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I have a BS in Business Finance with no formal background in IT. Been accepted into a MS IT program with an accredited online university. I'm concerned the course work will be to complex without having undergraduate IT courses. Thoughts??
Why not start with an introductory course or two before doing the full fledged degree? At least you'll get a taste of what's to come. If you feel the course work is too complex, you won't have invested all that time in a degree program and have gone nowhere with it.
I agree with mtnbiker. When our son was looking for this for his undergrad degree he took a class at the local branch of our flagship university in IT, just to see if he liked it. In addition he had already taken three programming classes in HS, which made him realize that a straight up CS major was not for him.
I have a BS in Business Finance with no formal background in IT. Been accepted into a MS IT program with an accredited online university. I'm concerned the course work will be to complex without having undergraduate IT courses. Thoughts??
I would NOT do any master's degree with an online university whether it purports to be accredited or not. Doing some/even most coursework online from a "brick and mortar" school with a decent reputation is one thing, but with a masters in any discipline, the quality of the school counts for a whole lot more than for a BS. That includes taking classes from professors who are well known (ie, published) in whatever discipline you're in and who can provide you with references and contacts. No online university in the country can give you that. Furthermore, online degrees do NOT impress employers.
That this school accepted you without formal course work in IT is a big red flag IMO. It says that the school just wants your $$$ and doesn't care if you succeed or it's program is really crappy and isn't really a masters level program. It might very well be both. Master's programs are to make you an expert in some discipline, not to introduce you to it.
Since you already have a BS, I don't see how this MS is going to help you enough to make it worth the $$$ if you don't have an IT background already. Take some undergrad IT courses at a local college like somebody else suggested. If you don't know MS OFFICE really well and are looking for some job skills to improve your resume, take non-credit/continuing ed courses in the key components of that, concentrating on EXCEL and WORD.
I'd save my time and money, and decline this "opportunity". IMO, it's got "scam" written all over it.
I have a BS in Business Finance with no formal background in IT. Been accepted into a MS IT program with an accredited online university. I'm concerned the course work will be to complex without having undergraduate IT courses. Thoughts??
Are you attending a primarily online university, a for-profit university, or a traditional university with online degrees? I notice people get these mixed up all the time.
I would NOT do any master's degree with an online university whether it purports to be accredited or not. Doing some/even most coursework online from a "brick and mortar" school with a decent reputation is one thing, but with a masters in any discipline, the quality of the school counts for a whole lot more than for a BS. That includes taking classes from professors who are well known (ie, published) in whatever discipline you're in and who can provide you with references and contacts. No online university in the country can give you that. Furthermore, online degrees do NOT impress employers.
That this school accepted you without formal course work in IT is a big red flag IMO. It says that the school just wants your $$$ and doesn't care if you succeed or it's program is really crappy and isn't really a masters level program. It might very well be both. Master's programs are to make you an expert in some discipline, not to introduce you to it.
Since you already have a BS, I don't see how this MS is going to help you enough to make it worth the $$$ if you don't have an IT background already. Take some undergrad IT courses at a local college like somebody else suggested. If you don't know MS OFFICE really well and are looking for some job skills to improve your resume, take non-credit/continuing ed courses in the key components of that, concentrating on EXCEL and WORD.
I'd save my time and money, and decline this "opportunity". IMO, it's got "scam" written all over it.
First,
There are several brick and mortar schools with online programs in engineering and technology. The coursework is the same, the diploma is the same, the transcript is the same. You'd have to know the individual was living elsewhere to deduce they did it online. Some very lab-intensive classes are not offered online, but many of the in-residence students don't take those classes in any case-they are typically electives.
Perhaps you've heard of University of Southern California, Virginia Tech, or University of Colorado?
Second,
You and another poster on this board need to get together and have a 'must study under best professors' party. It would be ideal, but for 80-90% of us, it wouldn't happen in any case-the admissions standards are beyond what our record would get, where we CAN go doesn't have 'the best professors', and we'd probably get demolished in that rarified environment because we are, well, average, in any case.
IT and some engineering disciplines, in particular, lend themselves fairly well to online programs at the 'average' level.
It would be important to know which online program the OP is referring to and why they think it is a good idea before dismissing it out of hand.
First,
There are several brick and mortar schools with online programs in engineering and technology. The coursework is the same, the diploma is the same, the transcript is the same. You'd have to know the individual was living elsewhere to deduce they did it online. Some very lab-intensive classes are not offered online, but many of the in-residence students don't take those classes in any case-they are typically electives.
Perhaps you've heard of University of Southern California, Virginia Tech, or University of Colorado?
Second,
You and another poster on this board need to get together and have a 'must study under best professors' party. It would be ideal, but for 80-90% of us, it wouldn't happen in any case-the admissions standards are beyond what our record would get, where we CAN go doesn't have 'the best professors', and we'd probably get demolished in that rarified environment because we are, well, average, in any case.
IT and some engineering disciplines, in particular, lend themselves fairly well to online programs at the 'average' level.
It would be important to know which online program the OP is referring to and why they think it is a good idea before dismissing it out of hand.
+1
However, while one may not encounter top researchers at non-traditional colleges, one can encounter them in online programs. My school is thinking about putting its criminal justice programs online. Our program has one of the top publishers in criminal justice ethics. Her textbook is widely used. A few of the best universities in criminal justice already offer online programs. Then, you have the Ivy League colleges and other schools at their level. Several of them offer online programs with the same professors that ground students have.
Try to understand those while taking whatever course first. The computers are all von Neumann machines. The software is either compiled or interpreted. The details vary with whatever operating system you are using.
We have too many makes and models of everything but there is nothing you can do about it.
The degrees may impress people the computers don't care. But what can you actually DO? The people just won't let you do it without a degree.
First,
There are several brick and mortar schools with online programs in engineering and technology. The coursework is the same, the diploma is the same, the transcript is the same. You'd have to know the individual was living elsewhere to deduce they did it online. Some very lab-intensive classes are not offered online, but many of the in-residence students don't take those classes in any case-they are typically electives.
Perhaps you've heard of University of Southern California, Virginia Tech, or University of Colorado?
Second,
You and another poster on this board need to get together and have a 'must study under best professors' party. It would be ideal, but for 80-90% of us, it wouldn't happen in any case-the admissions standards are beyond what our record would get, where we CAN go doesn't have 'the best professors', and we'd probably get demolished in that rarified environment because we are, well, average, in any case.
IT and some engineering disciplines, in particular, lend themselves fairly well to online programs at the 'average' level.
It would be important to know which online program the OP is referring to and why they think it is a good idea before dismissing it out of hand.
^^^
Quote:
Originally Posted by L210
+1
However, while one may not encounter top researchers at non-traditional colleges, one can encounter them in online programs. My school is thinking about putting its criminal justice programs online. Our program has one of the top publishers in criminal justice ethics. Her textbook is widely used. A few of the best universities in criminal justice already offer online programs. Then, you have the Ivy League colleges and other schools at their level. Several of them offer online programs with the same professors that ground students have.
Are you folks talking bachelors degree or masters? Many reputable universities offer graduate degrees partly or even mostly on line. Having earned graduate degrees as well as having worked in academia for more than a decade, I wouldn't take an entirely online masters degree. You are underestimating the importance of the contacts that you make in grad school.
The real issue, however, is that the OP has been accepted into a masters degree program at an online university without having any undergrad coursework in his proposed field of study. That simply doesn't seem legit.
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