Computer science degree or just a certificate program?

Question

Would a comp. science degree be better than a certificate in c++ and a certificate in java programming?

The certificates pretty much cover the same material minus the core classes and all the math.

Answer 1

Pretty much depends on your employer and/or customers. My degree is in Geography, yet I'm a software developer. Some of the contracts that my employer has require that I have a computer science degree and I'm unable to work on those, even though I have about 7 years of Java development (Servlets, JSP, WebServices, Hibernate, etc...). Having a few courses in programming doesn't help for the projects that require particular degrees, but fortunately there are plenty of projects that aren't as picky. Given I graduated college almost 20 years ago, I'd like to think customers would be more interested in what I've been doing the last 5 or so years over what I studied 20 years ago.



If you can afford the computer science degree, you'll probably find it easier to find employment so I'd recommend that approach to you.

Answer 2

A comp science degree, of course. You will be competing against other people with comp sci degrees. Who will get the job? A person with a comp science degree or some guy with a certificate who doesn't even know math.

Answer 3

It really all depends on the position you are trying to obtain. Many companies can care less about a degree as long as you have certifications. I would suggest getting the certificates up front, go to work and then finish your degree.



As a hiring manager I was always impressed with people furthering their educations.

Answer 4

Depends. If you get a degree in Computer Science you might have a wider variety of jobs, if you get a certificate to a certain language, you will have less choice, but the job could be PERFECT for you.

Answer 5

in fact I have both ... MCSD (VC++ solution developer) and a Masters degree in computer science ... it depends on what you mean by better .. computer science degree gives you the broad integrated view of the business while c++ certification would give you the scope and focus of how to be really useful for others making their work and life experience better in any sort of way ... even the tiniest block of code you develop can be part of some peoples everyday life ..



so it's your own choice ... my recommendation is to work hard and do your best wherever your choice is ... and why not get them both ... the combination is the best in fact ... good luck

Answer 6

I would like to know since I'm also going for Computer Science.

Answer 7

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