Going back to school in my late 20s

Reasoning

After attending a coding bootcamp, I wanted to go back to school. But why? Am I not a great example of how traditional education has failed to catch on to industry needs?

I think that’s true if you want to go into web development. After a couple of years on the job, I was curious what else I could do with programming. I had no concrete plans, and needed to explore other fields.

Some internet research into fields like AI, cryptocurrency and big data (the buzz words at the time), made it clear that a certain mathematical foundation is required. Studying math is a good option because I don’t have to make any immediate decisions as to what to specifically pursue as I slowly become more qualified. With more industry experience in my day job, I will hopefully narrow down my options.

I want to make it clear that this is not optimizing for the shortest path to a specific career. It’s simply a good way to gain new skills while continuing to work in web development. I would only take this path if you’re already financially secure. With a stable programming job, it’s much easier to make long term decisions.

Could you possibly go into these fields without formal math education? Yes! Plenty of people have done so. But now that I have time and the necessary resources, gaining a strong foundation seems like a good choice.

As you get into Calculus, the beauty of math becomes more and more apparent. There is a clear goal and a unified theory as to how to approach those problems. It’s also an amazing feeling to think that you know more math than everyone before the 17th century. You are now amongst some of the smartest people in history!

Attending CCSF in my late 20s

The following is my experience attending my local community college, CCSF in San Francisco, in my late twenties.

I wanted to test out of as many classes as possible. With a full time job, I’m only able to take one class a semester and guarantee a positive outcome (while maintaining some kind of personal life). So testing out of a single class means saving around 4 months of work. Note that math classes are often 5 credits, so you should not underestimate the amount of work.

CCSF requires students to take a math placement exam. I knew enough trigonometry and algebra to make testing into Calculus 1 a goal. I used the book Basic Math by Serge Lang to review some topics in trigonometry that were fuzzy to me.

In terms of choosing books, I would suggest making sure the book has solutions. The internet often suggests What is Mathematics by Richard Courant to self-learn math, but you will not be able to review your work. Having the shortest feedback loop possible is crucial when trying to learn material on your own. You also want to make sure the book is structured in such a way that you can jump around topics since you should not be aiming to read the book from back to front. Khan Academy would have probably been a better choice, but I thought it did not have enough practice problems. Maybe it’s different today.

Once I enrolled in Calculus I, everything just happened naturally. Work during the day, and attend classes at night twice a week. I normally spend at least one weeknight and most of Sunday to complete homework. Professors range from mediocre to brilliant, but that should not stop you. Going to school in my late twenties felt quite different. Nothing was forcing me to be there, so I had more focus than most students. I realized that you can learn even from the most polarizing professors (or find the necessary resources to complement lectures).

Some professors will send homework or material late so you will need to have some flexibility. I was known at work for occasionally pulling out a math book during lunch, or taking the last half hour of the day to complete some assignment.

I have now taken Calculus I, II, III and Discrete Math and will be taking Linear Algebra and Differential Equations next semester while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. The last two years have demanded a lot of me, but it goes by quickly and I have concrete achievements to show how I have grown. I’m now considering pursuing GT’s online master’s degree.

Need any help?

If you’re planning to go to school and have any questions, please let me know how I can help!