What was your school's Computer Science program like?

[berderder]

3 minutes ago, JoeyDM said:

That would only work for highschools, imo. A degree like that will have you a notch under people who are specialized, and get you stuck into help desk.

I think you can get out of the Help Desk rut though if you are certified in hardware, networking, and databases. Some may consider that a general education, although I would like to think of it has highly educated with somewhat of a broad focus. Like CompTIA A+, CCNE, and a database cert. A nice startup would snatch you up in a second

[Unhelpful]

Just now, berderder said:

 

The issue is getting the experience to get those certs. It's difficult to get a food in the door without a degree, and between a degree in networking and a degree in IT for a networking position... The guy with the IT degree probably isn't getting in. It is a really stupid path to go in a college. College isn't the place for you to figure out what you want to do, don't go into it trying to figure out. Go into it trying to learn about a focused field. 

 

To speak plainly: a masters in IT would be a waste of time and money. 

[DXMember]

9 minutes ago, berderder said:

It sounds like your degree has a little better goal in mind

I agree, I am very proud of it and in general very happy of it,

there have been of course some total bullshit courses but it's a minority

[DXMember]

36 minutes ago, DebatED Nothing said:

Almost the entire point of computer science degrees *is* programming. If you want to specialise into networking then you should probably have taken a networking degree.

there's so much more about computers that has nothing to do with programming at all... like c'mon... writing code is literally a monkey-see-monkey-do thing, you don't need education for writing code, especially you don't need a degree for that

[berderder]

5 minutes ago, JoeyDM said:

The issue is getting the experience to get those certs. It's difficult to get a food in the door without a degree, and between a degree in networking and a degree in IT for a networking position... The guy with the IT degree probably isn't getting in. It is a really stupid path to go in a college. College isn't the place for you to figure out what you want to do, don't go into it trying to figure out. Go into it trying to learn about a focused field. 

 

To speak plainly: a masters in IT would be a waste of time and money. 

You're probably right but it's a little too late for me. I graduate from the Computer Science program in a couple of months. I will think twice about the Masters though

[DebatED Nothing]

Just now, DXMember said:

there's so much more about computers that has nothing to do with programming at all... like c'mon... writing code is literally a monkey-see-monkey-do thing, you don't need education for writing code

Okay then. Suuuurre. It doesn't matter that there's more to computers than programming, that's the main point of a compsci degree.

[Unhelpful]

Just now, berderder said:

You're probably right but it's a little too late for me. I graduated from the Computer Science program in a couple of months. I will think twice about the Masters though

Computer Science is a good degree in general! Especially if you want to get into programming. But I really don't recommend IT as a masters. It may be the WORST IT-related choice.

[Unhelpful]

2 minutes ago, DXMember said:

 

His point is that Computer Science as a degree commonly refers to just programming.

[TetraSky]

The "computer science" class didn't exist yet outside of college for me. In primary and secondary school, it was just the "computer class", and it taught me nothing at all other than how to use Microsoft Office. Every. Single. Classes. FOR YEARS. And it wasn't even the advanced stuff, it was always the bare minimum. It got to the point where even the teachers stopped caring and everyone was just browsing the web or playing some terrible flash game. (this was 10 to 15 years ago)

 

Now my 7 year old niece is having CS classes that are a hell of a lot more advance than anything I've ever done... I'm sad. I was born too early, damn it.

[berderder]

1 minute ago, JoeyDM said:

Computer Science is a good degree in general! Especially if you want to get into programming. But I really don't recommend IT as a masters. It may be the WORST IT-related choice.

Why do you feel that way about the Masters?

 

To be honest, part of it is to stall on time and pick up a couple more certs while I'm in school.  I don't have to worry about rent for another year or so thankfully since I'm taking advantage of my parents hospitality

[Unhelpful]

2 minutes ago, berderder said:

 

Alright. To explain why a general degree is a bad idea

 

All things are equal in 2 job candidates, except for their degrees:

 

1. Has a masters in IT and a bachelors in CompSci + CCNA

2. Has a bachelors in Networking + CCNA

 

And the job is a networking job.... You go with 2. Despite the fact that 1 has a masters, 2 most likely knows more about networking. Even if they each have the same damn cert.

 

Don't let yourself generalize. That's how you wind up stuck in help desk. It becomes very difficult to get out of help desk. You need certs, but can't get them without experience. You can rarely get relevant experience in help desk. In help desk you just get break-fix jobs and rarely get beyond the client.

[berderder]

3 minutes ago, JoeyDM said:

Alright. To explain why a general degree is a bad idea

 

All things are equal in 2 job candidates, except for their degrees:

 

1. Has a masters in IT and a bachelors in CompSci + CCNA

2. Has a bachelors in Networking + CCNA

 

And the job is a networking job.... You go with 2. Despite the fact that 1 has a masters, 2 most likely knows more about networking. Even if they each have the same damn cert.

 

Don't let yourself generalize. That's how you wind up stuck in help desk. It becomes very difficult to get out of help desk. You need certs, but can't get them without experience. You can rarely get relevant experience in help desk. In help desk you just get break-fix jobs and rarely get beyond the client.

I see. I will have to take this into consideration. 

[DXMember]

24 minutes ago, berderder said:

Yeah, I agree computer hardware would get iffy too which is why it should be an engineering degree that could also prepare you for manufacturing, production, maybe different fields like aerospace, etc. and not just how to put a desktop system together

ummm... I believe that for hardware you should take electrical engineering degree - like hellloooo... they actually learn about circuitry, semiconductors and solder the freaking PCBs

[berderder]

1 minute ago, DXMember said:

ummm... I believe that for hardware you should take electrical engineering degree - like hellloooo... they actually learn about circuitry, semiconductors and solder the freaking PCBs

Yeah, I think Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering would be interesting. I definitely want to work with Computers though

[DXMember]

4 minutes ago, berderder said:

Yeah, I think Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering would be interesting. I definitely want to work with Computers though

get into material science and since you're from US you can probably try to apply for a trainee position at Intel or AMD after that

[DXMember]

18 minutes ago, JoeyDM said:

His point is that Computer Science as a degree commonly refers to just programming.

I'd like to instead of "refers to" use the words "turns out to be" (:

[DXMember]

btw doing my master's degree in intellectual robotic systems right now - a bunch of electrical engineering, mechanics, low level programming and a whole lot of advanced artificial intelligence courses including but not limited to machine learning, action planning algorithms, multiple agent systems

that's a lot of fun and I'm again proud and happy to study it

[Lurick]

35 minutes ago, berderder said:

I see. I will have to take this into consideration. 

To put that into perspective a little better. I have my Associates degree and several certs and I not only got a great job but can still run circles around people who came in with a higher but more general degree at the same time as me and no certs.

[BuckGup]

1 hour ago, berderder said:

Hey everybody,

 

I'm almost done with my Computer Science Bachelor's.

 

Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed. It was super focused on programming and not very holistic at all.

 

I think a good Computer Science program should set you up for the various popular certifications out there like CompTIA, CCNA, MCSA, etc.

 

I had like one class on Networking!

 

I had one class on Basic Hardware!

 

I had like 13 classes on Programming!

 

It had such a narrow focus. Really annoying. I'm more interested in being a Systems Administrator or a Network Engineer.

 

What was your Computer Science program like?

 

 

My school doesn't have one. Or anything remotely related to technology. Just cars and art

[berderder]

26 minutes ago, DXMember said:

I'd like to instead of "refers to" use the words "turns out to be" (:

If I did it all over again I would probably just study for certs. They are far more interesting and relevant to me.