I have recently been accepted into the University of Michigan Masters of Software of Engineering program. I am excited about starting the program this fall, however, I have reservations about my ability to be successful in the program.
I got my undergraduate degree about eight years ago from the same University in Aerospace engineering. Unfortunately, I opted not to pursue an aerospace career and spent the last eight years doing client service and IT jobs. Other than the few programming courses I took in my undergraduate studies, I have not done much of anything programming related in a about eight years.
Since my third year of undergraduate studies, I have had a strong desire to get into the software/computer science field but I felt at the time that I was too far along in my degree program to switch. After school, I was burned out with education and did not have a strong enough interest in Aerospace engineering to pursue a career in it, hence, my unlikely career choice at the time.
Now, I really want to get back into engineering and take up what I should have done in undergraduate school. I chose not to go for a second bachelors and try for a masters since I have a bachelors degree already. But I am on edge about going back to school again in addition to my job prospects after school since this will be a serious career change for me.
I am under no illusions that I am going to have a difficult time grasping the material considering my non-existent background in computer science. I have been brushing up my programming knowledge by studying C# over the summer.
Is realistic for someone to pursue a advanced SE/CS degree with no formal background or education in programming/cs? Is it possible to get job with an advance degree and no formal experience?
Back in the Dark Ages (about 1981) I had a friend who had a bachelor's in EE (I think) and started into a Masters in CS. He found it pretty hard and dropped out early on. But he didn't have your IT experience (nor probably any programming classes).
So, I guess my answer to your first question is "maybe". :-)
I see job postings looking for someone with a Masters in CS or SE all the time. Normally they want some experience, but those who aren't looking for experience are probably recruiting on campus.
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