CS is pretty special: - It's not a legally qualifying degree like studying medicine - It's academic in the sense that you can use it to gain entrance to a phd

CS is pretty special: - It's not a legally qualifying degree like studying medicine - It's academic in the sense that you can use it to gain entrance to a phd, and has academic content that isn't just "how to code". - And yet you learn a fair bit about how to code. You'll in all likelihood come across actual tools, not toys, that real coders use, eg Git. You might also do some specialist stuff that is directly applicable to an employer, rather than just demonstrating interest. Eg if you do a systems programming course, you might actually understand systems in a way that's useful from the start.