<p>I am getting mainly good final grades. I have only received one C grade (Physics 1). I have an overall 3.5 GPA. </p>
<p>The only other concern with switching to IT is it is completely available online. How will taking 15 credit hours online compare to regular classes? Most of my programming classes are also in the IT major (which satisfied the requirements) like Program Design, Program Concepts and my current Object Oriented Programming. I don’t think I could have a CS minor because the courses also count for IT.</p>
<p>The IT degree does still have 4 more programming based courses that I will need to take if I switch including IT Data Structures, IT Operating Systems, Software Engineering, and IT Databases.</p>
<p>Would CS Data Structures and Operating Systems be more rigorous than the IT counter parts? I will have to find out how similar they are.</p>
<p>The CS degree would likely have 6-8 more classes with heavy programming (Data Structures, Operating Systems, and electives).</p>
<p>So do you think finishing by Summer 2013 isn’t really possible with CS? I am dying to graduate college and start working. I have already put in a total of 4 years once this semester is over with. I am nearly emotionally and physically drained from college. I am ready to be done. I don’t enjoy the fact that I still have 2 regular semesters to go AND 2 summer semesters. Not to mention if 15 credit hours of CS in one semester is too much and I have to push this to Fall of 2013. I am just starting to get tired of school and want to be finished. I am 23 years old and will be 24 in July. I still live at home with my parents too. Most people around my age have already completed college.</p>
<p>I WILL get a degree though. That is my ultimate goal. I will definitely talk to an advisor where the IT school is housed. I have talked with a Computer Science advisor and he pretty much said Computer Science isn’t worth pursuing if I did not want a job in software development, but he also said the IT degree wasn’t a “real” college degree which was gut wrenching.</p>
<p>EDIT: Meant to say a job in software development and not “a job in computer science”</p>
<p>In general, the CS versions should be expected to be more rigorous technically than the IT versions. The CS versions should be expected to give you stronger foundational technical knowledge than the IT versions.</p>
<p>If you want to go into IT, could you do so, but take the CS versions of courses like operating systems, databases, and networks?</p>
<p>I really do feel like I want to switch to IT but I am terrified to do so because I am afraid of what my parents might think. I am afraid that it seems like I am taking the easy way out. Almost everyone says the CS degree is the better degree and will open more doors. I just don’t see myself being a programmer. I see myself having difficulties in future programming courses. I have been overlooking a lot of the course descriptions for the electives (which are taken after Data Structures/Operating Systems) and they look incredibly intimidating. They also seem to involve plenty of programming. I am terrified at the possibility of not having a job upon graduation and have my entire education be a waste. It sucks that I finished calculus 1-3 and physics 1 & 2 and I don’t need any of that except Physics 1 (and pre-calc) as math requirements.</p>
<p>I’m running out of time. I’m not spring break right now and can’t even enjoy it. This is always in the back of my head tearing me apart.</p>
<p>If you got through Calc 1-3 and Physics 1+2 with good grades, you should be able to get through the CS stuff. The programming, though, will likely be a ton of work.</p>
<p>I struggled with Physics 1 and got a C. I managed a B in Physics 2 mainly due to an extremely generous curve from a new professor. I took Calc 1-3 at a community college and received B’s. Physics is a very weak subject of mine. Taking Physics in college was my very first Physics course throughout my entire education.</p>
<p>Yeah, I am sure there will be a ton of work related to programming. I just don’t seem to be very good at programming. I did well in my first programming class in Java. I didn’t do so well in my C programming class. I received a B, but we only had 3 homework assignments (due to the professor having tons of problems with an IDE he was experimenting with). I failed the final exam with a 50, but it was only weighted about 20%. I got an 80 exactly in the course (HW was weighted 40% and I received an 80 on the midterm after a 10pt curve). I have been doing OK thus far in my C++ class but I think the second half of the semester will begin to delve into the complicated parts. I am just losing interest. I remember in my first programming class I was excited to start HW assignments. Then the more and more I had in subsequent classes the more I felt like I was getting burnt out. I wasn’t really enjoying it any more.</p>
<p>I know the CS degree is practically a MUST if you want to go into software development. My main fear is switching to IT, graduating, and unable to find a job.</p>
<p>Also, I see you work as a software engineer. Do you have a Computer Science degree? Did you dabble in programming from a young age? I never dabbled in programming whatsoever before my first Java course. It seems most CS majors have experience with programming from a young age or at least before college.</p>
