

Ask HN: Thoughts about going back to school to pursue a 2nd Bachelor's degree? - funcfun

Hi all,
I thought this would be a great place to get people&#x27;s opinions on this matter.  I have a BA in Psychology and Philosophy and have been working as a sort of Data Analyst and software developer in an academic research lab for the past several years, but would really like to get into the field of Aerospace Engineering.  I do a lot of Statistics and Machine Learning in my current job, but certainly don&#x27;t have the Math &amp; Physics background for Engineering, so would likely be starting from the ground up.  Oh yeah, I&#x27;m also in my early 30&#x27;s.  What are people&#x27;s thoughts on this?  Any advice on how to finance this?
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mchannon
If you're not still encumbered by student loans from your first degree, then
maybe taking some out isn't so crazy.

With Math & Physics in particular, given that you're starting a bit late (even
18-year-olds struggle mightily with these subjects), might not be such a bad
idea to take just a few credit hours, only in these subjects to help you
transition from working full time to school full time.

Odds are you can probably apply some of your BA credits to your BSAE degree
but with 4 years of math you won't be able to make the degree happen any
faster even if you went full time to start.

Also, devote 10 hours to scholarship hunting. Apply, apply, search, and apply.
It's amazing how much free money people pass up to get loans for.

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phaus
Just a couple of questions.

Do you think there would still be many scholarships that a 30-something white
male, going to school for a second BS, a MS, or a Doctorate would qualify for?
I'm just about finished with my BS, which was largely funded by the GI bill,
but I'm trying to make plans for when that money runs out.

I honestly don't know where to start when it comes to looking for
scholarships, do you have any resources that you could share?

One of the ideas that I've toyed with is trying to fill the gaps in my
Information Systems degree by taking calculus, physics, possibly algorithms,
and then trying to apply to Georgia Tech's super-cheap CS Master's program.
Info systems is more of a business degree than I expected, when I really want
to do software development in the long run.

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avenger123
Have you gone ahead and looked at specifically what job you want to be doing
in "aerospace engineering". It's like someone saying they want to do chemical
engineering or mechanical engineering. Within each there is many many
different jobs.

Once you know this, how likely is it that you will be able to break in with
your degree? Can you break in without the degree?

Personally, unless you truly are committed and really want to do this, further
education isn't an answer. You will be losing four years of income plus career
growth.

Based on your description of the work you have been doing, you could likely
get a good job outside academia. Maybe what you are really looking for is a
change of environment.

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terrykohla
Dude you're going the opposite way, I'm trying to get out of Aerospace. What
are you specifically looking for in Aerospace. The field is pretty broad and
the work you'll do will be so specialized that you'll be using only 5% of all
you learn in engineering school. You can always take classes specifically for
what you want to do, you do not need an engineering degree to do the job
unless you want to become an FAA DER since they are the ones certifying all
the work done by "the engineers".

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thejteam
If you have been working as a data analyst and software developer have you
thought about getting into the simulation side of aerospace engineering. I
have a math degree and I did that for over 12 years.

If you don't have a problem working in the defense industry that would be the
most logical place to start looking for work, especially on the simulation
side. Although with defense spending being tight right now it may not be the
best place right now.

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rblatz
What would you need to get into a master's program? If you could meet those
requirements in less than 2 years it might be worth it to do that.

~~~
thejteam
Most Aerospace Masters programs won't take you without a BS in Aerospace. I
have a BA in Math and they told me not to bother applying. They told me to
talk to the EE people.

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skadamat
If your set on becoming a data scientist, I would just take a tom of courses
on coursera.org - machine learning, computing for data analysis, intro to data
science, natural language processing, then compete in Kaggle.com competitions
and do some cool data projects and network your way into a data journalist or
data scientist

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dylanhassinger
start a microbusiness/do a kickstarter. maybe it can even be in the aerospace
industry. maybe it would be better than the job you need said degree for.

fourhourworkweek.com startupbook.net tropicalmba.com

Don't borrow money for school, it's a trap

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cprncus
Much depends on what the sort of work you want to be doing down the road is.
Does it require a bachelor's in engineering? Does it require a masters? Ph.D?

