Is a AAS (Associate in Applied Science) worth it?

[RolloofTheNorm]

Recently I found out that my community college offers Associate degrees in IT. I wanted to know are degrees like these worth pursuing? 

 

https://www.sccsc.edu/schoolslist/CET-1/computers.php

[adrynalyne]

No.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

The link doesn't work for me.

 

These questions don't make sense. You're spending too much time contemplating various degrees rather than just going for it. I went to university to get an HND (Higher National Diploma) and not once have I had to provide/use it. Which is just as well considering I didn't get it.

 

Experience is the way forward. The longer you spend trying to figure out which certification will be best, the longer you're going to spend trying to get a job (if that's your intention).

[adrynalyne]

Red flag:

 

 

First bullet point. I know people graduating with CS degrees that struggle as junior developers and I would say that's a far more strenuous program from a university, not a community college (aka High School 2.0).

[Joe User]

If you're fresh out of HS, then yes, an AAS would be a good program to fill in the gaps in your knowledge and let you decide if you want to transfer to a four year or go the certification route.  This is all about creating more choices for yourself while you're young.

 

If you're much older, no. I would go with certifications. 

 

That being said, almost NONE of the language skills from my AAS were ever used. I benefited from the English, business, and computer design (documentation) classes far more than the code classes. Learning to work with a team at an early age was an excellent experience and got me to IT management when I was older.

 

[neufuse Veteran]

If you want to do any type of development then stay far away... You should get a BS at least in software development / engineering 

Edited September 5, 2020 by neufuse

[Dick Montage]

15 minutes ago, neufuse said:

If you want to do any type of development then stay far away... You should get a BA at least in software development / engineering 

BA? Bachelor of the Arts?

Weird, mine is a B/Sc - bachelor of sciences

[neufuse Veteran]

1 minute ago, Code Name: Lockdown said:

BA? Bachelor of the Arts?

Weird, mine is a B/Sc - bachelor of sciences

that should of been BS I was reading what they wrote when I typed that too many A's made me type an A lol

 

but yes BS is pretty much a base degree for computer science.... heck you want to work at a good company you are going to need a masters ontop of that in Comp Sci, Data Science, Math, etc

 

[RolloofTheNorm]

1 hour ago, adrynalyne said:

Red flag:

 

 

First bullet point. I know people graduating with CS degrees that struggle as junior developers and I would say that's a far more strenuous program from a university, not a community college (aka High School 2.0).

I was looking into the AAS degree for networking and cybersecurity be honest.  I decided to go that route instead of programming 

[neufuse Veteran]

25 minutes ago, RolloofTheNorm said:

I was looking into the AAS degree for networking and cybersecurity be honest.  I decided to go that route instead of programming 

for cyber security you want a much better degree and get certification with CISSP credentials or better

[RolloofTheNorm]

well since you guys put it that way I found this program also. I'm transferring soon any with my AS and just want to know what my options were. 
 

https://www.usca.edu/palmetto-college/degree-programs/applied-computer-science