
Ask HN: Advice for a liberal arts grad thinking of going back for STEM degree - n0pe_p0pe
Graduated with BA English + BA Philosophy in 2015, did Fulbright, got a job in media, but now considering going back to school to pursue a degree in STEM, most likely ME or aerospace. Is this a waste of time? Any advice from people who&#x27;ve done something similar? Right now I&#x27;m working through MOOCs to refresh my math + will probably enroll in some community college classes in the fall to get intro credits out of the way before applying to universities.
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Jtsummers
If it's what you want to do it's not a waste of time. I've known people who
took similar paths (though not into ME/AE).

You do have an advantage in being older and hopefully more mature, you'll
likely find most of the coursework fairly easy compared to your younger
classmates if you approach it properly (like a job: with planning, scheduling,
and deliberate action).

Pay attention to what credits will carryover. Not everything will to every
school. Some will be very picky.

Start contacting faculty at universities you're interested in. Find ones that
have a specific interest for you. Different schools have faculty focused in
different specializations, and there's often a degree of synergy in the
department. Using CS, since I know it, a school strong in AI will have a
number of faculty focused on it. A school strong in distributed computing will
be similarly staffed.

So find the fields of ME/AE that interest you and start researching which
schools have that, don't just get the degree. Take advantage of the time you
have and the experience you have to make a better decision than most of us did
at 16 or 17 when we applied to our first colleges.

Look further, into graduate programs or what you'll do after you graduate. If
you want to work for a SpaceX or Blue Origin, you'll want to study different
things than if you want to go to Gulfstream. That will help guide your
decision on which undergrad program you pursue (assuming you can't get
directly into an ME program).

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n0pe_p0pe
wrt 'waste of time,' i've just heard from plenty of people that employers look
unfavorably at candidates who get late starts in careers and have switched
from radically different lines of work since it demonstrates 'lack of
commitment' &c., not to mention the downsides of doing entry level positions
in your early 30s, which is probably where I'd be by the time I finished any
programs

~~~
Jtsummers
I meant to respond to this last night, sorry.

If you're concerned about that, then you should start talking to potential
employers/professors early before switching. For instance, in my office, we
have a guy (about 35) going back for his CS degree to get out of a support
role and into a developer role (he has an associates degree, and was hired to
do limited IT work and paperwork). Yeah, he'll be older when he finishes the
degree, but he's already started getting development work in the office. And
the office, staff, bosses all know him and his interest and work ethic.

If you can do something similar with your current employers, that'd be a good
way to transition. Alternatively, network and reach out to people. And don't
be afraid to use the services of your university when you complete the degree.
Your professors there and the staff of the university will be well-connected
with industry if you don't go to a bottom-tier university (and even there
they'll have _something_ , even if it's only regional connections).

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framebit
I did a BFA in Filmmaking, some years in the industry, then went back and got
a BS in Computer Science at a pretty highly ranked engineering school. My
email's in my profile.

You're definitely doing the right thing by starting with MOOCs and community
college. Even though I was good at math in high school, that knowledge had
really atrophied without consistent use so I had to re-learn a lot of
trigonometry and pre-calc material.

Also in my case the engineering school required students with prior undergrad
degrees to apply as transfers, which meant I needed a bunch of math and
science pre-reqs from community college before I could even apply.

CS for me is a fantastic day job. I miss the arts, but I don't miss the film
industry, and I don't regret the choice to give up my "dream career" in favor
of a more balanced life.

Oh, and when I was interviewing, my age and previous work experience were
attractive to employers, not repellent. That probably varies quite a bit
depending on field and geography, but in my experience is false that employers
only want candidates in their early 20s.

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AnimalMuppet
Why do you want to do that? Why are you dis-satisfied with your liberal arts
degree, or with the doors it has opened for you? What are you hoping that STEM
will do for you?

~~~
n0pe_p0pe
A few reasons--for the last few years, I've mostly worked as a science writer
and have learned a lot about the fields I cover at a high level. Although I
can write competently about these subjects now, I feel that because I don't
have a background in the actual fields I'm covering I am doing a disservice to
my readers and am limiting myself as a science communicator. At the same time,
it's made me realize how much of the world my brain effectively treats as
magic for lack of the basic knowledge that comes with just an undergrad degree
in almost all STEM fields. Finally, when I look at career trajectories in
media, i've realized that financial incentives are not great unless you make
it to the top 5% of those employed in this field and many of these positions
aren't something I'd want to do anyway, much less work my ass off for decades
to get there.

So I guess from STEM, I'm looking for:

-financial stability/mobility in career

-understanding of the world at a deeper level

-the chance to actually be work at something that can change the world, rather than just writing about the people doing this work (arguably, media _does_ change the world, but from the inside I'd say I'm being generous by saying that 2/3 of media is entertainment 1/3 actually results in change).

~~~
AnimalMuppet
Well, in my view, we need science writers who really get the science (and who
can really write) worse than we need more STEM workers. I say this because
such science writers are far more rare than STEM workers are.

But you don't necessarily want to be that writer. You're somewhat unlikely to
get the financial stability that you're looking for out of it (much more
likely to get it in a STEM career). But if you _were_ interested in being that
writer, the world could seriously use you...

