|
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
On Fri, May 16, 2003 at 09:06:51AM -0700, Marc Zucchelli wrote:
> After reading all those emails on graduate CS courses,
> I had to ask my question. I have been going to
> community college for computer info system, and it has
> always been my plan (ever since taking AP comp sci in
> high school) to pursue a CS degree. At work, I've
> been doing alot of MIS style development, and I had an
> MIS class which really sparked my interest. I was
> wondering if someone could go over the differences in
> the two degrees for me, I need to pick one soon!
What do you want to do? What sources do you read in your general
pursuit of computing?
If you want to spend lots of time writing new, innovative software or
exploring the cutting edge, then go into CS. The book learning you get
in a good CS program is a strong foundation for doing anything with
computers.
If you want to wrangle large systems, manage big data or use whatever
software is necessary to keep a decent sized organization running,
then go into MIS. It's not that MIS is necessarily *not* innovative,
but rather the innovation in MIS is a totally different nature than
what you find in CS.
A good CS graduate should be able to function in an MIS environment,
but it's decidedly unsexy to do that kind of work instead of writing
the next great Killer App. But an MIS graduate is *occasionally*
a fish out of water in many CS-type jobs (certainly not as many as
the CS snobs would have you believe).
> Also, a couple of people that I know taking CS at
> drexel are telling me things like "dont take MIS, it's
> a joke degree for people who can't handle the CS! and
> most companies that do MIS work look for people with
> CS degrees." Is there any truth behind that at all?
> Isn't it like comparing apples and oranges?
A lot of people I've met in the field don't have either CS or MIS
degrees. That might be a result of the big sponge formerly known as the
dotcom boom where everyone who could spell 'JavaScript' and 'HTML' could
pull down $60K with two week's experience and 2 interviews. YMMV.
Seriously though, some of the most brilliant minds in the field that
I've met over the years have backgrounds in Math, Physics, Biology,
Geography, Medicine, Music, History or Japanese. The CS/MIS duality
just doesn't exist in real life. People have *many* more diverse
backgrounds.
When I was at Drexel, we had that snobbish attitude about MIS within the
CS program (and the MIS students had this perplexingly reverent attitude
towards us, at least to our faces). But I suspect that what we didn't
know is that about half the courseload in a CS program like Drexel's
won't ever be used once you leave the program. (Good luck identifying
which half; I was quite surprised when I still needed numerical
analysis...)
I've had jobs dealing with big data, and I suspect that some of
those MIS classes would have prepared me better for what I saw in
industry than learning on the job or deriving everything from first
principles yet again. Of course, YMMV.
Z.
_________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion -- http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug
|
|