Still trying to pick what to completely study at my university...?

prussia

Hi all,

I am going into my 3rd year of college, MIS major.
If I complete my requirements and MIS concentration courses, I will still have some classes left to fill to get 128 credits.
Only 3-4 classes, so I might as well get another concentration, right?
I've been thinking of doing MIS with Finance or Accounting, but I also looked at having a math minor than F/A.

Either:
MIS & Finance (4 semesters left)
MIS & Accounting (4 semesters left)
MIS & math minor (4 semesters left)
Finance & math minor (4 semesters left)
Business & Math combined (4.5 semesters left)

I enjoy all of them, so I'm deciding what to do. The thing about the combined is that I think it only requires Finance as a main concentration, so it's basically Finance & Math combined.
I'm also considering graduate school, if that makes any difference.

What confuses me is when someone said:
"MIS and Math/Finance are completely unrelated and will not make you any more attractive in the job market. Math and finance are also largely unrelated. The mathematics contained in finance are (for the most part) really basic. Business and Math is a good combination"

There's also the option of going for nothing but MIS, although two concentrations are better than one, right?
I hear minor isn't very important as it doesn't show on the degree and you might as well major in the subject.
If so, I'll pick something more 'worthwhile'. Still a few options to pick from.
CS and engineering are long, complicated stories, so these are these options I pretty much have left.
Careers that are (computer) technical and/or actuarial, and similar, are ones that I might want as those are what I'm thinking.
They might be far-fetched or wishful-thinking, but I need some sort of goal to reach for.
People have said to go for experience, but I need a strong academic background to get good exp.
Also, I can't stop to think what to do because this is my small plan and I need to keep going.

Thank you.

yoba222

If you want to become a CPA in the US, there are requirements for taking a certain number of accounting classes that vary state to state from what I understand. But other than that, I'd say don't go for a specialization.

Instead use the opportunity to sample classes in a career direction that may interest you. This will be harder to do after you graduate and would come at the expense of being hired, finding out you hate web development, for example, and quitting.

There isn't much downside. I don't think I've ever seen a job ad in the US asking about a person's minor. Usually they just want a bachelor's that has the word 'computer' or 'IT' or 'information systems' in the title and that's good enough for the HR checkbox.

prussia

yoba222 wrote: »

If you want to become a CPA in the US, there are requirements for taking a certain number of accounting classes that vary state to state from what I understand. But other than that, I'd say don't go for a specialization.

Instead use the opportunity to sample classes in a career direction that may interest you. This will be harder to do after you graduate and would come at the expense of being hired, finding out you hate web development, for example, and quitting.

There isn't much downside. I don't think I've ever seen a job ad in the US asking about a person's minor. Usually they just want a bachelor's that has the word 'computer' or 'IT' or 'information systems' in the title and that's good enough for the HR checkbox.

MIS and IT does seem interesting. I am wondering if I can get a lot out of the classes, and use them, with the degree, to find a decent job. I won't worry about minors, so I'll focus on MIS and possibly others. I will consider accounting classes, so I could become a CPA if needed. What are your thoughts on Finance?