i was a slacker in high school... I never wanted to get anywhere but out. i still passed high school with a 3.0 gpa. now after i have matured and grown tired of the grind of retail i want to go back. i am starting research into going back but everywhere i look is trying to sell me to a school. i am hoping you all can help. i took some programing classes in high school and i purchased some books in c++ and java script. i want to become a programmer either data base admin or computer gaming. now to the point... i am wondering if there is any advice on a online school for me to start towards my goals. i want to find a school that is not a joke and hopefully accredited. ultimate goal for me is to get into the field quickly then maybe go back to school while working in it.
Hi Chad - You're in the right place. There are lots of people here to help you as you make those smart decisions. You may be surprised at the number of choices that are available. While you're waiting for others to respond (it might be a bit slow because it's now the weekend) here's a couple of schools for you to peek at Strayer: http://www.strayer.edu/online_programs UMass: http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/Online-Degree-Bachelor-Information-Technology.cfm Also, make a point of reading through as many threads as possible. Each contains at least one nugget. Good luck.
Baker College Baker College offers a Bachelor of Computer Science in Database Technology and in Game Software Development. Troy University offers a Bachelor of Science in Applied Computer Science. You might want to consider earning an associate degree as an intermediate step and then apply those credit hours, as applicable, towards a bachelor degree. This has the added advantage of not locking you into a particular school or bachelor degree too early.
Strayer I am an Accounting student at Strayer University. I attended a state institution for 3 years. I have been with Strayer for a year now. I really believe your education is all in what you put in. I had poor professors at the school which shall not be mentioned. I have very helpful professors in all but one class. I quite enjoy my education there. If it gives any insight, I was a slacker for the longest time. Now I am truly planning on pursuing the highest education I can attain. I consider it my penance. <(is that seriously how it is spelled?) Jonathan B.S.A.C. '09 Strayer University
Troy University's program is not enough to be in your field. Try Colorado Technical University's BSIT in Software Engineering. CTU is ABET accredit, not this program. URL: http://www.ctuonline.edu
Programming is a tough field to break into without experience. I’ve never met a gaming programmer. I’m a network engineer, so I’m not too up-to-date on database administration. I wanted to chime in here because I see that you want to go to school while working. My advice to you is if you want to break into the field quickly, you need to learn your skill set first. Most employers don’t want to hire someone that they have to spend money on training to do the job they were hired to do. For entry level positions, degrees are usually not a requirement, certifications are. If you want to be a database administrator (DBA), you need technical knowledge. School will water you down with general education classes and irrelevant electives. I am all for school, don’t get me wrong, but if your goal is to learn a skill and go to work, then you need to do just that. I would follow this plan: - Determine what you want to do, either DBA or gamming programming (good luck with finding a job for that!) - Find a technical program to learn the skills you need (try to find one where they issue credits that can transfer) - Work on and obtain a certification (MCDBA or MCITP: Database Administrator comes to mind) - Get hired with your skills and certification credentials - If you want a degree, enroll and transfer your credits towards your degree (hopefully) I know that this isn’t very specific, but I hope it helps. If you don’t have experience, you need some other way to show a potential employer you know your stuff. Certification is the way to go for now… Just my two cents.
If you look at the IT job listings these days you will see a degree is not only required, it is demanded in addition to experience and certifications. The OP would probably be better served by earning an AA in general studies and applying to the military, possibly the air force since they have "cushier" postings, and with the right scores on the MOC tests get into IT or programming within the military. After earning a bachelor degree in game programming or software engineering the OP could get into development of training and simulation systems either in the military or with a defense contractor. Traditional IT without years of experience and a degree is an almost insurmountable challenge with decreasing return on investment.
Sentinel, if you re-read my post you will see that I was talking about entry-level positions. I'm not saying that a degree isn’t an added plus, because I know firsthand it is. There is no degree requirement for my position, just CCIE (I'll have mine in August hopefully), MCSE, and the DoD 8750 stuff. I have a Master’s degree. I’m replying in regards to the “ultimate goal” of the original poster: I think immersing one’s self in the skill for the job would help land someone the job faster than attending school for four years where only a small portion of that begin relevant to the desired job. But what do I know right?
chadleyb, Check out this school - Western Governors University. They are regionally accredited, and they offer an IT curriculum that is based on certifications. It’s the best of both worlds (or so it seems). Here is a link to their IT degrees: http://www.wgu.edu/online_it_degrees/programs.asp It seems like it might be a good fit for you. It’s online, cheap, accredited, and will grant you certifications. On that note, anyone out there know anything about WGU?
Entry-level positions require degrees, certifications, and usually experience. There are few true entry-level IT positions like we remember from the 1980s and 1990s. I am not saying there is not an entry-level position out there somewhere but the odds are increasingly against applicants without a degree. The OP really has no idea of the gaming industry; from those with whom I have talked it is akin to a sweatshop and it really has a short life career for all but the most exceptional gaming programmers. The closest entry-level positions are in government and military. Government employment has it advantages and disadvantages, however, it is a good place to get a start to your career and can provide a stable base to explore your interests.
I'm sorry I don't rememeber those positions; I'm only 27! I offer my advice to the original poster as someone who works in IT. I work for a company called L-3 Communitications. I have worked with people from Cisco, Microsoft, General Dynamics, Mitre, Avaya, and more. Of all the people I have worked with, a degree was usually never a requirement. Only lead positions ever required one. Now, this is in the Networks/Systems/Security world. Maybe things are different in DBA and programming world?
Speaking of IT jobs from the 90's... I remember seeing a job listing for a programmer around 1999 or 2000. They wanted someone having 4 years of experience with Visual Basic 6... which was released in 1998! I wonder how long they had to wait to find a qualified candidate.
Just be careful about Western Governors University because they don't teach the class. All the learning Materials from portal likes Softskill or NETg courses.
"Get off my lawn!" says the "old" man. Each niche area in IT has its own requirements and preferences regarding degrees and certifications. Experience and certifications are highly sought in the security realm with a degree being a bonus.
True, a M.S. in Information Assurance and a CISSP will land you a great job just about anywhere. What is Communitications? I can't spell!!!
i found a program that after my first year of school i will be able to work for them while they pay for my degree. also checked out strayer going to get some more info from them.
There are a lot of employers that will pay for school. Just keep in mind that there is a $5250 federal limit on employer tuition assistance. Now that's for school, I know my compnay will pay for training and bootcamps, and reimburse for passed certification exams (which is why I have so many). But for tuition, anything over $5250 you will be taxed. Strayer is really expensive compared to other good schools. If I could do things differently I would have completed my M.S. at different school. Funny story, a friend of mine wanted to be a video game programmer while we were in High School. He joined the Air Force when I did in 2001, and he chose the 3C0X2 Computer Programmer career field. After four years, he got out of the Air Force. He's now working on his Master's at Georgetown in International Politics. Whatever you end up doing I wish you the best of luck. If you have any Strayer questions please feel free to ask.
i am getting information from devry and strayer.. you said you would have gone to another school. do you mind sharing the other schools you would have gone to?
What I meant was I would have gone to a cheaper school. The Strayer name gives no real advantage, and I think as long as the school was regionally accredited and had a good program it wouldn't have mattered. I'm starting a Ph.D. program so that would have been all I needed. I have 7.5 months left of benefits on my GI Bill and if school would have been cheaper I would have been able to save some GI Bill money and just use employer tuition assistance and money out of pocket. Strayer's M.S. in Information Systems program was easy for me because I knew all of the information in all of the technology classes. In fact a lot of it was repetitive.
