In between majors ~ long read.

**cr2250** · 01-22-2012 11:49 AM

Hi all,

Currently an undergraduate student at Ohio State University. Just dropped out of engineering (somehow convinced myself engineering was suited for me). I was miserable and the classes were getting progressively impossible for me to comprehend. Plus I feel I was starting to lose interest overall in being in the engineering field.

So now I'm between majors. I've been in college for about 2.5 years. I have no college debt (mainly due to Mom works at the university).

I do not want to graduate with a useless degree but I also do not want to graduate with a degree I will not like. Tough one ehh?

Before I mention what other degree's I'm starting to look into, let me give some background:

I've grown up around business. My Mom has her MBA and my Dad has his own small business. I've contributed many ideas to my dad's business, which the end result made him 90% paper-less and more-so digital. The way his business works now is much more efficient than the traditional Landscape company that logs with paperwork and more paper.

It would seem obvious that it would be smart for me to go into a business field but I've been swayed over the past years NOT to go into business. The market is saturated with recent grads with a business degree, and usually landing at a starbuck's job.

I've been researching an Information Systems Degree (aka MIS). I cannot get a straight answer on whether this degree is useless or not. To my understanding an Information System's degree is someone who does little to no coding but manages the people who do code/develop programs and put their programs into place for a business. I know a manager position is not something easily obtained and requires years of experience but the end result is a managing position.

*I dislike coding, never caught my interest* But IS seems to combine business and technology and I really find that very interesting.

__________________________________________________ __________________

The second major I am looking at is Health Information Management & Systems
Here is a description: http://majors.osu.edu/pdfview.aspx?id=76

It looks to be similar to an IS degree but obviously more aimed to the health industry. I've always been told the keyword *health or medical* is the way to go when choosing a degree in college.

In the end I just want a useful degree that will land me job. I'm not expecting a job to fall in my hands but I do want something that will keep me out of my parents house or going back to school a second time.

What do you guys think? I'm hoping for someone who is in this field, and if someone could give me insight on maybe where to ask this question, please let me know!

Thanks

**mcjon77** · 01-23-2012 03:03 AM

The health information management is certainly an in demand field, however, I always get a little paranoid about being THAT pigeonholed when it comes to my degree. Is there any way you can get a minor in HIMS. Also, check if they offer a certificate. That might be a good alternative.

Have you checked out OSU's BSCIS and BACIS? Those both look interesting. They also have a special IT Entrepreneurship program which leads to an Entrepreneurship minor, which looks REALLY interesting. Strong Tech skills and business knowledge are an absolutely KILLER combination, if you want to start your own business.

**edowave** · 01-23-2012 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by cr2250

Hi all,

Currently an undergraduate student at Ohio State University. Just dropped out of engineering (somehow convinced myself engineering was suited for me). I was miserable and the classes were getting progressively impossible for me to comprehend. Plus I feel I was starting to lose interest overall in being in the engineering field.

So now I'm between majors. I've been in college for about 2.5 years. I have no college debt (mainly due to Mom works at the university).

I do not want to graduate with a useless degree but I also do not want to graduate with a degree I will not like. Tough one ehh?

Before I mention what other degree's I'm starting to look into, let me give some background:

I've grown up around business. My Mom has her MBA and my Dad has his own small business. I've contributed many ideas to my dad's business, which the end result made him 90% paper-less and more-so digital. The way his business works now is much more efficient than the traditional Landscape company that logs with paperwork and more paper.

It would seem obvious that it would be smart for me to go into a business field but I've been swayed over the past years NOT to go into business. The market is saturated with recent grads with a business degree, and usually landing at a starbuck's job.

I've been researching an Information Systems Degree (aka MIS). I cannot get a straight answer on whether this degree is useless or not. To my understanding an Information System's degree is someone who does little to no coding but manages the people who do code/develop programs and put their programs into place for a business. I know a manager position is not something easily obtained and requires years of experience but the end result is a managing position.

*I dislike coding, never caught my interest* But IS seems to combine business and technology and I really find that very interesting.

__________________________________________________ __________________

The second major I am looking at is Health Information Management & Systems
Here is a description: http://majors.osu.edu/pdfview.aspx?id=76

It looks to be similar to an IS degree but obviously more aimed to the health industry. I've always been told the keyword *health or medical* is the way to go when choosing a degree in college.

In the end I just want a useful degree that will land me job. I'm not expecting a job to fall in my hands but I do want something that will keep me out of my parents house or going back to school a second time.

