<p>I’m not surprised that not much transfers over. A CIS degree is essentially a business degree with a few info-science/CS courses. You also need courses in accounting, finance, marketing, organizational behavior, etc.</p>
<p>The IT career path is quite a bit different from the options with a CS major and a lot of IT job postings that I’ve seen want specific skills in specific products. I see job postings for IT jobs that want a CS degree but the skillsets desired indicate that they want an IT degree.</p>
<p>BTW, there are jobs that use all of that esoteric math in research/lab environments. There is programming involved but you also do other things.</p>
<p>Which degree would you say is more beneficial? MIS or IT? Business classes definitely do bore me.</p>
<p>I have completed most of the math required for the CS degree (Calc 1-3, Physics 1-2, Eng. Stats, Linear Systems) and am currently enrolled in Discrete Math. I originally believed the math would become my biggest hurdle because I was never all that great at math. I was able to complete all of those courses with A’s and B’s much to my dismay. I don’t want a job that relies heavily on math. I don’t think it would be a good fit for someone like myself.</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies BCEagle. I appreciate it.</p>
<p>To answer your question, yes it is worth going through a CS degree even if you do not want to become a programmer upon graduation. Switching to MIS closes more opportunities than it will open. A CS degree is a very broad degree in which you can take many different routes, including IT. What you will find when applying to IT jobs is that the market is so saturated that most employers will require a CS degree, even though the field does not require it. </p>
<p>I’m a Junior as well, and I absolutely hated my C programming class. If it were not for my internship, I would be questioning my motives to pursue a CS degree, like the position you are in now. Realize that the real world is nothing like the academic stuff. </p>
<p>During Junior/Senior year people become apprehensive about what they’re doing, and question it generally because they’re going through some rough spots.</p>
<p>Between CS, MIS and IT? They are different. You can hit it big in any of them if you have in-demand skills at the time. CS, though, is more difficult than the other two. I would say that I think that MIS is harder than IT but it depends a lot on what you are interested in.</p>
<p>My daughter is getting her associates in CS and then she plans to work for a bit. I’m happy to fund the remaining two years in whatever she wants as a major as I’m happy with the effort that she put into a major that she was reluctant about. If she switched majors, it would take another two semesters to get a degree.</p>
<p>Remember that there are a ton of other facets to CS/software engineering besides C/C++. Even if you despise those languages, there are a lot of other jobs dealing with higher level stuff (especially web development).</p>
<p>What was your internship like? I am planning to try to get one for this upcoming summer. I did pass my first C programming class with a B. I was doing fine in the beginning of the class and on track for an A. I started disliking it later on when concepts got much more difficult. I am still unable to grasp linked lists. That was really frustrating. I also had a hard time with pointers to pointers and pointers within arrays. I really enjoyed my java class. I loved doing all the assignments, but we never delved into lower level concepts like memory allocation, pointers, linked lists etc.</p>
<p>I also just started my first C++ class this week. Hopefully I enjoy it a bit more than my previous C class.</p>
<p>BCEagle, thank you for your input. I think MIS would be a bit more difficult than IT for me simply because business classes are incredibly boring to me. I was forced to take two of them at my local communtiy college (macroeconomics/microeconomics). I got an A in both classes, but it bored me to tears. I am just curious which is the more lucrative degree of the two. I know CS is definitely the most valuable which is what makes the thought of switching that much more difficult.</p>
<p>Sumzup, thank you for your input as well. I do enjoy the higher level stuff more and I think I would enjoy web development.</p>
<p>Economics is a social science. It technically isn’t a business course. You might find business courses easier (maybe a lot easier) than your CS courses.</p>
<p>As to which can make more money, it depends. A CIS major can go into consulting, sales consulting, work as a DBA, work as a business applications programmer. Some of these jobs can pay a lot of money.</p>
<p>IT jobs can pay a lot of money too if it’s in the right area and if you have the right skills. A lot of IT jobs don’t pay very much though.</p>
<p>There are MIS and IT jobs that pay more than CS jobs so it’s not a given that the CS major makes more. The CS major is harder than the other two though.</p>
<p>don’t worry… in india here people learn java and C++ during final years of highschool… i love CS, but that doesn’t mean others in my stream do… they hate CS so much that all they do to pass in exams is mug up the programs… so i can understand what you are facing right now… just try and get through this year…then go for a masters degree which IS your niche… for me, CS is my niche, my CS knowledge is such that i never even needed to open the books to learn, it’s just natural to me. I know you’ll feel the same when you pursue your niche… :)</p>
