Khan Academy might help you with that …
Math | Khan Academy
Yup, I had been going through that a bit in the past, but I’d rather focus my time elsewhere if going the route of a second bachelor’s in CS isn’t worth my time, effort, and money. That being said, if getting a second bachelor’s in CS is the way to go, then I’ll spend all my time in the near future on Khan Academy in preparation for applying to a postbaccalaureate CS program.
Would it be easier to transfer to a full stack developer position within the defense industry? After a few years of relevant experience, you could transfer outside of the defense industry easily or you might find staying in the defense industry is tolerable in a full stack role.
For a number of reasons I have no desire to remain in the defense industry. My goal is to be out of it at the latest by next summer. If I have to take a backend role in the commercial sector to make that happen I will, but I’d prefer a full-stack position.
How fast do you want to earn your BS and MS?
How much tuition does your employer pay for?
Do you have a spouse or enough savings that can financially support you if your course load is too high to hold a job?
Are you looking to get married, have kids or have more kids?
I believe my employer will cover a good amount of a degree if I go for a second bachelor’s, maybe the whole thing, I’m not sure. But I know there are strings attached in that I’ll have to commit X number of years to them and I have absolutely zero desire to do that. I’d rather take out loans to cover it if getting a second degree is the path to go.
With regards to a spouse or savings, I would have to attend school part time and maintain my full-time job. The postbaccalaureate programs I have looked into have 1, 2, 3, and I think 4 year tracks to get a second bachelor’s degree in CS. Seeing as I have a solid background in programming I could probably handle the 3 year track while still maintaining a job. But again, I have to knock out math pre-reqs before I’d even be considered.
With a bachelor’s degree already down, you probably need only 48-60 hours for the second BS degree and 30-36 hours for the MS. Some of those hours have nothing to do with full stack development. You’re going to have 2 or 3 courses of C++ or Java development. There’s another course for assembly language. There are courses for operating systems and databases. There will be a course on data structures, but it will be taught in C++ or Java instead of JSON.
A big reason I’m considering getting a second bachelor’s in CS is due to the stigma around bootcamp grads (which is both justified and unjustified). Fortunately my current company is very reputable so I’m hoping having that on my resume will help folks look past me being a bootcamp grad.
A lot of that effort can be focused into the topics that will get you the job you want instead of a degree few will care about.
And that’s kind of where my head is at this point. I think I’m going to buckle down with FCC’s curriculum (which I’ve completed a lot of already) and hope I can learn enough from that to get my foot in the door in the commercial sector.
And just wanted to address this:
A security clearance is another huge advantage because there are so many people who can’t pass or afford it.
You can’t purchase a security clearance. Either a defense contractor or the DOD has to sponsor you and they pay for it. But you are right, there are lots of folks who are unable to obtain one for a variety of reasons.
Picking one with a large and friendly developer community is always helpful.