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Speaking of the subject, if someone DOES want a credential and already knows a lot of CS, are there good online courses that provide sped up process? I have bee

Speaking of the subject, if someone DOES want a credential and already knows a lot of CS, are there good online courses that provide sped up process? I have been programming since 20 years ago, am a lead developer at a large company, but have no degree. Sadly some companies like Google do require it to even consider submissions, so I wonder if I should enroll an online course just for the paper.

manquer 5y ago
Some companies/teams will not recognize online courses, some will only consider from "good" universities, so worth checking before you enroll. However in my experience such organizations are really a waste of time if they insist on a degree for people with a lot of experience, every internal promotion will have similar and sometimes unreachable barriers.
hpoe 5y ago
Check out Western Governors University. It is an accredited online university formed back in the 90's and I believe is non profit as well so it isn't like the University of Phoenix or those other scam schools. They have a competency based model where if you can demonstrate competency by passing the test and/or completing the project you can be done with the class, whether that takes you 3 days or 3 months. You also play a flat rate for the semester and complete as many classes as you want at a time. I did it I loved it, I'd been in the field and was able to breeze through some of my courses while the ones I wasn't familiar with helped me. They also have a lot of classes that the test is an industry cert, so it's a cheap way to get some certs under your belt as well.
- AnimalMuppet 5y ago
  > You also play a flat rate for the semester and complete as many classes as you want at a time. Oooh, I did not know that. So you could figure out what classes you want, study for them on your own, then pay for one semester and pass all the tests? If you've got the discipline to study with no feedback for a year or two, that could be a really inexpensive way to get a degree...
  - hpoe 5y ago
    It is a really inexpensive way to get a good degree. The one caveat is that they already have determined the classes and the courses you just choose what order you go through them in. For example I am currently getting my masters, and someone has posted how they managed to knock out the entire degree (8 semesters) in 2 months. (The disclaimer was he had worked in the field for close to 10 years in various positions, so everything in the degree was second nature) I got my degree in 18 months, plus one semester of a local college prior. But yes if you've got the discipline and motivation you can get your entire degree in 6 months for about 4 grand. It really is the way of the future in my mind.
ilyu 5y ago
In France, there's a system called VAE (acquired experience validation) which is a mean to convert experience to a credential. It requires to prepare a complete file with an university. The VAE acknowledge an equivalence with an university degree
rufus_foreman 5y ago
You're a lead developer at a large company, are there any universities near this large company with CS degrees? People are going to consider "online course just for the paper" to be somewhat of a scam. So, just for the paper, no.

manquer 5y ago

Some companies/teams will not recognize online courses, some will only consider from "good" universities, so worth checking before you enroll. However in my experience such organizations are really a waste of time if they insist on a degree for people with a lot of experience, every internal promotion will have similar and sometimes unreachable barriers.

hpoe 5y ago

Check out Western Governors University. It is an accredited online university formed back in the 90's and I believe is non profit as well so it isn't like the University of Phoenix or those other scam schools. They have a competency based model where if you can demonstrate competency by passing the test and/or completing the project you can be done with the class, whether that takes you 3 days or 3 months. You also play a flat rate for the semester and complete as many classes as you want at a time. I did it I loved it, I'd been in the field and was able to breeze through some of my courses while the ones I wasn't familiar with helped me. They also have a lot of classes that the test is an industry cert, so it's a cheap way to get some certs under your belt as well.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago
> You also play a flat rate for the semester and complete as many classes as you want at a time. Oooh, I did not know that. So you could figure out what classes you want, study for them on your own, then pay for one semester and pass all the tests? If you've got the discipline to study with no feedback for a year or two, that could be a really inexpensive way to get a degree...
- hpoe 5y ago
  It is a really inexpensive way to get a good degree. The one caveat is that they already have determined the classes and the courses you just choose what order you go through them in. For example I am currently getting my masters, and someone has posted how they managed to knock out the entire degree (8 semesters) in 2 months. (The disclaimer was he had worked in the field for close to 10 years in various positions, so everything in the degree was second nature) I got my degree in 18 months, plus one semester of a local college prior. But yes if you've got the discipline and motivation you can get your entire degree in 6 months for about 4 grand. It really is the way of the future in my mind.

ilyu 5y ago

In France, there's a system called VAE (acquired experience validation) which is a mean to convert experience to a credential. It requires to prepare a complete file with an university. The VAE acknowledge an equivalence with an university degree

rufus_foreman 5y ago

You're a lead developer at a large company, are there any universities near this large company with CS degrees? People are going to consider "online course just for the paper" to be somewhat of a scam. So, just for the paper, no.