Benefits of AA?

[nyvrem]

Hello fellow CS major.

Your skills, experience, and ability to do the job are far more important than any degree including BA/BS. But if there is a minimum degree requirement, it is usually a BA/BS. So eventually you need a BA/BS. Another common HR checkbox is certain IT certifications, especially in government and military IT jobs. But IT certifications expire and IMHO cost too much considering that they expire fast. I wouldn't go out of my way to grab an AA unless it was free. I'd grab an IT certification instead even though I hate those.

To get an AA outside of the big-3, the biggest roadblock is to meet academic residency requirements. At my local community colleges, the schools with the lowest residency requirements want 12 semester credits. If you happen to be close to the 12 and meet all other degree requirements via transfer credit or resident credits, I'd say take one more class at that school only if it applies to the BA/BS and grab the AA on the way out. Another strategy is to look for general studies/liberal arts majors to see if they have a concentration in business/CIS/MIS/CS. As long as the concentration is on the transcript, you are good (sometimes general/lib arts diplomas don't list the concentration). If that doesn't work, just grab any AA that you happen to qualify for without spending time/money even if it is just AA in general studies or liberal arts. I know a number of traditional students that accidentally qualified for an AA/AS or even multiple AA/AS on their way to a 4-year school.

hi there, i'm already working as a front end web dev. and I've got a MCSD certification. i could start looking into more complementary certifications. imo, i thought a generic AS in IT/CS coupled with my MCSD and 3-4 years of work experience in front in web dev. would get be a better paying job. right now, i dont have ANY college diplomas. so something is better than nothing.

im still 8 courses short of graduating. im doing 1-2 courses per term. it's 4 credits each. with harvard extension school.

hopefully i can finish them by next 2 years.

but yeah, no AA/AS for me because my uni has a policy of 'not doing another degree elsewhere'