<p>I did my internship at Intel. It was focused on software development (mostly coding) in C#. I enjoyed it much more because it concentrated on creating corporate applications that had a purpose. I chose to do coding by choice though, as some other interns in my group went into Systems Engineering, which focused more along the lines of setting up VMs / maintaining server clusters…</p>
<p>What made you reconsider CS before you had your internship? Thank you for your input. I hope to get as much advice as I can from as many people. This is just such a tough decision. I just don’t know if I have the ability to complete the CS degree if I am starting to lose interest. Its also going to start getting very difficult especially in my later courses. I am currently in a Computer Organization class (hardware course). I am looking through the book and it looks terrifying. I can’t even say it looks the least bit interesting to me either which is upsetting.</p>
<p>I know IT will be the easier degree, but I don’t want to regret getting the IT degree down the road. I do hate being so frustrated. I can’t focus and I honestly feel like I am not enjoying my life because of this one big issue. </p>
<p>CS will open more doors, but I am curious as to whether or not I can complete it. IT classes are somewhat similar, but not too in depth with programming which is something I think would be a relief. Although, the IT degree is not as lucrative as the CS degree and I may regret it down the road. This indecisiveness is killing me!</p>
<p>My issues with CS is that there is a huge disparity in what they teach and what you actually use in real life. The material taught is usually, as you are finding, extremely complicated and until you get into the application, very hard to grasp. I didn’t like how most of my classes weren’t applicable to real life work. I never found the material difficult to the point where I was struggling compared to my peers though, so if you are having issues with that you might want to seek tutoring or talk to your professors. The courses just seem like hoops that you have to jump through in order to be considered for a job that you enjoy. </p>
<p>I think you if actually went into IT, you would find the classes easier and more to your liking, but when you graduate, unable to find a job prospect because the market is saturated with CS majors taking the IT jobs you want to go into.</p>
<p>The idea is that you learn the math and concepts to build a career off of instead of learning tools which would be only good for the current generation of tools. Some CS majors go on to do research and scientific work where the theory is useful.</p>
<p>So departments have to come up with a mix of theory and practice and whatever they come up with won’t satisfy everyone.</p>
<p>I understand why they do it, and many classes that are theory-based are extremely helpful (Computer Networks, Data Structures and Algorithms, etc.), but I disagree with the notion that there is enough “practice” mixed. Where I attend to, you can graduate with a CS degree without developing more than 5-10 programs/applications in four years.</p>
<p>I think that students need to look at how programs are structured when they are looking at schools - if they want a theory-heavy program, then they should pick a school with that emphasis. Unfortunately, a high-schools student may not understand the distinction at a detailed level or they might not know what they want to do at the time.</p>
<p>It depends on what the programs and applications are. If the 5 to 10 programs and applications are things like term projects where you write a linker, write a compiler, write a graphics renderer, design a digital system or computer processor, etc., then that can be substantial “practice”, although the semester long nature of course projects does limit the incentive to design for long term maintainability.</p>
<p>Just chiming in to say I am still as confused as ever. I have had a few people tell me not to switch to IT, but I honestly don’t know if I will survive the CS major with all the programming I have yet to go. The main courses I have left in programming are Data Structures (which I hear is brutal) and Operating Systems. I also have 24 credit hours of CS electives which I am sure will consist mostly of programming.</p>
<p>I am starting to get burnt out on programming and I don’t know how much more I can take. I am interested in switching to IT, but not if I will have problems finding a job like quite a few are saying.</p>
<p>I have no clue what else I would want to major in that does not deal with technology. Another option is the Management Information Systems degree, but that is a business degree with a strong business core.</p>
<p>I absolutely hate the situation I am in right now and have no idea what to do. Time is running out (I absolutely must decide what to do by the end of this semester). I just want to be happy and I haven’t felt like that in a long time because of the constant thoughts about this issue.</p>
<p>I do appreciate all you guys that have taken the time out of your lives to help me in this situation. It has helped, but I am still as confused as ever.</p>
<p>Adam-
Quit freaking out; calm down for a minute. Your anxiety here is not going to help the situation but make it worse.</p>
