I'd like to ask for a career advice here if that's ok. I've graduated as an engineer in 2010 and recently got offered a place on the Computation Mathematics program in a university in the UK, entry in one year.
Since I have a year to kill, I plan to use it to brush up on mathematical topics and acquire skills that I need in my masters and ultimately in my career in applied math. After some research, I am now at the cross road of 2 options (that I'm aware of at the moment):
Option A: Spend the year picking up useful programming skills (python, Java, advanced C++, data structures, algorithms, etc...) via online sources + online courses on Coursera.
Option B: Enroll in a web development course, particularly the Web Development Immersive program at General Assembly (https://generalassemb.ly/education/web-development-immersive) and become a professional developer in 12 weeks. This will equip me with the skills I need and connect me with professional and more however at a cost (~8,000 GBP).
The real question is then, how does A compare to B ? Will option A be sufficient ? Is B a waste of money ? How useful will 'B' be to my career ? Looking at the Syllabus of the WDI program, is some of it just a waste of time for me or will it be useful ?
Thank you all. This is my first post/question and I intend to be an active member of this enriching community.
Cheers.
If you're really planning on having a career in applied math, I'd say that learning about algorithms and data structures and programming languages typically used for numerical computation (plus getting a grip on computer algebra systems like Mathematica) will be far more useful than learning the ins and outs of web development.