MS CS vs self-teaching as a non-CS stem major

[ruby rain]

Hey y'all!

I am lost. I know I want to do CS, and I want a nice, high-paying job (like everybody else), but I am at a crossroads as to what I should do.

Currently, I'm a math major. The part I'm stuck at though is that I can't decide between doing an MS in CS or the self-taught path. I have excellent college grades and if I try really hard I think I can muster up a competitive application for a top MS CS program (although the debt that will be incurred is massive, unless I'm missing something, and I currently have very little in the way of debt. The only exception I know is the MCIT program doesn't cost as much as some others, but I can't exactly rely on getting into this one program and should apply to multiple). Getting research positions as an undergrad is a foreign concept to me but, hopefully I can figure out a way to get them somehow? Obviously, the debt is huge, but for a cushy job it might be worth it? I'd have to take CS courses this winter, the summer, and then the winter after probably so I wouldn't have time for internships... not like I was getting any before, though.

I heard that self-teaching is great... if you're good at networking. However, I am awful at networking. It's the reason why I stopped doing business--I had great grades but couldn't network to save my damn life. It's like forcing blood out of a stone. I also have very little internship experience, and again, There's no way I think I'd be able to teach myself enough with OSSU in the span of a year to get an internship for the summer, so I'd be graduating college not having done an internship and looking to get a job in a career I don't even have the pertinent degree for. On top of which, I heard that CS is going through a hiring freeze currently so I imagine the job market isn't exactly the best for people with CS degrees, let alone those without.

The MS CS option would require 2 extra years in addition to some $80k - $120k in debt, unless you guys know about cheaper options with good placements, but the self-teaching path is incredibly uncertain, and I'd be doing the OSSU program, which is basically a CS degree except, you know, without the degree part, which I imagine matters the most.

The people on /r/cscareerquestions decry the MS CS thing on every thread I see, but it's almost always for CS majors where they'd consider it superfluous and really only necessary for upper management positions. I know the age old motto of grind leetcode and pray but there has to be something more to it, no?

[rocky basalt]

er imo u should just add CS onto ur undergraduate degree

MS in CS will not teach you what you need to know to go into jobs

its more theory and research

u want the foundation u get in undergraduate classes

also i have no idea what a OSSU program is, but if its not even a CS masters theres no point

since ur considering spending more time in college, it makes sense to just take the CS classes needed to graduate in both fields, math and cs

• this gives u more time to hunt for internships