<p>My thoughts are-- and I work in IT, is finish your CS degree. It sounds like you are almost done. Even though you are sick of programming it sounds like you are still getting really good grades. A CS degree is more marketable than a MIS/ CIS or IT degree. You are making good grades and you are almost done-- just finish it up.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, to help calm you: I’ve been in IT for 13 years now. There are loads of positions within IT that involve zero programming:</p>
<p>Network Engineer
Database Administrator
Windows System Engineer
Virtual Systems Engineer
Systems/Business Analyst
Project Manager
Quality Assurance Analyst</p>
<p>Frankly, with a CS degree you could be qualified to fill any of those roles at an entry level postition upon graduation (maybe not the PM position). </p>
<p>I ended up with a MIS degree- and took the easy way out. Although, I didn’t like programming all that much, I should have stuck with the CS route I had planned. Just because you are writing code in class now doesn’t mean you will have to do it as a profession. Like I said, the above positions involve little to zilch programming. </p>
<p>To me this sounds like a no brainer-- as long as you are making good grades with the programming classes than there is no reason to change now. Good luck-- calm down and stop freaking out!</p>
<p>First of all, thank you very much for your reply. It is much appreciated.</p>
<p>Is 43 credits considered “almost done”? I feel like I still have quite a ways to go. I did not make good grades on my Program Design course (I ended up failing my final exam), but I got a B on the midterm and did well on the homework assignments, but there were only four because of issues the professor was having. This led me to get a B overall, but I was lucky.</p>
<p>There was one project early on in my C++ class (currently enrolled) where I doubt I would have been able to complete it without my friend letting me check out his code to get an idea of what to do. I don’t know how well I will be doing in the second half of the semester.</p>
<p>I will graduate by Summer 2013 only if I pass all my courses on first attempt. This also means holding a full course load of 15 hours per semester and 2-3 classes in summer. These 43 credit hours consist of ALL CS classes because I have finished up my general education requirements. I am sure that will be extremely tough. I will graduate at the same time even if I switch to IT.</p>
<p>I just believe I will have trouble finishing when I am losing interest in programming. If I only had 1 or 2 programming courses then I would finish it out. I still have 43 credit hours left of pure CS coursework which is quite a bit.</p>
<p>So you regret going from CS to MIS? What do you do for a living? Has going for the MIS held you back from what you wanted to do as opposed to going for the CS degree?</p>
<p>In IT, programming ability and understanding of more foundational knowledge of operating systems, databases, and networks (as taught in the CS courses) will serve you well, even if you change your primary major to a business oriented MIS/IT/IS/whatever major.</p>
<p>You may not need to program much, but situations may come up when you can automate something with a simple script instead of manually doing it a hundred times or so.</p>
<p>Oh— for some reason I thought you were further along than you were. Maybe I just confused it while reading through the thread. I also thought you were getting all good grades.</p>
<p>Hmm… . Have you talked to an advisor where the IT school is housed? Make an appointment, tell them your situation and see if IT is a better fit. There will be less programming classes there and probably more design classes (like someone else said— watered down CS degree).</p>
<p>Yeah and saying you are supposed to graduate in summer of 2013 with that course load is pushing it. 15 hours of CS classes will be tough.</p>
<p>I regret switching from CS to MIS because it felt like the easy way out for me. I didn’t like programming all that much but was passing the classes with B’s and C’s. I was involved in too many EC activities and looking back now I wish I had stayed with CS just from a personal goal achievement…and focused more on studying. I see the reason why CS is flooded with math classes-- and looking at it today those math classes help you think logically…something that is very much lacking in the corporate world.</p>
<p>I knew I didn’t want to program 100% of the time. So the switch to MIS didn’t hurt me in that regard. I’ve been doing performance testing for the past 13 years or so and now manage a team of performance engineers. When I was doing the testing it allowed me to write code ~15% of the time-- which was a good fit for me. Now I write even less as a manager. Keep in mind-- when I graduated in 1997 the MIS major was so hot. I had 4-5 job offers; I don’t think it’s like that anymore. I think companies have come to figure out that MIS majors are a lot less technical than CS majors and I believe CS majors get more offers nowadays.</p>
<p>Since you have 40+ credits to go and are struggling with the classes I don’t think it’s a big deal to switch. But I would first talk to the academic advisor for the IT major. Look at it this way-- you have enough credits to have a CS and/or Math minor…couple that with an IT degree it will look really good on your resume. Just remember that grades are very important.</p>