<p>I have a passion for computers and I love every aspect of a computer. I've done fairly well in math, such as statistics, geometry and algebra and etc. I haven't delved much into Calculus. How risky is it for me to go into computer science. Is computer science hard-ware based also? Should I just major in MIS (management information systems)? Is that apart of the computer/IT field?</p>
<p>What's the recommended amount of debt a person should not get into pursuing a bachelors in computer science?</p>
<p>Let me break this into your individual questions:</p>
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You will need to explain “risky”.</p>
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A CS major curriculum CAN emphasize hardware but usually, students who are more interested in computer hardware will major in Computer Engineering (CompE). As a broad generalization, CS focuses on software and algorithms and CompE focuses more on hardware…although with additional electives either major can be tailored to handle both hardware and software.</p>
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Although, one can be a software engineer with an “information systems” major, those IS/IT-type majors will lack the mathematics and algorithmic background that “I personally” feel is needed to handle a wider selection of CS-related jobs.</p>
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My next set of statements may not be popular, but after 20+ years in software and systems engineering, this is how I feel about the academic preparation for a CS/Software career.</p>
<p>1) There is NO NEED to spend a ton of money for a CS degree. There are so many job openings that one does not need to attend a Top-10 CS school. Top-100 is good enough. Very few companies are going to pay you much more for going to a Top-10 CS school and even if they do, it will not offset the tuition cost difference. You may not get into the Facebooks, Googles, Apples, Microsofts right out of school with a non-Top 10 CS degree but hell, those same companies may try to recruit you later for experienced positions (two of them came to me later in my career).</p>
<p>2) If one is REALLY low on money, go the community college route for the first two years. Why?..there are about a MAX of 3 freshman/sophomore CS courses that most 4-year schools will accept anyway: The two introductory programming courses and the discrete mathematical structures course. The CS core of Algorithms, Data Structures, Theory of Programming Languages and Operating Systems are most of the time offered only at the junior/senior level and 4-year schools won’t accept community college versions of the CS core courses. Might as well knock out the Calculus/Linear Algebra sequence, Physics sequence and other general electives on the cheap at a community college and start junior year (and the CS core) at the 4-year school. </p>
<p>In most the cases, companies care where you obtained your degree FROM…not where you STARTED.</p>
<p>“In most the cases, companies care where you obtained your degree FROM…not where you STARTED.”</p>
<p>I’m only in my last year of high school so I’m probably not the most qualified to talk about this but from what I’ve gathered from more mature people than Myself, this statement is also true:</p>
<p>Where you got your degree from isn’t as important as what you know. Employers in most engineering fields don’t usually care about the presitge of your school.</p>
<p>MIS is typically aimed at the business side of managing computers and their software. Do CS if you want to design computers and their software.</p>
<p>The computer industry can have its ups and downs, if that is what you mean by risk. The last big downturn was back in 2001-2003, just in time for the CS majors who started in the boom years of 1997-1999 to graduate into a very poor job market. Meanwhile, the smaller number of CS majors starting in 2001-2003 graduated into an improving job market in 2005-2007.</p>
<p>Also, the big companies that everyone knows about (GAFAM) recruit widely; smaller companies tend to recruit more locally and may travel to only a few better known schools to recruit.</p>
<p>Go for computer science. If you screw up, you can pretty easily make the transition into either Information Science or Information technology. Most of the beginning core classes are the same: data structures, comp structures, etc. The only thing that you might mess up are the initial math classes that you have to take such as calc and physics.</p>
<p>Here is a copy of the degree flowchart from my school. Just go to google search and type in…</p>
<p>unf computer science track</p>
<p>Then click on the result in the search engine result that says…</p>
<p>unf computer science track Spring 2013 schedule</p>
<p>and then download the PDF. It will give you a pretty good breakdown of what classes that you will be taking. Now of course it isn’t going to be identical at your college, but it will be pretty similar.</p>
<p>Any situation where your total debt at graduation exceeds your starting annual salary is pushing into the excessive. CS majors start around around 60K.</p>