DeVry and Career Advice

[Brian Densmore]

My two cents. Tech schools aren't usually worth the money, because many have
bad reps. Colleges stuff too much extra junk down your throat. Not that I
didn't enjoy studying languages, one or two writing classes, math and
science. But the schools could really trim it down a lot. You don't need 5
writing classes, 5 history classes, etc. Math should definitely be pushed as
well as competency in communication. I could have learned everything I
needed to be successful in about 90 cr hrs, cutting out possibly a year of
school. College is the way to go, but it could still be better. (of course
this is coming from someone who loves going to school and learning new
things, any one know of an opening for a professional student? ;)).

JMHO,
Brian (A.A. Math, A.S. Physics, B.A. Math, B.S. CS 158 cr hrs)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Hutchins" <hutchins at opus1.com>
To: <kclug at kclug.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 10:11 AM
Subject: DeVry and Career Advice

> I shopped around the various College and Tech schools for an Electronics
> program a few years back, and I heard something that I thought might be
> useful for a potential DeVry applicant.  This was from someone who was in
a
> position to hire people with degrees/training in electronics for an
Avionics
> manufacturer.
>
> He said "DeVry's strength is it's national reputation as a technical
school,
> and it's network of job placement contacts in other cities.  The school in
> KC is not as good as the others on which their reputation is based, and
> their placement network here is practically non-existent.  DeVry would be
a
> good bet for someone who intended to apply only in other cities where
DeVry
> has a strong presence.  It's a poor investment for someone planning to
> remain in K.C."
>
> Jared, my advice would be to get a Bachelor's or Associates in Liberal
Arts,
> and to get some experience somewhere like Gateway or H&R Bloch's Tech
> Support phone banks.  You can take a certification class for the "A +"
> certification at just about any Computer Training Center in town, and that
> will get you started at a Tech Support Phone Desk job.  They have night
> shifts that would allow you to go to school during the day, and you'd end
up
> with the best of both worlds: a degree AND experience.
>
> If you want to become a programmer, studying a programming language is a
> poor investment.  Your best education would be to study Mathematics and
> Creative Writing.  That's if you want to end up being a serious,
high-level
> programmer, not just someone who maintains old Bank code.
>
> If you want to be a hardware technician, I can't think of a better way to
> start than to join the Armed Services.  You have to determine what you
want,
> and you have to determine that YOU will make the effort to get the most
out
> of your service, not just float along and take whatever they give you.  If
> you do that it can be a great start, and it's about the only way to get a
> real hands-on background in electronics hardware.
>
> You'll find that a lot of people in the Computer Industry have backgrounds
> in other industries and disciplines.  Understanding how various businesses
> operate, and how people in various disciplines think are skills that will
> get you a lot farther than the latest fashion in coding languages.  This
is
> why a Liberal Arts background can be such a good start.
>
> USDL statistics show that while someone who specializes in a computer
> related degree will have a higher starting salary than someone with a
> non-computer degree in the same computer-related job, within two years the
> salaries will be equal - which implies better growth for the non-comp.
> degree.
>
> The highest starting salaries go to people who take advanced degrees in
> Theoretical Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, because of their ability
to
> do advanced work in the algorithms that underlie financial programming.
>
>
>
>