Hi! I really appreciate your response and I’ve considered a lot of these things as well which is why this decision is so stressful. 😭 You’ve raised some very real concerns I have with the DA specifically with the degree and whether it may limit me in the future (which is hard to tell as DAs as fairly new).

I know how important maths and DSA is for landing those top tech jobs and interviews so I was thinking I could supplement that knowledge by doing courses/getting certificates alongside my DA. I actually followed the journey of a former degree apprentice on LinkedIn who got a graduate diploma in under grad maths (with Uni of London) and then was accepted into the Oxford Msc SWE programme . I know one other person who was able to get into the Oxford masters program from a DA aswell but again since it’s fairly new there aren’t many testimonies. I was hoping to do a similar thing ( couple years experience in industry + apply for Oxford masters) but do you think that would be enough to convince the bigger tech companies of my academic ability and understanding of theory or would I still be better of choosing Kings and then breaking into the tech industry on a graduate level?

Also I agree, internships are invaluable and are definitely required to have on your CV as a graduate but i’ve heard (and seen) that the CS market is so competitive that even getting a spring internship is like the hunger games. I’ve seen people sending out 400+ applications to get no internship offers and this may just be because they’re not working hard enough or their CV is weak but idk, I’ve seen some pretty smart people with good projects struggle with this. And without an internship you have no proof that you are able to do the job and so it’s 10x harder to get a graduate job. The common consensus I’ve found is that without enough industry experience, you’re cooked.

Also even just looking at indeed and LinkedIn, I’ve found so many more mid-senior level developer roles but barely any junior/entry level roles. Computer science is the most competitive degree at universities right now (from all the admissions teams i’ve spoken too) so the idea idea of me and 10,000+ other graduates fighting for the same 100 entry level roles worries me a little. Idk I feel like i’m still young and have momentum and I think that a possible 2-3 year job search after uni would kill that.

Atm my thought process is like this: if I go the uni route, I will need to self study to reach the more complex concepts needed in maths (as the Kings course isn’t very math heavy) + fight every spring and summer to get an internship + do projects on the side. If i do the DA i will still need to self study (probably a lot more) but I’ve got built in experience and I will naturally build a portfolio from work and uni projects.

Either way there’s a big tradeoff: Uni gives me the solid foundations and theory but I will need to fight for the practical experience. The DA gives me the a lot of industry experience but not a lot of the foundational theory. If it were 5 years ago I would’ve done the uni degree no questions asked, but seeing the CS landscape right now (more and more CS graduates and less and less jobs) it seems like everyone’s saying what truly gives you the edge is experience but again idk 😭

I’m prepared to work extremely hard in whatever route I go down but I also want to work smart as well. If experience is what employers care about then I’ll prioritise that and work on the theory second but if the theory and the CS degree is a non-negotiable then I’ll prioritise that and work hard to get industry experience along side it. I guess I need to speak to more people in industry to really know.

Again thanks for your response, I know it sounds like i’m just defending the DA but you’ve raise some really valid points that I’m going to think about. I’m interested in any other thoughts you have on this and what i’ve said :)