A $1200, 1-to-1 CS Degree (and the knowledge is free!): Part 1

As a soon to be college grad, I look back at these last four years and say, 'Great, but what did I learn?'. The answer to that is here: I've curated a list of online courses that I think are an one-to-one experience to what you'll learn in college. I'll have both free and paid resources, where the paid one usually results in some sort of certificate for completion. This lesson is designed for students either in or about to go to college, hoping to accelerate their learning.

Written by Vincent Buchner | Apr 10, 2025

Last Updated at April 10, 2025

Introduction

In this lesson, I’ll go over sorta a roadmap for the material you can expect to cover while in or preparing for college. For reference, I am a senior at Luther College in Decorah, IA and I majored in Computer Science and minored in Data Science. I am graduating this May with a 3.89 GPA, an additional scholarship in CS, and a few internships under my belt. Of course there are people who have done better, but hey, I’m happy with the outcome.

List below is a high level view of the specific CS course I took and what year I took them. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what year you take these courses, but I would recommend the order in which you take them. I won’t be including the courses from my Data Science minor, maybe I’ll make a second post on that. Anyways, here is the list:

Year One (Freshman Year)

• CS-150: Introduction to Computer Science
• CS-140: Web Design

Year Two (Sophomore Year)

• CS-160: Data Structures and Algorithms
• CS-196: Developer Tools Efficiency
• CS-252: OOP in Java
• CS-330: Advanced Web Programming

Disclaimer

Although this post includes mostly everything you'll cover within the general CS major, it's important to keep in mind that a college degree is still valuable and that this path is not a direct substitute. College exceeds beyond just academia and coursework, and is a great way to build a social reputation and connect with others.

CS-150: Intro To Computer Science

Free: Python Full Course for Beginners

Paid: Crash Course on Python: Google Certificate - Cost: $49 / month

You’re first programming course! This is a really big step, and often times is the deciding factor if you really want to get into programming. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and give up, but I really recommend sticking with it. You’ll pick up some amazing skills.

Personally, I would recommend just sticking with the free option here. Because you’re just starting out, I don’t think it’s quite worth it to spend money on something you’re not 100% sold on. But if you do go with the paid option, it’s great to start off with a certificate from Google.

Additionally, you don’t have to start with Python. That’s the one my college teaches early on, but it isn’t the only option. You could try some of these languages as well:

• Java (popular at a lot of universities; solid language and has a lot similar languages)
• C++ (another popular language; older language with high learning curve)
• JavaScript (runs inside the browser; not widely used in university but is used a lot in the industry; Is different from Java)
• Golang (newer language; becoming popular for backend web development and systems infrastructure.)

Confused on which language to chose?

If you have no idea/preference on what language to learn, I would stick with Python as it's easier to learn, robust, and professionally used.

CS-140: Web Design

Free: Intro to HTML and CSS

Paid: Udemy: Build Responsive Real-World Websites - Cost: $179 (try to get on sale if you can)

This was my first introduction to programming, and although some might say it’s not actual programming, it’s still super fun to build your first website. These courses will take you through how to structure and style your first website with HTML and CSS. This is another course I wouldn’t really recommend purchasing, as it’s still testing the waters to see if you do enjoy programming. Furthermore, you can save some money for the more advanced courses that will trump some of these beginner courses.

CS-160: Data Structure’s and Algorithms

Free: Playlist: Data Structure’s and Algorithms

Paid: Python Data Structure’s and Algorithms - Cost: $99 (frequent sales)

Okay, now we’re getting into it! This is usually one of the hardest sections in computer science because there are so many problems and so many things to learn. But stay calm and consistent, it’ll be worth it. Really focus here as these are the type of questions they’ll likely ask you in an interview!

I think you're ready!

At this point, if you have successfully mastered these courses with a thorough understanding (and not just ChatGPT prompts) then you ready to start applying for entry level positions! Interviews will likely be similar to Leetcode questions and involve topics covered in CS-160.

However, do not get discouraged if you don't land a position right away. These things take time and growth. While applying, work on side projects and identify the CS-160 topics you are struggling with the most and focus on those. You got this!

CS-196: Developer Tools

Free: Git and Github, Docker, Linux

Paid: Git and Github, Docker, Linux - ~$250 - $400 (frequent sales)

Now you have the skills to build some serious projects! But how do you deploy it, share it with others, and collaborate? This is where these developer tools come into play! Wherever you work in tech, there’s a good chance they are using at least one of these tools. This is another section I’d recommend learning for free, as the skills can be picked up relatively easily as you go.

CS-252: OOP in Java

Free: Full Java Course

Paid: Duke & UC San Diego: OOP in Java, Building Scalable Software - $49 / month

CS-252 is an in-class way of building a large project, usually within the scope of the whole semester. If you started your journey in Python, this is a great way to learn a new language which is equally if not more widely used. If you started your journey in Java, I would recommend following these practices in a different but similar language like C# or C++. This way you diversify your skill set and can add another language to your resume.

CS-330: Advanced Web Programming

Free: Backend: Python Flask,
Frontend: JavaScript,
Advanced Frontend: JavaScript React,

Paid: Full Stack Development Bootcamp - $119 (frequent deals)

This is one of my favorite courses! With the knowledge you’ll learn here, you’ll be able to construct any project idea you may have (at least to some degree). This is a really big topic and you’ll get a lot of the skills most companies will ask for. There’s a lot of important concepts here, and this course will set you up for what you’ll likely do for your senior project. Be aware of people approaching you with ’the next Facebook'.

Hey, you’re still here! Congratulations!! 🥳 This is big milestone, you made it half way through the CS degree! You have learned and covered so much, and now you can take this knowledge and go apply it in a professional setting. Along with course, keep in mind to practice social skills and working with people. It seems like navigating the job market can be it’s own four credit course sometimes. But shoot your shot, it’s time for that work to pay off. If you’d like to continuing your degree, visit part two of this series. There will over some of the more advanced topics as well as theory. Hope to see you there!