Michael Robinson wrote: > I've been quiet so far, but I'm trying to get a CS bachelors degree > myself and the following are my thoughts and experiences: > > 1) Getting the degree completely on line, even from University of > Phoenix, is not possible. I talked to University of Phoenix and > was told to attend courses on a campus. > > At OIT there are some of the gen-ed classes that are not on-line but are at least taught in Portland. > 2) The requirements are changing even at PSU, and frankly the degree is > valuable because it is hard to get it. There is a ridiculous > amount of math and statistics that you have to take for example. > I still have hard courses ahead of me even though I'm technically > beyond what the fussers guide says I need to pass to be a CS major. > Ridiculous amounts of math is why I chose the BSIT app-programming degree instead of CS, plus lot's of very applicable knowledge (at least if you are doing database and business intelligence stuff like I am). > 3) A bachelor's degree will in all likelihood not teach you what you > need to know depending on what you are going to do, but it puts > you in a different category compared to a person who doesn't have > one. > Right. Also I need a degree to teach credit classes at PCC. > 4) Computer science is a lonely field, seriously consider social work > or something else before you commit potentially 10 years or more to > getting through engineering school. If you want to meet and work > with people, this may be the wrong field for you. > Try project management instead. > 5) If it is taking you a long time, don't be afraid to see a doctor in > the event that depression is setting in and slowing you down. There > are a lot of depressed people who are aren't getting any help even > at PSU. The statistics are 1 in 3. > > 6) Be prepared to be treated like you are going to be an engineer even > if you really want to be a programmer and could care less about > hardware. > Actually PSU has a Computer Engineering degree, at least they did a few years ago, that has more hardware focus. What I found about the CS degree is it is more theory and algorithms instead of practical knowledge, not many jobs for compiler optimization out there. > 7) Be aware that what you really need in the computer science field is > credibility and that is what a traditional bachelors degree is for, > not education. With that in mind, a DeVry or ITT degree might work > if you pile the appropriate certs on top of it. That said though, > why go to ITT for a degree if you can get a traditional one that > everyone will respect? > Which is why I'm at OIT instead of DeVry. > 8) Don't expect to get through in 4 years. I graduated high school in > 1998 and I'm still working on my first bachelor's degree. The number > of credits to be a computer science major at PSU is >180 by a > significant amount and none of that is underwater basket weaving. > I got an Associates degree at PCC which helps considering that it > secures me as a junior even though computer science is changing > rapidly. > My son just started at CalPoly and will likely graduate before I do. The race is on. > 9) Don't take discrete mathematics at PCC like I did. I took it too > long ago and it didn't cover the material that CS250 does at PSU. > I'm signed up for CS311 and frankly I'm a bit worried. > However do take Java at PCC instead of VB (business programming) at OIT. And definitely take CIS 275 _Data Modeling and SQL Intro_ <http://www.pcc.edu/schedule/default.cfm?fa=dspCourse2&thisTerm=200904&crsCode=CIS275&subjCode=CIS&crsNum=275&topicCode=CIS&subtopicCode=&crnList=40059,40934> at PCC instead of the intro to databases class at OIT.
<http://www.pcc.edu/schedule/default.cfm?fa=dspCourse2&thisTerm=200904&crsCode=CIS275&subjCode=CIS&crsNum=275&topicCode=CIS&subtopicCode=&crnList=40059,40934> _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
