Two bachelors or one masters?

Hello,

I am 23 and currently about to finish my first bachelor's degree in Business Information Technology (BIT). When I applied to this degree program, I was interested in IT, however after the first year I started liking Business and disliking IT and I have pursued a career in business. I have done two internships as account manager intern and a marketing intern.

I wanted to learn and study more about business, so I applied to an International Business bachelor's program and I got it accepted.

The problem is that now I am not sure whether that is a good idea or not.

What do you think? Is it good to have two bachelor's degrees (BIT and International Business) ? Or should I go for a master's? Or perhaps try to start my career instead?


A little more info if needed:

Main reason I wanted to do another bachelor's was to avoid the local army/civil service, and to learn more about business, so I applied for that degree as a backup option.
I could transfer some credits from my current degree to the new one so I could finish it faster, if needed.



Any thoughts would be appreciated

 

You are using BIT, I assume you are from India. I am not sure what the rule for not mandatory participating the arm forces in India. But I don't see the point getting a second Bachelor degree. A technical undergraduate degree and an MBA is where should head to if you plan to pursue your career in business.

 

I agree with TEK and Steve.

 

Yes, it might look nice. But it takes time and it costs money and it's not clear that it would create any real advantage as compared to simply pushing on through the MBA.

 

A second Bachelor's would be a complete duplication of effort, I wouldn't bother.

Most people I know of who have 2 Bachelor's degrees are actually double-majors and the school won't award one degree for some reason; maybe the titles are different (B.A. vs. B.S., etc.).

Then there's the lunatic who earned something like 25 Associate's degrees, all 100% legitimate.

 

And some of us have them because TESU just made it so darn easy to pick up a second degree with the smattering of coursework we had accumulated after the first bachelors.

 

Go for the masters. Even if you overlook the fact that you'll be likely repeating a lot of lower level work with a second bachelors. There are way more positives I can think of with a masters than a second bachelors. First, some jobs have qualifications that require or at least prefer a masters. Many have a pay raise with a masters. The masters programs are more specialized than bachelors and will allow you to gain more knowledge. Sure you'll learn some stuff about international business with a second bachelors in it, but you'll learn the same stuff, but more indepth with a masters. In my opinion, don't waste your time with a second bachelors and apply for a masters in international business instead.

 

It should be noted that there are occasions when a second bachelors is required.

Anyone changing careers to become, say, a nurse will likely find that the BSN isn't something that one can simply work around if an MSN is on their to-do list.

I'm sure there are a handful of other examples like this.

But having a degree in IT doesn't mean you can't work in "business" and having a degree in business doesn't mean you can't work in IT. Higher level degrees, certifications and just plain old fashioned experience come into play.

I always recommend people choose the path of least resistance to their career goals. A typical Masters degree requires somewhere around 10-15 classes. A bachelor's, second or otherwise, typically requires many more. If you can get a second bachelor's for fewer credits than you can a Masters then, well, it's a consideration. I know of one person who opted for a second bachelor's from CTU. He did it because he already had a degree in Software Engineering. He wanted an MBA (which would have required foundations courses for a non-business major like him). In his particular case, he felt it made sense, in terms of finances and time spent, to earn a BSBA while enrolled in a special program CTU offered at the time to take graduate level coursework at the undergraduate level and meet the requirements for both degrees.

Barring a unique situation like that, you should do whatever gets you to your goal the fastest and with as little expense as possible.

 

Not only is that true but what's also true is that having some substantial knowledge about IT "stuff" is quickly becoming "highly desirable" if not required in a large number of fields. I am a general believer in the Liberal Arts orientation to American higher education (as opposed to the more focused Continental system) and I think that making IT knowledge/skills a part of that makes at least as much sense as Chemistry or Environmental Science, etc

 

Or just desired.
My wife did second Bachelor's in Accounting to qualify for the CPA; in our circumstances it was by far the cheaper choice. Then in the loony bin, if all goes according to plan, I'll wrap up a second Bachelor's this year (Accounting) and then resume working on the third (a LLB), in parallel with the second Master's. But this just being a DegreeInfo nerd.