Yes, I study Computer Science at University.
Even though all the advice online says I don’t need to.
I’m so tired of seeing the same heading on many articles. They always go along the line of “Here’s how to get into tech without a CS degree”.
As a CS student, I feel left out, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
So, here I am, taking up the space needed to fill this gap.
Here are 5 things I wish I knew before I started this CS degree:
1. It will be hard, but it’s so worth it.
Computer Science is one of the hardest degrees at university. It’s literally in the top 10.
Because of its difficulty, it has the highest drop-out rate out of all university degrees.
Despite this, a CS degree opens your eyes to many different skills, all in one.
In the past 2 years of my degree, I’ve taken modules that cover topics such as:
Mathematics
Psychology
Writing
Leadership
You won’t find these skills in every university degree.
But these skills expose you to new ventures and ideas, both within and outside of CS.
And that makes the degree worth it.
2. Experience matters more than your degree
Your degree is important.
Work experience is more important.
Especially when it comes to getting tech roles.
Tech jobs don’t care about your degree.
The fact that CS grads have one of the highest drop-out rates should tell you that.
Tech jobs want to hire people with relevant work experience.
So make sure that you are on the lookout for new work experience opportunities.
Work experience opportunities don’t have to be internships either!
They can be coding projects that you have done in your own time.
Just make sure that you spend enough time preparing yourself with relevant work experience.
3. You don’t have to be amazing at coding
I’m not the best coder.
I find coding modules at university pretty hard for the most part.
But I still do quite well in them.
A lot of your university modules will revolve around coding.
But at a certain point, being better at coding doesn’t give you that much of a benefit.
Coding modules in 1st year teach you coding from the ground up.
So you don’t need to be a coding wizard to do well in your CS degree.
Once you get into the 2nd and 3rd years, you can pick modules outside of coding.
Some of the modules I picked include:
Human-Computer Interaction (Psychology)
Software Specification (Writing)
Coding is only a part of your degree.
4. What you do outside of your degree matters
Success in computer science is:
80% of what you do outside of the CS degree
20% of what you do in the CS degree
Pareto’s principle at its finest.
This was one of the lessons that I wrote when I finished my 1st year.
It’s very cool to look back and see how important that lesson is.
Almost every opportunity that I got within tech was from the things that I was doing outside of my degree.
Creating content online
Networking
Building connections
Public Speaking
These skills and commitments teach you a lot about yourself.
And they position you for success in the tech industry.
But your CS degree won’t teach you this.
So think of it this way:
What you do outside of your degree has a much bigger ROI than what you do within your degree.
ROI = Return on Investment.
You need to be strategic about your CS degree because it is a strategic decision.
This leads nicely to my final point.
5. Prepare yourself effectively
I truly believe that if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.
Preparation is the key to success.
Many people I know share advice like:
“You don’t need to do anything over the summer before you start your CS degree, because the degree will teach you everything you need to know.”
And while this advice is technically true, it’s incredibly misleading.
First of all: Your CS degree will not teach you what you need to know. That’s unrealistic.
You are the only person who can ensure that you learn the skills you need.
The CS degree will supplement your learning with guided resources and tools.
Do you need to do work over the summer? Not necessarily.
But do I think it would help prepare you for the degree? 100%.
If you want to make the most of your CS degree, you need to see your degree as a companion to your learning.
Here are 4 ways you can set yourself up for success before the degree even starts:
Research your university modules in advance.
Go on your university website to find out the topics covered in your modules.
Search up these topics on YouTube to get an idea of what you will be learning.
Start doing coding challenges.
Get yourself to a SOLID standard in coding (see what I did there?).
Then focus on developing the other skills around software development.
Websites like HackerRank and LeetCode are great places to start.
Create your LinkedIn profile.
Most of my tech opportunities came from having a clean presence on LinkedIn.
Setting up your profile will make it a lot easier for you when you want to apply for tech roles.
Keep it updated as you progress through your degree.
Look into potential tech roles.
You have 2 options if you want to do this:
Option A: Wait for the university to introduce you to some tech fields.
Option B: Do your research around it.
Take Option B.
Waiting for the uni to expose you to certain careers is risky.
At my uni, if you decided to wait to learn app development, you would have to wait until the 3rd year because that’s when the module runs.
That’s 2 whole years of waiting.
Or, you can:
Find and complete some Udemy courses
Schedule time to do some projects with app development
By the time 3rd year comes along, you will have a better idea of that field.
Be proactive.
Round-up
This quote nicely summarises my main argument for today’s article.
Your CS degree is a supplement to your learning.
If you treat your degree as gospel, you won’t go anywhere.
If you completely ignore it, you’re going to waste your time and money.
Use your CS degree as a foundation that you can build upon to learn more skills.
It is an expensive investment in your education and you should treat it as such.
If you aren’t ready to spend more time outside of the degree learning CS, don’t study a CS degree.
If you think that getting a 2:1 or 1st class in your CS degree is enough on its own, you are mistaken.
If you go into your CS degree with these lessons, you will be much more prepared to succeed in the tech field.
Summary:
It will be hard, but it’s so worth it.
Experience matters more than your degree
You don’t have to be amazing at coding
What you do outside of your degree matters
Prepare yourself effectively
Thanks for reading!
And remember to keep an open mind :)