I have a degree in something entirely unrelated. Always wondering if I should bother getting a Masters in CS if I plan to stay in the field long term. Seems to only be worth it if I get into a top 5 school, and even then, it seems like a year of study might be worth more than a degree.
I disagree. Degrees matter in terms of credential signalling. I wish the world were a different way, but degrees are a signal that employers do NOT ignore no matter what the HN crowd says about autodidactic CS learning (even though I agree with them on that). Georgia Tech has a great online Master's program which many of my peers took which I think is more readily accessible.
On the anecdote train I studied fine arts and work as a dev in a FAANG. 5 years practical experience and a few months optimizing for leetcode. Nobody seemed to care about my degree and getting final rounds was easy enough.
