What degree would be best for an aspiring front-end developer?

When you get a CS degree you're learning the building blocks of how to be a software engineer, which is primarily focused on the back-end. If you're not at all interested in working on the back-end, a CS degree might very well be overkill.

As far as math goes, CS involves math that relates to discrete mathematics and probability, and not so much trig and calculus. So I wouldn’t say CS math is easy, but I think it’s a tad easier than say the math you’d have to do to get a mechanical or electrical engineering degree (multvar, differential equations, PDEs and so on). Now your university could require some Caluclus as a general education requirement for CS majors, but calculus isn’t really used in core courses/upper division electives (unless you go into something like computational science or machine learning).

 

What do you already know in terms of skillset? Have you taken any programming courses yet? If you're entrepreneurial minded on top of not being interested in working on the back-end, then you might be better off trying to work on the skillsets you will use in the field (HTML/CSS, Javascript, PHP, Node , Angular and so on) instead of getting a degree in an area you aren't interested in. The only problem with this approach is that you have to be extremely self motivated in teaching yourself using online resources. At least if you got a degree in CS (or even IT) the process of taking classes kind of kicks your butt and forces you to learn.

But to play devils advocate to the above: a CS degree program might have 1 course (two if you’re really lucky) related to web design in your 4 years at a university. On top of that the courses would without a doubt be electives, not part of the core curriculum. So you’d be dedicating 4 years to a degree to only take two classes relevant to your career interests. To see how many courses you could take relevant to your interests I’d recommend you look at the electives offered by your CS and IT programs (web programming is also a part of IT).

 

Another option could be a "BA" in computer science, if your university offers it. The degree is becoming a lot more common nowadays and typically requires less math than BS and contains more room for electives. This could allow you to do any of the following: 1. graduate faster 2) get a CS degree whilst taking less math 3) let you take courses/electives in areas that interest you.

 

Another option could be a Bachelors in IT and a minor in CS. IT is known for being less math intensive than CS. IT tends also to have a web design and a database course as a part of the curriculum, which are fantastic if you want to start your own business/startup. The web design course would give you a basic grasp of the front end to get you started, and databases are essential to the operation of any real world application, so all you would need some back end courses ( which you could learn about with your CS minor) to suit your interests. That way you learn a lot of CS, have some degree of job security (there are plenty of IT jobs), and at the same time learn enough CS to possibly allow work as a software developer (freelance or otherwise). Still you run into the same problem as getting the CS degree: only a handful of courses you take will be relevant to your degree, and you'd be taking a lot of things that are not related to your interests.

&nbps;

From what you say it seems you are still unsure of exactly what you want to do with entrepreneurial interests, since the different things you listed you are interested in have slightly different education requirements and demands in terms of skillset. Because you don't have a concrete plan or million dollar business idea that you’d be losing by going to college AND the fact that your education is 100% free, here is my advice to you: 1. Take the minimum number of credits per semester to maintain full time status (typically 11-12 credits). 2. Get a BA in CS (if it exists) or a degree in IT with a CS minor. 3. Take both introductory programming and web design courses ASAP 4. In your free time develop the skills you are interested in that would be useful in your professional interests (web design, read books on entrepreneurship, listen to y-combinator, etc).

I think this plan best fits your interests. Your education is free, you have no immediate business plans, and you currently do not have the skillset to do what you desire in either business or freelance. You have very little to lose by going to university. If you ever do get the point where you have a skillset that you can monetize effectively, you can always drop out in Zuckerberg/gates-esque fashion. If not, you at least have a degree in CS or IT that would be somewhat relevant to your career interests. The BA or IT Major +CS Minor combination would have less math than a BS in CS, and you could most likely take creative/business electives with either program since they would most likely more flexible than a BS in CS .

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