Where are you located? I am at NYC. I recommend Fullstack Academy. I graduated from there, wrote a really long Quora answer that asks about bootcamp experience and got voted as one of the top viewest answer, I have since removed that because the current Fullstack Academy community (the community, not the curriculum) is not for me anymore.

With bootcamp skills, you can definitely land FAANG jobs. I know a person that did not go to bootcamp or CS degree at all but just study Data Structures and Algorithms and got a job at Facebook (since then the person got fired because of performance review, but landed at Google, and it seems that Google does not fire people).

Your MS program will not advance you toward making SE salary soon, so I believe that a bootcamp program probably will be a better bet. MS program though, will prepare you for a good CS foundation and will make you a well rounded SE overall. However, it has little correlation to the amount of money that you will be making, unless, you are so damn good and famous that literally FAANG will be knocking on your door.

There are too many things to study, and CS is not programming. Programming is not CS. You can program without knowing CS. If you want to optimize for money in a short amount of time, I recommend bootcamp, built a few projects, and then study the heck out of Data Structures and Algorithms. Make sure it is a reputable one and has support structure to help you find a job.

Also it helps to focus either on Frontend or on Backend. Thi will make your career transition even faster. I am a fullstack by choice. I don't recommend this path to anyone. It is too much trouble to keep up with the techs, and don't pay that much more (if it pays more) compared to pure backend or pure frontend. I just do it because one day I foresee to create my own company. I need to be a generalist.

So to summarize. If (goal === make more money within short time): - Do bootcamp - Make sure the bootcamp is reputable, has support structure to find you a job and optimize your resume - Focus on either frontend or backend if you can - Build a few projects (maybe 2 or 3) - Study Data Structures and Algorithms

else: - do MS - just study whatever is interesting. AI, ML, Compilers, Hardware, Graphics, maybe build a small project in one of these areas. These topics are hard topics, so even just one project is hard to do - still do Data Structures and Algorithms