Which is better.... going to a 2 year tech school for Computer Programming, and getting 2 years of expierience after that, or.... going to a 4 year college for a Computer Programming major? so which one is better? RAMBOW

My two cents:

Sure you may come out of the two year tech school and may be making more 2 years later when a college student will be graduating. But think about 10 or 20 years from now when those people are your boss. Tech schools are good for learning a trade. Colleges are good for learning life long learning. My opinion is that college pays off in the end.

Plan long term.

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Before I couldn''t spell engineer, now I are one.

I''m currently in a BS program in computer science. Just look around at the type of job you want to have after you graduate. You''ll find that a lot require a minumum of a bachelors degree, and prefer masters. I would suggest 4 years. You can''t really get into a lot of depth in computer science in only 2 years.

Well... I'm not sure what's all included in a CS major, i'm in a "2 Year Technical College" finishing up my first year. so far i've had the basic's of programming, nothing real in-depth as far as windows programming goes, we never moved on from console progs.

The course i'm enrolled in, or what it should be, is called an ATS degree *hopefully some of you out there know what it is, unless its somethin this school has only* if you know what it is then you know what im talkin about, otherwise its an Associates of Technical Studies degree. i choose from a list of technical classes, general, and basic courses to end up with a degree.

The programming section's aren't real deep as far as C++, VB, and Java go... the rest is mainly database stuff (Ohio is full of opportunity don't ya think!?) after this year i'm basically done with the programming portion, and i get to move to digital media, and troubleshooting... fun stuff as well!

What i'm trying to get to through all of my mumbling is, would that kind of degree hold any great value or am i jus going for a swim in a pool of knowlege?

Please excuse the way i type, i'm extremely loose with my spelling and grammar, and i try to be as formal as i know



[edited by - Deathscape on May 3, 2002 1:37:40 AM]

quote: Original post by rambow83
Which is better....

going to a 2 year tech school for Computer Programming, and getting 2 years of expierience after that, or....

going to a 4 year college for a Computer Programming major?

so which one is better?

Or option #3 - going to college for a 5 year Computer Science/Software Engineering Co-op program, which will give you your 4 year degree, plus the equivalent of 1.5-2 years experience (although the work experience won't be continuous, of course).

[edited by - Martee on May 3, 2002 1:39:58 AM]

If you''re going to spend 5 years, I''d personally go for a combined BS/MS program and do internships during the summers. That''s a Master''s degree plus a year''s worth of experience right there.

A two year school is typically a trade school. That will prepare you for life as a web developer, network admin, DB admin, or something on that level. Lightweight programming, usually. With hard work and more on the job learning, you could probably transition from this to a entry level software engineering job, but you''d be unlikely to ever end up in management at a large company. It''s typically somewhat easier if you like smaller companies.

People coming off of a Bachelor or Master degree typically head into entry level software engineering jobs straight off, and they can usually look forward to getting promoted faster as they gain experience, particularly with a Masters.

This is the situation around Massachusetts. BS degrees are more common here than in some places, so your milage may vary.

If I go to a trade school like Digipen and get their "Baccalaureate Degree of Science in Real Time Interactive Simulation" to get some experience in making games, will some guy who got a CS degree at a conventional college end up being my boss?




Things are not what they are.

quote: Original post by myme15
If I go to a trade school like Digipen and get their "Baccalaureate Degree of Science in Real Time Interactive Simulation" to get some experience in making games, will some guy who got a CS degree at a conventional college end up being my boss?

It''s a lot more likely that some guy that got an MBA degree at a conventional college will end up being your boss.

A 4 year digipen degree is probably fine for game development, but if you ever want to move into the more stable but infinately more boring world of traditional software development, you''ll have a tougher time.

I would stay far away from 2 year degrees from FullSail or from Digipen, except possible in an art type program.

quote:

I would stay far away from 2 year degrees from FullSail or from Digipen, except possible in an art type program.

Amen to that. I''ve looked through the course catalog for the FullSail 2 year degree, and from what I saw, it''s amazing how little they can teach you in 2 years.

I like the sound of the 4 year degree at Digipen though. The idea of extensively learning stuff directly applicable to games and working with a bunch of other people on small game projects appeals to me. I''m not sure if that might be bad for future job opportunities, though.

Maybe it would be a good idea to get a CS degree first and then go to Digipen?




Things are not what they are.