college or work

[SPARTAN VI]

53 minutes ago, Teddy07 said:

Very interesting. Did you do A bachelors degree and a master or is it not common in the US? Because those take 5 years here in Germany if you do everything on time which means part-time needs 10 years in the best case.

 

What did you study? I am curious 

 

I think you did make a great choice. I had thought about that too but I had to work as a contract worker for an unrelated office job. In addition, 10 years seems way too long and I am not sure if I could handle it. Also, informatics is hard stuff so it´s nearly impossible to do in time if you have not visited a school in the last years and have little foreknowledge.

 

I might do what you did after my Bachelors degree but I finish it first which is the hard part

I did 4 years at a community college for general education then transferred to a 4 year university to complete my Bachelor's in Business Management - Information Systems (concentration). The last 2 years were primarily focused on C# programming, linear programming, data mining, database/system analysis & design.  

 

Up until I graduated I was working at a small regional bank doing unrelated work before I transferred into IT. Right after I graduated I was hired by one of the big 3 banks in the US and my starting salary was already 33% higher than my last gig while doing the same job (business systems consultant). In my eyes, the 8 years of experience at the previous bank is was got me the job, but it's impossible to discern how much of my salary is due to my degree versus my experience, negotiation skills, or even the immense resources available to my employer. 

 

I did consider taking a shot on a Master's Degree; my college has a great online program for it. Alas, I've already forgotten much of what I needed just for the entrance exam and I just had my daughter. Time is extremely scarce, so I most likely will not pursue a post graudate degree.