<p>Is it worth it getting an associates degree in computer science-information technology?
What career path that i can get into having this degree?</p>
<p>I would also like to know this. Is an associates considered to be a lot more inferior to a 4 year bachelors?</p>
<p>I’ve worked in IT for over 20 years now. The large majority of my co-workers either have no degree or have an Associate’s, but that may be changing with the number of students in college.</p>
<p>If you are looking to break into programming/development work or project management, I’d definitely recommend a 4 year degree. </p>
<p>But there are numerous IT fields that are still easy to get into with an Associate’s degree. You can start on a helpdesk, which is where I began my career years (and years) ago. You can do tech support/desktop support. You can do network administration. There are software installations/configurations, training, lower level database administration…</p>
<p>With an Associate’s degree you probably aren’t going to work at Google or Microsoft, but there are plenty of jobs out there. It may be more difficult to advance in your career than someone with a 4 year degree, but IT is still very focused on vendor certifications, so you can gain certifications to stand out a bit. (Some 2 year colleges actually prepare you for certification tests during classes, otherwise you may have to self-study or taking external trainings to prepare).</p>
<p>The entry level positions aren’t very high paying, but can get you a foot in the door and then hands on experience and certifications will help you advance in the field.</p>
<p>I would be cautious about a Associate’s in Computer Science…and I will give you my opinion why.</p>
<p>If you plan to attend another school to finish up your Bachelor’s in CS, probably AT MOST, only 3 courses will transfer: Introductory Programming I & II and Discrete Math Structures. After those first 3 courses comes the Computer Organization course and that’s where it gets hairy with different schools. Some schools include Assembly Language in the Computer Organization course and some do not. Next comes the CS core of:</p>
<p>Algorithms
Data Strucrures
Organization of Programming Languages
Operating Systems</p>
<p>Some schools divide Algorithms and Data Strucrures into different courses and some combine both areas into one course. Then you have the academic level of the courses. At some schools one or both courses are at the sophomore level…other schools at the junior level. It’s usually hard to transfer a course offered at the community college level to count at the junior level.</p>
<p>Organization of Programming Languages and Operating Systems are usually at the junior/senior level and I am pretty sure taking those topics at the community college level will not count (meaning you will have to take them again) for transfer.</p>
<p>I can give you a current scenario here in Maryland. At the various Maryland community colleges, the Object-Oriented Programming I & II courses can be transferred to U-Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), U-Maryland-University College (UMUC), Towson Univ and a few others BUT U-Maryland College Park (the big one) does not accept the courses AND one has to pass an entrance exam to test out of the equivalent courses. Actually, I believe U-Maryland College Park specifically states that no CS course can be transferred in…although I hear only the Discrete Structure course is allowed.</p>
<p>Which brings me to another issue. The selected language of the first two Programming courses. Some schools select Java and others select C++. That may also play a role in transferring.</p>
<p>MY advice for doing the 2+2 in CS…Take the math, physics, etc because those will most likely transfer but take NO MORE than 3 CS courses: Object-Oriented Programming I & II and Discrete Structures. Those 3 have the best chance of transferring after doing an Associate’s degree.</p>