
Ask HN: Should I transfer to an online BS? - weakfish
I&#x27;m currently enrolled as a Poli Sci major with a minor in CS (22 credits all the way through assembly and operating systems) and will be a junior this fall. I haven&#x27;t changed majors because my school is really strict on letting people change majors to CS, and I would not be alble to qualify without restarting as a freshman (even then, ~10% chance of getting accepted despite good grades).<p>I never wanted to transfer because I like my life here and was planning on going into a research-based masters of CS, but since classes are all online for the foreseeable future I was considering transferring an online program like CU boulder or FSU to get the degree I actually want. However, tuition at every school I&#x27;ve looked at is significantly higher because of out of state costs and I&#x27;d likely have to go into a bit of debt as I only have 4 years of school money stowed away.<p>Is this worth it or should I remain where I am debt free?
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hardwaresofton
Why do you want to transfer? Are CU Boulder or FSU drastically better
programs?

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weakfish
Because I can't switch into a CS major here.

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hardwaresofton
"can't" and "it's very hard" are very different things -- and it seems like if
they're gating CS majors entrance it's a highly sought after program? One that
would be almost certainly worth more than the online options?

If it is completely impossible, then there is no choice, if you want to do CS
and these are your only two choices (they're not -- dunno what state you're in
but there might be other good in-state schools you could transfer to). If it's
not impossible, but hard, then you need to apply elbow grease or talk to
whichever counselors and pester whoever else can get you in, and show that you
have what it takes.

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weakfish
I'll put it this way - my friend tried to switch after his freshman year
(where it gets tricky) and even with a recommendation from a professor who is
a _big_ deal in the cybersecurity research community, he was denied because he
was coming from business and not first year engineering.

