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"Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience"

I see this on most programming job requirements. What is the other degrees?

I'm searching for colleges and there's some that offer CS degrees and some that offer Computer Programming - General. Is that an equivalent degree?

And lastly, if they only said "You need a degree in CS", could you still get it with a degree in Computer Programming - General? I can't imagine them saying no seeing you have a degree in programming related area.

Thanks.
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Equivalent experience, not equivalent degree. That is to say, three or four years experience in the industry.

By the way, degrees that include the word "programming" in the title are almost certainly scams, in that the courses don't cover anything you couldn't figure out for yourself, and that they still charge you out the ass for it. Most employers know this and treat applicants with such degrees as if they had no degrees. Reputable universities don't have courses like these.

The main degrees if you want to get into software development and closely related careers are computer science and software engineering. Other computerish-sounding degrees are not computer-centric, but rather center around some other thing with which the computer helps. Computer engineering is about designing computer hardware.
Are you sure? Even my state colleges have Computer Science - General called degrees.. Calling them a "scam" is a bit much, unless you have any proof to this..?

And you're right, I overlooked the word 'experience', thanks.

I guess I'll look for software engineering as well.. Maybe I'll turn up something.

edit: sorry if I sound rude, i'm not trying to be.
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Are you sure? Even my state colleges have Computer Science - General called degrees.. Calling them a "scam" is a bit much, unless you have any proof to this..?
It's a generalized rule, but I've yet to see any counterexamples. Do note that I said "programming", not "computer" or "science", though.

"Scam" is the right word. These schools make money by attracting poor saps who don't know better. The classes are language- or technology-oriented (the specific contents will depend on what's popular at the time), introductory at best, and there's very little if any theory. You come out with a worthless degree and what little knowledge you gained will likely be obsolete within 5-10 years.
The great thing about this profession is that if you want to learn some specific technology, with few exceptions*, you can do it in your free time. Self-teaching is almost a requirement for us.


* Mostly things involving expensive hardware, such as programming of computer clusters, or supercomputing.
Well problem is that not all say experience. For example:

http://www.netherrealm.com/careers/detail/135292BR

Says
B.S. degree in Computer Science or equivalent.
In that case, depending on how you interpret the sentence ("[B.S. degree in Computer Science] or equivalent" or "B.S. degree in [Computer Science or equivalent]". This is why commas are important) it's either referring to degrees in CS, SE, systems analysis, and possibly a few others; or it's accounting for CS degrees obtained in other countries.
Here, for example, there's four or five degrees commonly associated by laymen with computers, regardless of how relevant those fields actually are. But if I get started on the brightness and/or expressiveness of HR people, I'll be here all night. Suffice it to say that that is what they mean.
You would think HR people need proof readers.
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