Would this apply to someone with my background? I completed a pure math degree, then entered a post-bac program at a top university to fulfill pre-req CS courses (essentially doing a BS in CS without the degree because they don’t allow double BS degrees), before entering the masters program. By the end of it I’d have a BS in pure math (with a BS in CS knowledge, but not the BS in CS degree) and a MS in CS. I don’t see how you could generalize and lump someone like me that went back to school to essentially do a BS in CS and a MS in CS in your “category of newbies from other fields moving into CS.”

That comes across as gatekeeping and artificially patting yourself on the back. I took related courses in math that make CS theory courses a breeze. The proofs in the CS courses that CS majors have trouble with are much easier than any of the proofs we did on pure math courses.