What do you guys think? I'm hoping for someone who is in this field, and if someone could give me insight on maybe where to ask this question, please let me know!

Thanks

Hi cr2550,

First, let me start off by saying I was EXACTLY in your shoes when I was an undergrad. Started off as an engineering major, but realized I just didn't have the patience to work on math problems hours a day. My back up plan was computer science . After two semesters of staying up late in the computer lab looking through thousands of lines of code for that semicolon I must have forgotten somewhere (this was the days before input editors), I told myself there was no way I could see myself doing this for a living.

After that, I just didn't know what to do. I started just trying random majors to see if there was anything I liked. UF, like Ohio State, is a large school and if you don't know exactly what you want to do, you will get lost in the crowd.

I was given some great advice to forgot about worrying what the "major" would be, but to find a department where the faculty was very friendly and actually gave a sh*t about you. A department where the faculty actually taught the classes, not the overworked, over stressed grad students. The major I ended up choosing was Agricultural Systems Management, with a minor in Agribusiness . People thought I was crazy majoring in "Agriculture", and of course the jokes came about me "driving a tractor" for the rest of my life. I also had absolutely zero background in agriculture.

However, it turned out to be a fantastic decision. Agriculture is an extremely important and varied field, that requires you to be familiar with technology, the environment, and business that usually only a land-grant universities like Ohio State can give you. At UF, ASM had the highest undergrad student placement rate in the university. Since graduating, I have never been unemployed (except when I moved to get married.) An "agricultural" degree has not stopped me from pursing an advanced degree like an MBA or PhD. BTW, I have never driven a tractor for any of my jobs! (Though sometimes I think that would be cool.)

Given the background you described, I think ASM would be a very good option for you at Ohio State. Like MIS, it is a mix of technology and business that I think you would enjoy. I would seriously give the undergraduate adviser in the department a call and ask to schedule a meeting to talk about the program. If you decide it is not for you, I would still focus on a department that is small. (Ohio State has a great Geography department as well.)

**cr2250** · 01-24-2012 05:53 AM

Originally Posted by edowave

Hi cr2550,

First, let me start off by saying I was EXACTLY in your shoes when I was an undergrad. Started off as an engineering major, but realized I just didn't have the patience to work on math problems hours a day. My back up plan was computer science . After two semesters of staying up late in the computer lab looking through thousands of lines of code for that semicolon I must have forgotten somewhere (this was the days before input editors), I told myself there was no way I could see myself doing this for a living.

After that, I just didn't know what to do. I started just trying random majors to see if there was anything I liked. UF, like Ohio State, is a large school and if you don't know exactly what you want to do, you will get lost in the crowd.

I was given some great advice to forgot about worrying what the "major" would be, but to find a department where the faculty was very friendly and actually gave a sh*t about you. A department where the faculty actually taught the classes, not the overworked, over stressed grad students. The major I ended up choosing was Agricultural Systems Management, with a minor in Agribusiness . People thought I was crazy majoring in "Agriculture", and of course the jokes came about me "driving a tractor" for the rest of my life. I also had absolutely zero background in agriculture.

However, it turned out to be a fantastic decision. Agriculture is an extremely important and varied field, that requires you to be familiar with technology, the environment, and business that usually only a land-grant universities like Ohio State can give you. At UF, ASM had the highest undergrad student placement rate in the university. Since graduating, I have never been unemployed (except when I moved to get married.) An "agricultural" degree has not stopped me from pursing an advanced degree like an MBA or PhD. BTW, I have never driven a tractor for any of my jobs! (Though sometimes I think that would be cool.)

Given the background you described, I think ASM would be a very good option for you at Ohio State. Like MIS, it is a mix of technology and business that I think you would enjoy. I would seriously give the undergraduate adviser in the department a call and ask to schedule a meeting to talk about the program. If you decide it is not for you, I would still focus on a department that is small. (Ohio State has a great Geography department as well.)

Actually I was part of the Environmental and natural resources college. Until I switched to engineering ... I do agree, smaller colleges actually give a shit about you and you aren't just a number in their books.

I don't think agriculture would be the place for me. I plant to move out west and would love to work in the city. I am actually leaning more to the HIMS program at OSU due to it being in the health field and working with IT (maybe not as intensive as an actual CS major).

I dropped all my Winter classes, kind of bummed about it, wasting my time. But it's given me more than enough time to research degree's and see what my next option is.

Chris

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