| There are numerous paths for going back to school. A big question is cash - Will you have enough to pay for school and take care of other obligations in your life (do you have a family? Mortgage, etc)? Learning is always good - you just have to pick the method/path that works for you. You also must keep your expectations inline with your abilities and method of schooling you pick. Unless you go to a very good school or you want the full-time campus experience, you might be better off going part time. At 30, you will not be part of the regular social scene - so you can gain most of the experience in a part time program. If you live near a large city (New York, Boston, Washington DC, etc) there are very good schools that have programs aimed at you. The hours are arranged for people with full-time jobs. In your 10 years of work you have learned how to manage your time. You are also much more motivated than you were when you were 18. Studying and homework are easy compared to work. If your company will reimburse tuition, you can afford the better quality, higher cost university. Unless you have high hopes (move into research) just about any reputable school will be fine as you stated your goal is to learn and change the direction of your career. Not having a BS is a handicap. I highly recommend going back to school. Look at the programs close to your location and weigh the benefits/costs of part time vs fill time. Will the cash cost of going full-time be recouped by a much higher salary? If you are serious, you can finish in 4 years if you take classes in the summer, test out of everything you can and take distance learning classes. Maybe less than 4 years if your classes transfer. It will be a lifestyle change - can you handle going to class 2-3 nights a week? Read and study on the weekends? Get some information and get started. Even if you think there needs to be some changes in scheduling at work, I bet you could do one course a semester. BTW - I went back and got my BS in CS after 5 years - then an MS part time and finally a PhD. If you enjoy the material - it can be done. Good luck! |