Computer Science or Information Technology

Hi Guys,

I am currently enrolled at Excelsior College and will be completing my BS in Business this Fall - Woohoo!!

I was thinking of continuing my education and pursuing a computer degree - bachelors is fine i think. (I am considering a career change into the computer-related field.) What would you guys recommend for this?

I took some courses at Penn Foster College that i really enjoyed. I really appreciated the flexibility in the classes (self-paced.) Which program would offer this type of flexibility? (Penn Foster does not offer a 4-year computer degree.) I am not too concerned with the RA/NA issue.

I don't want to test out of any classes, really... I would like to go through the complete courses. Low cost would be best, but i am equally (maybe more) concerned about the flexibility (like self-paced).


Thanks,
Joel

 

..with Gen Ed courses being satisfied, you should just be looking at the core/major courses.. plenty of good choices out there. Which IT field do you want to get into? Programming? Web design? System Architecture? Networking? InfoSec?

 

I was thinking Database developer/administration.

 

How do Columbia Southern or Grantham sound?

 

A second Bachelor degree in Computer relate field is not recommend in your case. You'll be amaze some IT greeks with a Bachelor in Psychology and Business. The majority jobs in IT require experiences; a degree might be a check mark as part of requirement. I would recommend you to find a job in Help Desk or Technical Supports. Then start to work on your IT certifications such as Security+, Oracle Database, Linux+, Oracle Solaris and etc. Take a look at WGU's Master of Science in Information Technology - Software with Database. This program seems to be better than a second Bachelor from Grantham University. It is cheap and racking up your certification on the way.

For example in my case, I have been working in the IT for 12 years. My boss who has only a Bachelor degree, and over 25 years experience in IT. And I am working under him, even though I am currently working on my Doctorate.

 

Excelsior has the "BS in Business with concentration in Management Information Systems." Is this your degree plan? If not can you change to it? It might eliminate your need to get a second computer degree.

While I do know very good IT people with non-computer degrees, the majority of the "good/better/best" IT people I know ALL have computer related degrees. As a hiring manager I would favor candidates with a computer degree unless the person with the non-computer degree had a LOT more experience. Many jobs say 2-3 years experience plus bachelors in computer related degree or equivalent technical experience (meaning 4-6 years experience without bachelors).

 

"BS in Business with concentration in Management Information Systems"
Do you consider this a computer degree or a business degree as a hiring manager?

My program is the General Business option. When i enrolled i was mostly focused on obtaining a degree. period.

 

If you had a BS in Business with concentration in MIS then I would not both with another computer degree. This would probably get you in the door when a job listing says "BS in computer related field." I would favor you over others with just a plain business degree when hiring for a computer job.