Thread by @svpino

Should you get a Computer Science degree?

Let’s break this down because it’s one of those topics that keeps coming back over and over again.

Hi 👋 , my name is Santiago and I do threads 🧵, so here it goes 👇

Let's change the question for a minute here. Instead of “should you get it?”, let’s focus on “do you need it?”

The answer to this one is easy: No, you do not need a Computer Science degree to work as a Software Engineer.

Whoever tells you otherwise is wrong. Period.

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Are there advantages to having a Computer Science degree?

It depends on where you are career-wise.

The advantages will be more obvious at the beginning but will diminish rapidly with time.

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If you and I are looking for jobs for the first time, and I have a degree but you don’t, employers will see that I have been studying this stuff for at least 4 - 5 years.

If you can’t match that with experience, I will have an advantage.

But this will not last.

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Depending on where you study, you may be exposed to a lot of information that will be useful.

This information exists out there, and you don’t need to go to school to get it, but schools make it accessible to you in a structured way.

But you can still get it elsewhere!

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Now we can try to answer the question “Should I get a degree?”:

If you can, yes, by all means, get a degree. Know that this is not necessary to reach your goals, but a degree will make a lot of the road easier to travel.

If you can’t do it, no sweat. There are other ways.

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Every person’s road is unique, and there are multiple ways to reach the end.

The most important thing is the time you dedicate to be a better engineer. It doesn’t matter if it’s at school, Bootcamp, or elsewhere.

(And yes, I do have a degree.)