So I am looking to get my degree in programming and am not quite sure what is the best option and figured you guys could offer some input. So I have my AA and have completed a few OOP classes in java. I am in the Seattle area and know I can do WGU Washington or digipen(except i am not looking to go into game design) or possibly another tech school I am just not sure of my options. UW is probably not an option because it's so competitive etc. I have been researching a lot and can't find a lot on how the tech school degrees look etc. It doesn't look too bad from my angle but I don't really know. For example the software degree from WGU Washington you come out with a degree and These certifications:

Oracle Certified Professional Java SE 6 Programmer
CIW Perl Specialist
CIW Web Foundations Associate
CIW Web Design Specialist
CIW JavaScript Specialist
CIW Database Design Specialist
CIW Web Development Professional
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Project+
CompTIA Security+
CompTIA Network+
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Windows OS Fundamentals
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Windows Server Admin Fundamentals
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Networking Fundamentals
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Security Fundamentals
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Web Development Fundamentals
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Software Development Fundamental
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Database Administration Fundamentals

Any nuggets of information you guys may have on the subject is appreciated thanks.


This post was edited by Lords. on Jul 16 2012 12:33pm

most serious software companies look for a B.S. in Computer Science, at minimum. a degree that focuses primarily on "software" may not be well-rounded enough for mid-high tier companies.

it depends on your goals and your personal abilities too, since what you can do will ultimately trump where you come from in this particular industry. but from the sound of it, you probably should look for a CS degree rather than a "programming degree" (whatever that is...) if only for the sake of what you'll learn alone.

Ahhh okay. It isn't a "programming" degree just what I was describing it as but in a sense it is. It is B.S. In information technology- Software. So still something I may want to steer clear from? And thanks for the reply irimi ^^

depends on your budget (time & money) and your goals. if you want to become a programmer/software engineer, the best/most useful path at the moment is still a full-fledged computer science degree from a good university (really is too bad that UW is out of the picture for you).

the curriculum you laid out in the above (which I mostly ignored) is indeed more geared towards IT and in fact has fairly little to do with programming. it's completely different from what software engineers/developers do. with the accreditation like the above, you're more likely to become a sysadmin or a QA tester for software companies, as opposed to someone with a comp sci degree working in these places as software engineers. someone with the above background may also work for companies who are contracted by larger software companies to do integration-level work (i.e. writing drivers and adaptors that fit a large piece of software into a customer environment)

depends on what you like, what you prefer, what you're good at, etc etc.

This post was edited by irimi on Jul 16 2012 04:04pm

Well yeah I would like to be a software engineer programming and what not but if it's geared just towards the IT type you are describing I may just look around for what my options are for networking/security because I would much rather do that than a low level IT job. I have heard that there is more leniency in networking as far as not having a degree from a full on really good 4 year university is that true to an extent or more just people blowing smoke? And thanks again for some info it's a big decision I have to make.

Please don't go to a for-profit tech school for programming. Those schools just churn out "graduates" with basically worthless degrees and huge amounts of debt. Once you start to get a hang of it start coding as much as you can for fun. Find an open source project and contribute patches to it. Also, programming certs are mostly worthless in the industry.

edit: You can even start now. Learn Python: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

edit2: I'm a retard and missed you saying you had your AA already. Transfer to a 4 year school and do Computer Science. What is your AA in?

This post was edited by rockonkenshin on Jul 16 2012 07:27pm

I was fucking torn between cs and math. You get a good amount of both in either degree you take, but I ended up going with CS.

Dude certifications mean nothing IMHO. Even ask the higher-ups (Robert Martin, Martin Fowler, etc.), they look down upon certifications. If I were you I'd just immerse in understanding the current tech stack being used nowadays. That would be an investment that's much more worth it.

AA is just general but have java classes and math classes that go beyond it. Also WGU is non profit just to put that out there. And damn I just don't think I will get into UWs CSC program so where does that leave me? I mean what are the best options other than like going to UW? And thanks for responses guys.

I was more referring to Digipen/ITT Tech/DeVry/etc. Why can't you get into a local university? Did you have poor grades at your CC?