can reuse). I saved up enough to afford it - fortunately here in Europe university is pretty cheap. It feels like it will be one thing I can do for myself and will not regret. I&#x27;m a bit scared about leaving industry and not being able to find a job once I&#x27;m done, but I figured, I&#x27;m not going to study gardening - a CS degree could perhaps give me even better experience than other 2 years of &quot;burned out&quot; industry.<p>I was wondering if any of you have had these thoughts as well (mostly doing things for yourself, like studying) and whether you think going back to study is a good idea or not.
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gamechangr
It's always hard to make these decisions, but one comment deserves
clarification.

"a CS degree could perhaps give me even better experience than other 2 years
of "burned out" industry."

To me that doesn't resonate (it seems 'untrue'), unless you do it very
specifically.

I think you should consider going back to get a degree because you have the
capital, want to take a time out, and it sounds enjoyable to learn something.

I would NOT go back to get a degree and stay in this field.

If I did consider it, it would HAVE TO BE A TOP TEN PROGRAM (which doesn't
really leave much options in Europe).... AND IT WOULD HAVE TO BE
SPECIALIZED...Learning AI or ML for example.

There are way too many CS grads that can't get jobs and many developers with
5+ years experience (no degree) that would get very limited increase in
economics due to completing a degree.

~~~
sktrdie
But you see, the endpoint of this endeavour is not to eventually find a better
job or get the piece of paper. Is to learn something for myself.

