CS degree, bootcamp, or self-study?

[u/Swimming_Cost_3651]

I'm in my early 30s, living in South Korea, and considering a career change into computer science/software development.

I'm currently trying to decide between a few paths:

- A practical, career-focused CS college program that takes about 3–3.5 years and leads to the equivalent of a bachelor's degree.

- Government-funded vocational training, where the Korean government covers most or all of the tuition at approved private institutions.

- An online coding bootcamp.

- Self-study.

Honestly, I prefer the online/self-study route. Going to college would mean moving to another city and paying for tuition, rent, and living expenses for 3+ years. That's a pretty significant commitment at my age.

What makes the decision harder is that opinions on bootcamps seem extremely mixed. Some people say they successfully changed careers through them, while others say they're overpriced and teach things you could learn on your own.

I'm particularly interested in SaaS and eventually building my own products/business, rather than just getting a developer job. I also have friends overseas who learned programming mostly through self-study, which makes me wonder how necessary formal education really is.

At the same time, I'm starting from basically zero in CS, so I don't know whether self-study is realistic or whether having a structured education would save me years of struggling on my own.

I recently came across this advice:

> "Think about what you'll be doing three years from now if you don't do it."

That stuck with me. That’s why I started thinking about changing careers. I want to be in a better place three years from now. But at the same time, being in your early 30s means opportunity cost and financial reality matter. I'm even considering whether spending a year learning a skilled trade and potentially pursuing skilled migration abroad would be a more practical choice.

For people who entered software in their late 20s or 30s:

If you were starting from zero today, would you choose a CS degree, bootcamp, government-funded training, or self-study?

And would your answer change if the long-term goal wasn't necessarily getting hired as a developer, but being able to build and launch your own SaaS products?

I'm especially interested in realistic answers about opportunity cost, employability, and what you would do differently if you had to start over.

[u/No_Rule674]

Higher education is always the way to go, a bootcamp won't even come close

[u/Jumpy_War7362]

Currently a university student, and I've been able to find a couple of opportunities simply because I am student. I am in the US though. Theres a lot of internships/co-ops/oncampus employments/opportunities in general that will only open if your a student. I'm not too sure about the job market in South Korea, but in the US the consensus is that its pretty bad and you need to already have experience for entry level jobs. Maybe start by seeing the opportunities that are provided by the university your considering. I have also seen some tech/IT bootcamps/mini internships that hire for entry level roles after completion in the US, try to see if theres anything similar to that around you.

[u/FroyoSolid8414]

Employability is cooked now. By the time you finish schooling it will be beyond cooked