<p>Hello people, I really need some advice. I graduated college and received an associate’s degree in CIS (Computer Information Systems). The problem is that I don’t know what to do now. I wanted this degree back then to look for a job right away after graduation, but now I would like to continue studying and get a bachelor’s degree. I read that there are bachelor’s degrees in CIS available at some institutions. However, my local college does not offer bachelor’s degrees. In this case, transfering to a University that offers a bachelor’s degree in CIS would be my only option, correct? (assuming that I would want to pursue a carreer in CIS). Also, would it be a good idea to take this type of degree online if I am unable to move to another city and the courses are available via online?</p>
<p>This type of degree is one where it is possible to be sponsored by an employer. Look for a job in a large company where there is in-house support and training and where they offer tuition reimbursement. From there you can take online or brick-and-mortar classes. The good thing about information technology is that classes translate very well to the online environment. If you can get your employer to sponsor your degree, you can do your original intent (job right out of graduation) and go for additional school. Companies to look for are large corporations, utilities, banks, and local, county, state, or federal government. Congratulations on knowing what you want, going after it, and making it happen!</p>
<p>You may also want to go to your college’s career center for help and advice. Not only can they help with placing you in a job (usually even after you graduate), but they can also help you to determine what major you would enjoy pursuing, whether it be CIS or something else. There are assessments and skills inventories you can use to guide your exploration, and they will know how to do it.</p>
<p>Did you graduate from a community college? If so, it may have a transfer agreement (or “articulation agreement”) with one or more state universities. This arrangement is intended to simplify the transfer process from 2 year community colleges to 4 year public colleges and universities. Find out about this from your college.</p>
<p><a href=“What is an Articulation Agreement?”>Ask CT - Simplifying College Transfer;
<p>If there is such an agreement in place with a local university, the program you want may not be called “Computer Information Systems”, exactly. For example, the University of Maryland offers an “Information Systems” major through its business school. Penn State offers “Information Sciences and Technology” and “Information Systems”. UConn offers “Management Information Systems”. Look through the online program descriptions and course catalogs to see if the program, whatever it’s called, is what you want.</p>
<p>Once you find a school and program that will work for you, you can figure out if you want to go straight back to college full time, or if you want to find an employer who will pay for you to attend part-time. It might help in the job interview process to be able to discuss what you want and how much it will cost.</p>
<p>Your community college has a Transfer Advisor or Transfer Counselor. Find out who that person is, and make an appointment to learn more about your options. That person’s whole job is to help students find the right transfer-to programs.</p>
<p>I am currently unemployed, so getting sponsored by an employer will be kind of difficult at the moment.</p>
<p>I have visited a college counselor to discuss about this subject. I told the counselor that I would like to get a bachelor’s degree and that I wanted to know what the next steps, taking into consideration my A.S. in CIS, would be. He recommended me to get an associate’s degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering to later transfer to SDSU and get a bachelor’s degree. To be honest, I am kind of impressed that he kind of ignored my associate’s degree… I would expect him to tell me to transfer to a certain institution in order to get a B.S. in Information Technology or something like that as an option. </p>
<p>I believe that my college is in some kind of transfer agreement with SDSU, but I am not sure if they could also be in some agreement with other institutions. However, it looks like not all associate’s degrees apply for this (apparently my A.S. in CIS does not).</p>
<p>So, I have the choice to either get a different associate’s degree in another field and transfer to a University at a later time, or to try finding an institution that offers a B.S. based on my A.S. </p>
<p>If I decide taking some courses at my community college and transfering later on, my personal choices would be to either take Computer Engineering with an associate’s degree in Computer Science, or to take Business Administration.</p>
<p>Could anyone explain to me what the differences are between Information Technology and Business Administration?</p>
<p>Thank you people for your help.</p>