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A lot of my issues from high school were me not really fitting in with my classmates. My mother had got laid off from her job, was living above her means to keep me in the high school, and it had an effect. I was basically poor going to a mostly middle and upper middle class high school. So the peer pressure was pretty astounding, as kids were big on you having name brand clothes, and I didn't own any.
After working with my father for the summer, and getting a part time job at 16, I found that actually working was easier. I also found how much easier it was to deal with adults instead of of other kids. So my mother and me thought I would be more positive in an adult environment (community college basically).
But because I had so many unresolved issues from high school, it took me awhile to reach a good maturity level. I often lost focus during college, and it was inconsisitent. Most of the times I would kill it, and then some semesters I wouldn't be focused at all. For one, I found that I was just good at self studying, and that had been the case even in high school. And after I got around people in my field through free meetups and workshops, I found that it pointless to go back to college, so I focused my effort on finding a job in the field.
Grad school would probably have people of all ages and those already in the industry enrolled in the program. Obviously I am generalizing, but I sincerely doubt you'd have people giving the smallest crap about what you're wearing as long as you do not look like a outright homeless bum.
Bold. It sounds like you've already got the making or keeping connections thing down, which I never really did well at. You also mentioned you already make six figures, which I am no where close to. In the end, I don't understand why you want to go back to get a P.H.D. Is it just for the pursuit of knowledge? Is it because in IT in order to ensure your relevancy you need to keep learning more, which a P.H.D. can ensure? I mean, I get why you'd want to go back to get a bachelors. A long tiem ago my uncle was employed in I.T., but eventually the company required a B.A., which he was just a few credits shy of getting...so they had to let him go. Took him a long tiem to recover. But a P.H.D. --you gotta be hella interested in the subject to bother with that. LIKE HELLA INTERESTED. Making it your life learning only about that. Sleeping and eating your subject, unless you're one of those types who is willing to drag it out for 2 decades...
Anyway, I'm not trying to past judgement...nto sure it came off that way so just saying. Choose whatever you think is best.
One thing to keep in mind: Getting into a PhD program in a technical field (at least at any worthwhile school) is VERY tough. You will be competing against some of the smartest people in the world for admission, and if / when you are in the program, it isn't just a matter of attending classes online and "biding your time" until graduation day. In order to successfully defend a dissertation (at least in a technical field like Computer Engineering), you are expected to conduct years of research, effectively breaking new ground in your field. This isn't like some online masters degree program where you are guaranteed admission and graduation, as long as you keep paying tuition.
Probably worth deciding if you want to finish the bachelors degree before thinking about the PhD. Since you are already making good money, maybe you don't even need to do this. After getting the bachelors degree, then you can apply, and see what happens.
Grad school would probably have people of all ages and those already in the industry enrolled in the program. Obviously I am generalizing, but I sincerely doubt you'd have people giving the smallest crap about what you're wearing as long as you do not look like a outright homeless bum.
Bold. It sounds like you've already got the making or keeping connections thing down, which I never really did well at. You also mentioned you already make six figures, which I am no where close to. In the end, I don't understand why you want to go back to get a P.H.D. Is it just for the pursuit of knowledge? Is it because in IT in order to ensure your relevancy you need to keep learning more, which a P.H.D. can ensure? I mean, I get why you'd want to go back to get a bachelors. A long tiem ago my uncle was employed in I.T., but eventually the company required a B.A., which he was just a few credits shy of getting...so they had to let him go. Took him a long tiem to recover. But a P.H.D. --you gotta be hella interested in the subject to bother with that. LIKE HELLA INTERESTED. Making it your life learning only about that. Sleeping and eating your subject, unless you're one of those types who is willing to drag it out for 2 decades...
Anyway, I'm not trying to past judgement...nto sure it came off that way so just saying. Choose whatever you think is best.
In the IT industry a degree isn't really required, but of employers would prefer one. But for the most part experience matters the most to majority employers. You'd find a few who have that hangup, and won't hire someone no matter what their experience level is. But most managers with good teams generally just hire whoever can do the job.
If I want to continue as a software engineer, I probably don't need to ever get a degree, even to work at top tier companies. I've worked with Apple before, and I have been through the hiring process with Google and Amazon many of times. So it's not about reaching the top echeleon either, most top tier companies want your experience to.
However I was looking to enter a whole different field. The field of data science. It's a "new field" and it combines a lot of mathematics, machine learning, and statistics to make predictions about data, and build "smart" systems. With that said it would be related to my field, but something totally different. What I've found on my data science job requirements, they want someone who has a PHD, even as far as saying some advanced degree is "required". So I figured there is no way I could work as a data scientist without getting some big degree.
OP- Are you in a position to where you can pass/fail audit a couple of classes in the subject you're interested in? If so, maybe taking one or two would let you get a taste for what pursuing a higher degree would be like in that field, instead up making a large commitment and major upheaval in your career/finances.
OP- Are you in a position to where you can pass/fail audit a couple of classes in the subject you're interested in? If so, maybe taking one or two would let you get a taste for what pursuing a higher degree would be like in that field, instead up making a large commitment and major upheaval in your career/finances.
