Didference in all the degrees - suggestions please

tsimmns

What's the difference say in IT, CIS, MIS, IS? I'm looking at trying to knock out something as fast as possible from either Thomas Edison State, AMU, or Excelisor. Along with an A+ cert, does it really matter what shows on the resume? Eventually j figure I'll get a Masters in something, but with around 90 hours of credit, mainly in business which would be more beneficial? As for jobs, I currently work in Avionics, but am hoping to parlay a degree and Masters degree into a federal job with my military background which will be changing to Client Systems here very shortly.

stryder144

Honestly, the title of the degree varies according to the university in question. What ultimately matters is what courses you take and whether or not they are beneficial to your future employer(s). As long as the university is regionally accredited and has a good reputation, you should be good. Many here, myself included, go to Western Governors University. You can work as fast as you are capable, it is regionally accredited, and their IT degrees include certifications.

tsimmns

Stryder, how does WGU compare to other colleges in your experience. I have heard and read that most classes there is just mainly writing? Just curious, but what do you learn from writing essays instead of having actual test. I'm not discounting WGU, just curious and wondering how all the writing comes into play for the classes.

rhinotx

tsimmns, I just started at WGU on Aug 1 but the IT classes I've taken are not like that. There are technical writing classes that of course writing is a big part of but that does not include all of the classes. In the IT track many of you class exams are 3rd party certification tests like Network+ or CCNA tests at a testing facility.

tsimmns

Rhinotx, what track are you on? Just curious because I also see they have a BS business track in IT Management. This might be faster for me since I have a lot of core business classes already from the B&M school I attended. Also, besides a couple classes I wonder how the BS in IT management and the BS in IT basic without a specialization in the technology track differ?

Robertf969

The good thing about Excelsior is they will take ALL of your transfer credit, is some cases people have only had to take a blackboard familiarization class and a capstone class to get their degree. So if you have a ton of transfer credit which I think you do you might think about excelsior. I am enrolled in there Bachelor of Science- Information technology, general option. I was in the Network Management option but the only difference is 4 classes. Essentially by switching to the general option I was able to use certs for credit and skip a few classes, and i really don't think a Network Focus, or a Security Focus makes much of a difference to prospective employers anyway.

Danielm7

Robertf969 wrote: »

i really don't think a Network Focus, or a Security Focus makes much of a difference to prospective employers anyway.

I think it depends on the employer but once you have a bunch of experience I don't think it really matters much. At that point it's "oh you have a BS in something remotely computer related, great!"

pinkydapimp

Honestly, employers are only going to care that you have a BS degree and that its an IT area. Which one usually doesnt matter unless its a CS degree which many times is most preferable. Outside of that, more important will be where you got the degree from and whether or not its accredited.