I merged your thread.
To give you more info we'll need a bit more information about you and you career. Why did you switch from CS to Polisci for law school? A CS background isn't bad for law, especially patent law. Why did you choose CS? Why are you going back to CS? What's your technical background? Are you interested in cyber security because you've done cyber security or because you saw it was an emerging field within CS?
Based on that you had a major of CS and switched to polisci we can assume you already have some school under your belt. At least a year of already completed some general ed stuff. I'm also assuming that all your classes were done recently so you don't have to take them. I'm also assuming that you have little to not background in CS besides the intro classes you did in school.
So, I know this post is really old. Kind of forgot about this thread, but have been revisiting going back to school as difficult as it is money/time wise. To answer your questions finally, Switched majors more so for stupid reasons. Didn't end up liking the program/teachers at the school I was going to. TA in my lab class was a total jerk, belittlde me in front of class for my system account not being accessible, and some other reasons. Ended up reporting him. Freaked out about the math and programming demands of the major and just felt too stupid I guess. Had previously taken some Criminal Justice/Law classes at a community college, and liked the field. Have always had an interest in government/international NGO work and was a good writer, so thought being a legal advisor for the government would be an interesting career field. But Law is such a huge risk these days, not to mention stressful and most lawyers hate it. In hindsight, I should have just changed schools and stuck with CS, instead of being in my 30s with dead end jobs making no money and still not working for the government.
Chose CS just because of my interest in computers and it being an in demand field. Guess I found the idea of security/encryption/ethical hacking type computer work interesting, even if unrealistic. Also live 10 mins away from NSA, so figured it might lead to good career options. Thinking of going back to CS to fix my previous mistake of quitting, and just to pursue an actual decent paying field with lots of opportunities and just generally learning more about what you can do with computers from a personal enrichment/hobby standpoint.
No real technical background. Took AP C++ in college, taught myself some Visual Basic prior to that. Took some other computer courses in community college, but nothing really CS heavy. I currently hold a Bachelor's Degree, so I'd being going back for another Bachelor's (unless going Masters is more advisable despite lack of prerequisites). Holding a Bachelor's already means no required Gen Ed classes or upper level electives. All I have to take are the core requirements for the major (Math and CS), and I could currently go to the University of Maryland on In-State tuition which is a pretty reputable CS program. Only Core class I've taken is Calculus I, which I got an A in, but that was almost 10 years ago. Not sure it will still count.
For me it's really just coming down to the expense, amount of time it will take to get it, and whether I have the ability to succeed in it. I have no student debt, and really don't want to carry any, but already having a Bachelor's means no Federal grants or scholarships for the most part, so I'd likely have to pay out of pocket or take a loan out.
Also considering maybe going IT instead since it has a less heavy math/programming demand, but I'm not sure I can do as much with it.
