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I am at a crossroads and would like some input from the DegreeForum community. I am currently an Excelsior student in the BS Technology program. Once I have my Bachelor's, I plan to the Master's of Professional Studies - Computer Networking degree at Fort Hays. I can complete a BSL-CIS at Exclesior a year earlier and much cheaper than the BST-Computer Technologies. I just don't know how much of a difference it would make to future employers.
Any thoughts?
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09-25-2013, 10:08 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-25-2013, 10:10 AM by Daithi.)
I've been a software developer for 25+ years. I started working as a programmer/analyst in the Army and never had a degree. Over the years I've interviewed for jobs and interviewed candidates for jobs. In my experience, your degree doesn't really matter that much in the computer industry. Your experience is what really matters.
For the most part, a degree is just a checkoff box. If you don't have one it might prevent you from even getting an interview, but once you get the interview, I doubt your degree will even come up -- unless you're applying for an entry level position and have zero experience. The two degrees that you described sound so similar that I really can't see that it would matter which one you decide on.
The only place I found that not having a degree hurt me was working for the government. They are sticklers on degrees. Would your actual degree matter in this case? I still doubt it, as long as the degree is in the computer field. There are thousands of colleges in the U.S. and they all have different names for their degrees which are all pretty similar, so... IMHO it doesn't matter much if at all. If you have a BS CS from Carnegie Mellon or Stanford it might matter, but I don't think it matters for most degrees.
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09-25-2013, 11:04 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-25-2013, 12:30 PM by clep3705.)
A master's degree from a prestigious university can make a bachelor's degree somewhat irrelevant. I recommend getting the bachelor's degree the fastest, least expensive way, then going to a great master's program. Two years vs. four years of high expense makes a lot of difference.
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09-25-2013, 11:19 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-25-2013, 11:21 AM by Lindagerr.)
In certain areas the bachelors degree may matter, for example my BA is in Natural Sciences/Mathematics at one point my plan was to go on for a Masters of Art in Teaching. in that field and the fact that I wanted to teach Math and Science the BA would show I knew that stuff well. In most other fields I know of, it would not matter. My husband interview Ph.D. Chemical and Electronic Engineers, sometimes we talk about there Masters if it is a close call between two candidate but otherwise it doesn't matter. So I would say it would be the same with a Masters that will be much more important then your BA.
Go for the quickest way and get on to a good Masters.
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Linda,
After I am done with the Air Force I would like to finish my Bachelor's in Mathematics, possibly with the end goal of being an Actuary. I noticed that TESC only has a BA option. Do you think it would be wise to look elsewhere for a college that offers a BS, or does it really matter in the grand scheme of things?
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Disclaimer: I'm not in the tech field yet, but that's where I'm headed.
Both from reading other posters on careers boards and in talking with people, it seems that a masters doesn't make much of a difference. One person talked about how some people with masters have trouble in real life programming (speaking of CS grads) because they are so academically focused. This person said he'd rather have someone with a 4 year degree who's been practicing with personal projects and open source . . . (again, this isn't networking but rather programming so, it may not apply to you)
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UptonSinclair Wrote:I am at a crossroads and would like some input from the DegreeForum community. I am currently an Excelsior student in the BS Technology program. Once I have my Bachelor's, I plan to the Master's of Professional Studies - Computer Networking degree at Fort Hays. I can complete a BSL-CIS at Exclesior a year earlier and much cheaper than the BST-Computer Technologies. I just don't know how much of a difference it would make to future employers.
Any thoughts?
What is a BSL-CIS?
jmeitrem Wrote:Linda,
After I am done with the Air Force I would like to finish my Bachelor's in Mathematics, possibly with the end goal of being an Actuary. I noticed that TESC only has a BA option. Do you think it would be wise to look elsewhere for a college that offers a BS, or does it really matter in the grand scheme of things?
The BA vs. BS thing doesn't matter much. All that matters is that you have all of the prerequisites for whichever masters program you want to enter. Even among some of the most prestigious universities, only BAs are offered for liberal arts subjects. Mathematics IS a liberal arts subject. In some schools, the only difference between a BS and a BA is a foreign language requirement. In others that offer the option of both, it could mean the difference between the number of free electives allowed.
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Thanks for the reply Sanantone! That really opens up a lot of options for me, especially since a Masters degree won't be necessary. I have a while to decide, so until then I will keep on cleppin' on!
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sanantone Wrote:What is a BSL-CIS?
I was speaking of the Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts with an Area of Focus in Computer Information Systems. I was just too lazy to type it all out. 
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jmeitrem Wrote:Linda,
After I am done with the Air Force I would like to finish my Bachelor's in Mathematics, possibly with the end goal of being an Actuary. I noticed that TESC only has a BA option. Do you think it would be wise to look elsewhere for a college that offers a BS, or does it really matter in the grand scheme of things?
I researched actuarial science years ago, and the most important thing in that field is the exams The key is THE EXAMS. But I think having a mathematics degree with a good school will help you in this field. As long as you have the right mix of math and business courses you should do well.
Vist the Society of Actuaries website. They have past exams you can view to see what you need to study and also suggested courses of study. good luck.
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SOA - Society of Actuaries - Past Exam Questions and Solutions
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