If you have your heart set on FAANG, you should certainly go to school and get a strong foundation in everything CS to has to offer. Go to the best school you h

If you have your heart set on FAANG, you should certainly go to school and get a strong foundation in everything CS to has to offer. Go to the best school you have access to and supplement that with online learning. Good news - it's easier than it used to be to get a job at FAANG companies. I have friends that started at google and they unanimously agree that it's easier now than it used to be to get a job offer. Some of that has to do with the size of the workforce (as in some of these companies need 5,000 more CS grads than they used to need). Age should not hold you back. There are plenty of 35 year old programmers. Degree value is undoubtedly going down, but it's still extremely valuable at FAANG like companies. It's not a waste of time. You will for a fact learn some new things. It's not the best use of your economic opportunity in the short run. Letting go of 4 years income is something you should not do lightly. Do it if you can afford to do it. After all, learning as much as possible has some value just for the sake of it. We all have different dreams. Be the last to give up on yourself.