<p>I just need to make a decision. I have been struggling with this decision ever since I entered university back in 2010. I contemplate it the most at the beginning/end of each semester. I was actually enjoying college when I was at the local CC. No pressure on choosing your major right away and taking all your general education classes. Ah, the simpler times!</p>
<p>I started programming around 13 but this was in the 1970s when computers were fairly difficult to come by.</p>
<p>I think that many CS majors took AP Computer Science in high-school or did some programming work, either for school or fun, when they were younger. You are at a disadvantage if you didn’t do any beforehand as you would get through the early headaches faster but there are successful CS students with no prior programming history - at least that’s what a few professors tell me.</p>
<p>What do you have your degree in BCEagle91? Do you think its possible to be successful with a degree in Information Technology as opposed to Computer Science? I’m sure I will likely have to start out in help desk, but I surely don’t want to be in help desk for a long duration of my career.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. I truly appreciate any input I can get. It means a lot to have people chime in on my situation. At the end of the day, only I can make this decision but it helps immensely to get the advice of others.</p>
<p>Yes, but you need to work hard to keep up with training on new products. We have an IT team at our office and they have different specialties and the software engineers would have a tougher time getting their work done without the IT team. These folks have been around for 10 to 25 years. As usual, do a far better job than the average person and keep up-to-date on what is hot or needed.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention my neighbor who is an IT guy. He doesn’t have a CS degree. He worked at British Aerospace Engineering for many years and got laid off and it took him a year to find another job in his area. He was working for his brother at a restaurant in-between - I think that he wanted to try that out. He had a lot of interviews last year and early this year had a choice of offers to pick from. My guess is that he makes around $80 to $90 thousand - he’s single and frugal and that’s plenty for him to enjoy life on.</p>
<p>I also just found out that I received a 65 in my Object Oriented Design mid term which was extremely disappointing. I thought I did better than that. I am also fearful of how difficult my upcoming Data Structures class will be. I struggled with Linked lists in my C class and I know this will be important in Data Structures. I hate being so indecisive.</p>
<p>I feel like I want the IT degree, but I am terrified of switching and regretting it. I just truly wonder if I am capable of completing the degree with my mediocre grades on programming exams.</p>
<p>How diverse would an IT degree be? I am still facing the difficulties of exactly trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. Would having an IT degree hurt me if I wanted to do something different down the road? Say work for a business/company that may or may not be IT related but do something unrelated to IT (outside of Systems Administration or Networking etc)? Would I be able to do that or am I strictly confined to IT related careers?</p>
<p>The longer you are doing it, the harder it gets to branch out because you will have to start over again on the career ladder unless you find a manager who will pay you your higher-level IT wage to start with fewer skills and less experience in those other things.</p>
<p>I think that the IT degree would be fairly specific and you’d choose what you want. There are areas like database, networks, VMs, system management, etc. Then you can get vendor-specific like Microsoft SQL Server vs Oracle or Linux vs Windows.</p>
<p>BTW, my son is doing a fair amount of IS and IT work. His job title has him doing bio analytics but he can do IS and IT and they have a backlog of IS/IT stuff to do so he’s doing that for now and will be doing the data mining and analytics later. The CS degree is really most flexible.</p>
<p>How would the MIS degree (business/tech degree) be in terms of flexibility? Same as IT or more flexible?</p>
<p>The only problem switching to MIS is I would pretty much have to do 63 credits as opposed to 47 with IT. It would take longer too because of pre-requsites with MIS. This is why I have been leaning towards IT.</p>
<p>I just don’t know right now. I need to make up my mind already.</p>
<p>I usually see it referred to as CIS (Computer Information Systems).</p>
<p>The CIS major has some programming but doesn’t usually have the algorithms, architecture and math background that the CS major has. So they can be programmers but may not be as efficient or may not know how to program certain applications or work in assembler code compared to their CS counterparts. They will have a business background so they can work with financial applications and understand the applications that they are building or designing in a way that their CS counterparts can’t.</p>
<p>CIS majors can go into consulting which usually involves a lot of traveling, meeting with clients (and dressing the part) and doing some amount of selling. They can make some pretty big money doing this.</p>
<p>Do you think it would be worth pursuing a business minor if I were to graduate with an IT degree or would it be a waste in terms of helping with a job?</p>