That's not a question I can answer. I literally have not been in college since 1999, and I didn't have that great of academic record to begin with. So I may need to take a lot of remedial courses before I get into the meat of what I am actually interested in.
That's not a question I can answer. I literally have not been in college since 1999, and I didn't have that great of academic record to begin with. So I may need to take a lot of remedial courses before I get into the meat of what I am actually interested in.
I know at my college, there was an option on a lot of classes where you could take the class, but you would only be given a pass or fail grade. This grade did not count towards anything, and you didn't get credit for it. You were just taking the class for knowledge and out of sheer interest. Most of the people who took these classes were non-traditional students (senior citizens, people like yourself who have been out of the system for an extended period of time, etc). With your experience, the school might be able to waive prerequisites or requirements if you are only auditing those classes. You will have to pay for the classes.
If you are in close proximity to a few institutions that offer the data science type classes, it wouldn't hurt to email their respective computer science depts. and ask if this is an option.
I think you are answering your own question, at least indirectly. The awesome thing about today's software industry is that it values skills and knowledge and competence over degrees and even formal training/certification.
The problem/challenge with data science and "big data" is that it is still a very young field and typically, there's more hype than substance. Don't get me wrong, there is substance and core value. Just that it is embellished to make it look much more than it really is. And because of general cluelessness, bosses and employers regress to the standard default mechanism that other industries adopt - which is, look for badge value in resumes, look for degrees, look for good schools, look for sufficient prior work experience etc.
I mean, sure, you can be a PhD in statistics to qualify to be a "data science" guy. But the truth is often more mundane. The truth is that 80% of the work will involve ETL transforms, data management, ability to write good quality SQL, ability to understand data schemas etc. Then comes the real data science part - the analytics, the machine learning, the predictive part, the statistical part. And then the reporting part which again becomes a technical problem to solve.
Even with all the analytics and statistics, the kind of skills are dependent on the kind of problems you need to solve. For example, solving a N/P complete kind of open ended numeric optimization problem is very different from being able to efficiently traverse graphs from being able to do the traditional statistical stuff.
My point is that this "data science" field is a huge open ended and largely undiscovered field to begin with. If anything, I would say that pursuing a PhD in statistics would be a waste of time for you. Of course it is an incredibly valuable skill in data science, but there is a lot more as well. Coursera has tons of courses on data science and statistics to begin with. As well as plenty of courses on machine learning, predictive analytics, graph theory and graph algorithms, and such.
I personally feel that the real value a really good software programmer brings to the table is their core design, general analytical, and algorithmic skills. The real challenge and value will be in building the data science systems, having enough cross cutting expertise and knowledge to architect the systems properly, and provide a platform for the business users to do their analytics. As such, the core job of data science is a business function - and best left to business domain experts. In fact, I feel that a good Operations Research analyst or an MBA would do a far better job at sniffing out trends and insights from data than a statistician/academic (who might know better analytical strategies but would also have poorer business domain knowledge).
Then again, I am not an expert and this is only my subjective opinion, so am sure others would have a different opinion.
I was a software engineer before my disability. It has been my experience that people who don't have a degree in the field will eventually hit a sort of "glass ceiling". I had a guy at one of my jobs who constantly whined, bitched and moaned because he thought it was unfair that I was promoted over him and made more than him because HE had more "experience" - but no degree.
And if you want to pursue advanced studies - which you clearly do - you can't slide by any more on "experience" in the absence of academic credentials.
I don't know if there is a really good solution for you - it seems to me the first step would be to approach the university of your choice and find out if they have a pathway for non-traditional students such as yourself.
Looking at this from a strictly monetary standpoint is stupid if you are sincere in your desire to delve into formal computer science studies of any nature.
If the sole or major impetus behind your career is making money, then getting into academic studies is probably equally stupid.
I can tell you that you WILL need a strong formal math background if you want to get into higher levels of computer science.
It is possible you may be able to CLEP out of a lot of stuff, if you are a self-starter who can do the work on your own. But you will almost certainly need a couple of years of formal undergraduate classes at the very least, depending on whether they will accept any of your past classwork for credit. They often won't if the classes were taken more than 5 years ago - but sometimes they will.
Don't let people discourage you on the basis of "lost salary". If you want to delve into this for intellectual payoff, that is ENTIRELY reasonable and acceptable. Which is not to say it may not be time consuming and difficult.
Don't let naysayers scare you off if this is what you really want. CLEP everything you can, transfer anything they will let you (though they may not take any of your old credits). Persevere. The worst that will happen is you decide its not for you after all.
Do avoid all the fly-by-night unaccredited programs like Phoenix and all the other "online" fake universities.
You're likely going to have to get a bachelor's to even be eligible for a PhD program. It's an administrative hurdle.
With that said, people who are pursuing PhDs often do not pursue them for financial gain at the end. It is a personal journey and milestone to reach, and is going to involve professional and personal sacrifice while you meet that goal.
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