Joshua Trommel · The next ten years
Plan
Go to school for computer science, then engineering. Minor in finance, maybe major in it later. All of it inside my 30s. This page is the whole plan, kept current.
Go to school for computer science, then engineering. Minor in finance, maybe major in it later. All of it inside my 30s. This page is the whole plan, kept current.
| 2026 – 27 | Pre-Calculus 12 online (LECSS). The one admission gap. |
| 2027 – 31 | SFU Computing Science BSc, Burnaby. Calc + physics in year 1. Declare the Beedie Business minor end of year 2, finance electives. Co-op terms. |
| 2031 – 33 | Work as a developer, ideally fintech or trading infrastructure. Decide on the MSc Finance. |
| 2033 – 36 | Engineering: bridge into an SFU engineering program or a professional master’s, aiming at P.Eng eligibility. |
| Late 30s | Optional finance major or MSc Finance if the quant side is where the work is. Done before 40. |
SFU Computing Science — real Bachelor of Science, Burnaby, Lower Mainland, easier admission than UBC.
Ruled out: UVic (not Lower Mainland) · KPU (no real CS degree) · BCIT (legit diploma/degree, but too vocational — closes the engineering door)
Degree, not diploma. Take calc + physics year 1 so engineering stays open, because engineering is the second degree, not a maybe. Finish the CS degree with a Business minor at SFU Beedie, or skip the minor and do a Master of Science in Finance (MSc Finance) at SFU after. Reassess after 2 years.
CS is the base. Finance is the multiplier — it's what turns a dev job into quant/fintech/trading pay. Two ways to add it, pick one at end of year 2:
| Option | What it costs | Best if |
| Business minor Beedie, ~10–11 courses inside the BSc |
Beedie has no Finance minor. The Business minor is BUS 200/251/311/340/341/401 + electives; load the electives with finance (BUS 312/315/316). | You want to graduate on time and work as a dev at a fintech/bank. |
| MSc Finance Beedie, 16 months post-BSc |
~$41k domestic tuition, one extra year of no salary. Needs decent GPA + GMAT/GRE. | You want quant / portfolio / trading roles, not just engineering. |
Default: take the minor. It's free relative to the degree and keeps the master's open — MSc Finance admits CS grads, and a Business minor + CS BSc is a stronger application than CS alone. Decide on the master's after you've worked 1–2 years and know whether you actually want the quant side.
Practical note: keep first-year calc and stats strong — both the minor and MSc lean on them, and it's the same calc you're already taking to keep engineering open. No extra prereq cost.
Graduated 2018 with Pre-Calculus 11. SFU Computing Science needs Pre-Calculus 12, and that is the only gap: English Studies 12 (A), Science 12, and Law 12 already cover the five approved Grade 12 courses.
Registered for Pre-Calc 12 online through LECSS (Section 53), Sep 14 2026 to Jun 23 2027. SFU CS admission requirements
Optional: Head-Start Path (not required)
Simplest route: Pre-Calc 12 only (free) → apply as a BC high school completer. If you want a jumpstart instead, KPU also offers real for-credit Computer Science courses — CPSC 1150 or 1155 (intro programming) — that transfer directly to SFU as CMPT credit. Trade-off: they cost tuition, and taking them shifts your SFU application from the simple "high school completer" pathway into a "transfer student" pathway (needs 24+ transferable credits, competitive GPA) instead of the Grade 12 course list above. Stick with just Pre-Calc 12 unless you specifically want to bank a first-year course early.
| PWD disability assistance | up to $1,483/mo |
| Transportation supplement | $52/mo |
| Canada Disability Benefit | $204/mo |
| Estimated total | ~$1,740/mo |
| Expense | At home | Kits/Chinatown |
| Rent | $0–400 | $1,900–2,600 |
| Food | $300–400 | $400–500 |
| Transit | $0 | $0–130 |
| Phone/internet | $60–100 | $80–120 |
| Personal/misc | $150–250 | $250–350 |
| Total | ~$500–1,150 | ~$2,600–3,700 |
| Entry (0–2 yrs) | ~$90k |
| Mid (3–6 yrs) | ~$120k |
| Senior (7+ yrs) | ~$165k |
| Staff / FAANG | $200k+ |
Finance-adjacent roles (fintech backend, quant dev, trading infra) run roughly 15–30% above these in Vancouver, and higher again in Toronto/NYC. That's the case for the minor.
Cumulative savings from staged raises (entry → mid → senior), after-tax income saved at the rate you pick, compounding at the return you pick. Hover for any year. The buttons past $1M are a joke about compounding, and also math.
No student debt (living at home + covered tuition) plus entry-level pay clears Kits/Chinatown rent comfortably from year one of working. On the default model above, $1M lands around year 17 — while renting in Vancouver, not after.
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