Need advice from tech people

[JStump]

I have a situation where I need some professional advice. I am 1 class away from my Associates in Applied Science with my major being Computer Info Systems and it has consisted of system administration and Cisco networking classes. I had originally thought I was going to continue on through the University Partnership through the community college and get a BA from Akron in Networking but after taking the networking courses in the Associates and have gotten an Internship as a system admin I have decided networking is not for me because I enjoy my job and advanced networking is starting to make me struggle. If I continue on I will end up hating my life because these class give me headaches just thinking about them.

Here is where I need advice, I have found a major at Cleveland State which is a BA in Business Administration and can have any of 7 different focuses, one of which is Information Systems. I would jump right into the 3rd year of classes because I will already have my Associates and about 5 of the 20 classes that are in the major completed due to being in school for almost 4 years and switching majors 3 times already leaving me with a bunch of random tech and gen ed classes that I can use as electives. If I were to do this and take a couple summer classes I think I could knock out the degree in a year and a half without killing myself. If I were to do this I would pretty much have to move out to lakewood so I would be close to class and work without having to drive over an hour each way. This will be pushing me to the edge of my income and if I end up cutting back hours at work because of class it will definitely cost more than I make.

My questions are

1)If I were to get a degree in Business Admin, would that be respected and look good to future employers in the industry I am in? I have talked to people at work and many of them have degrees that don’t even make sense in this field like psychology and art and are programmers and admins so I feel like this would at least be in the right ball park.

2)Should I put myself in more debt to live on my own, closer to work and school so I can focus on finishing my degree? I have about $14,000 in student loans, which isn’t bad considering the average it WAY more than this for most people but I would be looking at another possible $24,000 to finish my degree as opposed to $16,000 if I lived at home and finished the Akron degree.

Any advice would help because I literally was up half the night thinking about this and have been stressing over the decision for the past few months.

[Bad324]

if it opens up more opportunities in the future, absolutely sacrifice a little now for more later.

Not to mention, you can live in Lakewood pretty damn cheap

[Disclaimer]

I can't really say how people of your industry look upon business grads, but I have an MBA and an MIS degree on top of my electrical engineering undergrad.

Guess which one was most important? The MBA and MIS are just extra fluff on the resume, I don't get to use either of them in my everyday work. At least where I work, the engineering degree is the critical degree (it's not like I got an instant pay raise for either of my Masters Degrees) - so it's on me to look for other opportunities if I really want to pursue something beyond the engineering path.

Like you pointed out though, a lot of jobs are basically learned through on-the-job training and have little to do with your real degree. As long as your undergrad is in the 'ballpark' to get you in the door, you'll learn what you need to do (for the most part).

But, I can offer this advice. If you want to further your education, you really should look for an employer that values self-development and will pay for your schooling. My undergrad was expensive, but both my Masters were paid for by the company, and I know this company has even put some people through undergrad school as well (though you'd have to be working here quite some time with an Associates or less before they'll pay for an undergrad). But, there are a lot of stipulations you agree to - like not leaving for 'x' years afterwards, maintaining a minimum GPA, etc.

So, find a company that'll pay for your schooling if possible.

[jblosser]

1) employers, if they're looking for a degree, are looking for a degree, period. A business degree is a business degree, doesn't really matter what the specialty is, and *most* employers aren't going to notice.

2) if mom and dad will have you, why not live at home? Seems like it would be easier to concentrate there than in an apartment where debauchery would be happening 24/7. Maybe mow the grass, shovel the drive, help the 'rents out a bit. They'll appreciate it, and they *probably* will appreciate having you around.

[bacchus]

If you are looking to get into Healthcare IT, a degree is critical. I would agree with Justin that you should find an employer who will pay for your education, but it's really difficult and setting yourself up for failure if you think they will promote you for your education after they have already paid for it. You usually need to move on to get parity with your similarly educated peers (at least within a few years.)

my .02.

[JStump]

Well Sherwin will pay for school but you have to be full time, so after I have been here a few more months I will start looking for full time spots to open so they can help with tuition. The healthcare thing has always been something I have thought about but it is not something I am actively pursuing but I am definitely going to get a degree either way. I just want to do what I am currently doing and Sherwin seems to be the place I will be sticking to if at all possible. From what I hear, the only way to get into Sherwin is through the internship program or being Indian haha but being an intern I have learned as much if not more from my on the job training as I have in school the past 2 years, yes school has given me the basics to transition into the real world but almost everything I do here was learned on the job. The degree will just be the icing on the cake.

All I want right now is my BA, it has taken me 4 years to get an associates and I am just looking to get that piece of paper to put on my resume.

As far as moving out, the reason I want to do this is because at my house there is little quiet time, even when I lock my self in my room to study or take online exams I am interrupted. Not to mention I will spend a TON of money on gas and put a lot of miles on my lease driving to Cleveland all the time for class, I already do enough of that driving to the brookpark rapid station 4 days a week for work. Not to mention it is over an hour each way. Lakewood would cut that down to 15 minutes or so.

[MarkB]

Business Admin w/ an IS focus is fine... I'm currently interview people with that same degree for position on a Business Intelligence/Data Warehousing team... the degree doesn't matter so much... just that you have one... shows you can learn shit. Akron has a great internship program... I don't know about Cleveland state.

For the record... I'm a Business Intelligence Architect... Assoc. in Computer Programming and a BA in Communication.

[Josh1234]

+1 for cleveland state. If you'd be coming in as a junior, check out the honors program... It's a full scholarship, but it's usually merit based... so you'd only get in if you got good grades so far.

[JStump]

Well I have a 3.0 right now so I don't know if that qualifies as honors but if it does, don't you have to take higher/harder courses?

And I'm not really looking for an internship program, I already have the internship and I don't really care if it is linked to my degree because I'm getting a lot of experience. CSU will give you 1credit for having an internship and writing a term paper so I may do that just for shits and gigs if I need an extra credit or something.

[AOW]

1) employers, if they're looking for a degree, are looking for a degree, period. A business degree is a business degree, doesn't really matter what the specialty is, and *most* employers aren't going to notice.

he speaks the truth! I've only ever had two or three potential and actual employers ever give a shit about what my degrees were in, but all wanted you to have a bachelors or equivalent. It's a extreme rarity these days to find an employer that places hands on job specific skills & knowledge above having a BS degree (pun intended).