Comment Why does it have to be CS? (Score 1) 918
I'm in a similar boat as you; I'm 36, have worked professionally in IT since the mid 90's and now I'm back in school to get my bachelors. Except, instead of returning to engineering, I'm setting my sights on the future, say 10-15 years from now, in a completely different field. Why you ask? Read on...
The IT field grows by leaps and bounds on an almost daily basis. Sure, the tried and true technologies that have always been here will always be, but it seems like every day there's a new language or protocol or standard to master. This leaves you with one of two choices from a professional perspective: either spread yourself so thin trying to keep up with all (or a lot) of them, or become so focused on a narrow slice that you effectively get pigeonholed for the rest of your career.
If you're already accomplished in IT, there's far less room for you to grow than the young 20-somethings who have just gotten out of school. If you stay in an engineering capacity, you'll soon find yourself competing with them; being that they're still junior, they'll have more freedom to run circles around you with the latest and greatest.
It's better to pursue a (gasp!) management degree or similar, and take your IT accomplishments with you into the next realm, where you'll be the one with the whiz bang skills that beats the snot out of the resident Excel or PowerPoint wizard.
