University Degree : Choosing between Information Systems vs Computer Science ( Ba. or BSc )

[Jbaboon]

Hello everyone,
I am attending University this coming fall and was wondering which degree is going to allow me to do more and help with my success. I was interested in becoming a Systems Security Analyst at some point in my career.. with that being said, does it matter which degree I come out of school with? Personally I am not a HUGE fan of math and would prefer to go into Information Systems route but from reading from various forums and sites, I am getting the idea that a degree in CS is considered more valuable/ respected by many employers... is this true? And if I went into Computer Sciences, does it matter if its Ba. or Bsc.? Hoping some people in the IT industry can help me out with some tips and guides on how about I should go with school and getting into the buisness. I understand that getting many certificates will improve my value as a potential employee but I need to decide on what degree I am applying for and this field seems very broad in a way that you can do a lot with any of these degrees.. any advice would be appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

 

[VincentP]

I guess not all universities are the same, so I can only really speak for what I saw at my university.
Information Systems might allow you to be a computer administrator, work with databases and software, etc. It was considered a bit of a joke by software engineering and computer science students.
Computer science was a very flexible course. You could choose subjects in software engineering, algorithmics, etc. which were the more serious subjects, or you could choose more information systems subjects.

 

[Kewlx25]

When I took CIS(Computer Information Systems), we learned algorithms, calculating big O, system analysis and design, server administration, server security, network design, network security, SQL design optimization and security. By the time I was done, I could pretty much do anything. A lot of theory.

The teacher who did all of the network, server, and security had a masters in network security, and a PHD in some other security related thing. The teacher who taught the math and algorithms had a master and PHD in related fields. The teacher who taught classes about analysis and design had a background in teaching graduate students and had students who helped design the World of Warcraft custom database.

I remember a guest speaker for our network class who was one of the researchers working on MIMO-OFDM for Wireless N and described how it worked and how it compared to CDMA, as we just completed how CDMA works and working the math behind it. Another guest speaker was an alumni who was with the FBI and did graph analysis to discover money laundering by analyzing all money transactions in the entire USA.

My one teacher wanted to hook me up with some of her peers in HP Labs. She thought I'd do well with designing custom systems because of my background in security, design, and performance optimizations.

It really depends on how good your school is. Mine has a 100% placement after graduation with a wide range of jobs to choose from around the country. I swear, I felt like I was being stalked with all of the job opportunities in the middle of the 2008 recession.

Not bad for a nearly free State Uni.

 

[Eso1]

When I took CIS(Computer Information Systems), we learned algorithms, calculating big O, system analysis and design, server administration, server security, network design, network security, SQL design optimization and security. By the time I was done, I could pretty much do anything. A lot of theory.

The teacher who did all of the network, server, and security had a masters in network security, and a PHD in some other security related thing. The teacher who taught the math and algorithms had a master and PHD in related fields. The teacher who taught classes about analysis and design had a background in teaching graduate students and had students who helped design the World of Warcraft custom database.

I remember a guest speaker for our network class who was one of the researchers working on MIMO-OFDM for Wireless N and described how it worked and how it compared to CDMA, as we just completed how CDMA works and working the math behind it. Another guest speaker was an alumni who was with the FBI and did graph analysis to discover money laundering by analyzing all money transactions in the entire USA.

My one teacher wanted to hook me up with some of her peers in HP Labs. She thought I'd do well with designing custom systems because of my background in security, design, and performance optimizations.

It really depends on how good your school is. Mine has a 100% placement after graduation with a wide range of jobs to choose from around the country. I swear, I felt like I was being stalked with all of the job opportunities in the middle of the 2008 recession.

Not bad for a nearly free State Uni.

And what State University did you attend??

 

[jjb8675309]

CS will get you paid more right out of the box but XIS will get you in the door. At the end of the day you hard work and ability to build skills is what will make it a lucrative career in the long run.

 

[qngdaxop]

you hard work and ability to build skills is what will make it a lucrative career in the long run.

 

[jjb8675309]

^my words exactly.

 

[jimmysmitty]

CS will get you paid more right out of the box but XIS will get you in the door. At the end of the day you hard work and ability to build skills is what will make it a lucrative career in the long run.

And certs. Certs will take you to higher places than a 4/8 year degree. Although I have met people with multiple certs that couldn't build a proper PC if you gave them a Lego style instruction guide but that is just my opinion.

 

[jjb8675309]

^and there are some folks with all the certs and no degree that will get underpaid their whole lives. Having said that, certs say more about your skills.

For the long run it is best to be well rounded and have both.