SuperHappyCow

Hello! A couple of years ago I got out of college with an art degree, and I've discovered that I'm probably not terribly interested in pursuing an art related career.

I've been considering, for a while, taking up studies in the application of programming algorithms to solving problems, but am not sure what kind of degree to go after.

I do not want to go after another 4 year, which leaves my sights set on a masters degree. I've taken c++ and Java classes, and found them to not be so difficult. I live in SoCal, and am looking for some guidance on what I should do? Are there masters degrees related to programming that people who did not take it in undergrad can shoot for?

art2CS

How much math have you taken?

SuperHappyCow

Very little, but I'm about to start. I got severely discouraged from taking maths when I took a math class online and failed it, but that was years ago.

Mokonon

You should pick some schools you're interested in and look at their undergraduate computer science program as well as the admission requirements for their computer science graduate programs. This will give you a sense of the course work you're expected to have completed before you apply. You should also look at the schools' program description to get a sense of what kinds of things you will actually be learning there.

I don't mean to discourage you, but if you don't have much of a math or engineering background, that doesn't leave you much better off than an incoming college freshman majoring in computer science. You may have learned some programming, but most of those incoming CS freshman also come to college with some prior programming experience. If you've been able to learn C++ and Java fairly easily, I think that's a good sign that you may have some aptitude for the field. However, keep in mind that "computer science" does not equal "programming" (probably the biggest misconceptions about computer science). In fact, I've never done any C/C++ or Java programming in any of my graduate coursework -- it was mostly math with some algorithm development in Matlab.

Unfortunately, I don't see any realistic way of obtaining an MS in computer science from either a UC or a Cal State school in less than 4 years. There may be some more specialized programming or IT type degree programs available at various trade schools and technical schools, but those schools are typically fairly expensive, and most employers don't think very highly of them.

Hope that helps. Good luck.