Masters in Computer Engineering/Computer Science vs Masters in Information Systems

[Al B. Sure!]

I'm guess you didn't do any real CS then, since you listed "discrete mathematics" as an afterthought. Almost every CS class I took after sophomore year was either systems programming/design or some flavor of discrete math - and for grad school, the theoretical CS is what's important.

Aneeshm was educated in India.

[Kuciwalker]

DriXnak: I think (and you seem to agree somewhat) that computer science is not really the field you should go into. Graduate-level CS is much more theoretical and research-oriented than IT and wouldn't be as good a fit with the types of jobs you want to take.

[DriXnaK]

Yeah, I was going through the CS degree some more and they had physics 2 on there even. There's too much stuff in there that I can't ever see myself using. I'd rather save the time and money and put it towards more applied reading that I can do on my own and just grab the MBA with the M.S. in IS. Thanks for the replies.

[aneeshm]

I'm guess you didn't do any real CS then, since you listed "discrete mathematics" as an afterthought. Almost every CS class I took after sophomore year was either systems programming/design or some flavor of discrete math - and for grad school, the theoretical CS is what's important.

The reason I did not list courses which are based on discrete mathematics and its applications (which, as you correctly noted, covers practically all of them that are not either hardware architecture or system design, after the second year) is because I presumed it would be understood that they occupy the central place in the curriculum, not because it was an afterthought.

The focus on the continuous side was because that was what was the topic under discussion. The problem for the thread poster is that there is no single, unified 'course' on discrete mathematics you can do that covers all its applications in CS; you actually have to study it in context to gain any real understanding of its methods and applications. This is one problem DriXnaK could have faced. He could, however, have focused on purely the mathematical part and finished it in two years, had he been working full-time.

[Hauldren Collider]

3-4 years of math courses?

As far as my experience goes, beyond the traditional Calc-I-II-III sequence, the only further (continuous) mathematics required for computer science is probability and statistics, linear algebra, and differential equations (and LA and DE are indispensable only if you're on the engineering side).

If this were true I'd have a university degree in computer science already. What school did YOU go to?

[Asher]

I had lots of number theory and, of course, discrete math in addition to those mentioned by aneeshm.

[Hauldren Collider]

The stuff mentioned by aneeshm is early college/late high school level stuff. Linear algebra is indispensable ONLY if you do engineering? On what planet? In what job? Linear algebra is crucial if you want to understand anything about computer graphics AT ALL. And that's just ONE application.

[aneeshm]

If this were true I'd have a university degree in computer science already. What school did YOU go to?

The stuff mentioned by aneeshm is early college/late high school level stuff. Linear algebra is indispensable ONLY if you do engineering? On what planet? In what job? Linear algebra is crucial if you want to understand anything about computer graphics AT ALL. And that's just ONE application.

It appears I was not clear enough in my original post, and that has led to considerable confusion. I did not mention discrete mathematics or any of its application explicitly because I presumed, as noted earlier, that it would be understood that it occupied the central place in the curriculum. The theory of computation, compiler design, databases, algorithmics, graph theory, discrete-time signal processing (in some measure), and large parts of computer architecture are extended applications of discrete mathematics; I did not think this needed to be said. However, there is no way to 'pick up' this mathematics in any meaningful sense without also actually studying the subjects in question.

The continuous mathematics topics I noted were required for every engineering major, not only computer science, by university policy. Yes, computer graphics admittedly makes extensive use of LA, and it was an oversight to neglect that; however, continuous mathematics was sparsely used in the later courses we had. (One major exception was the theory behind data communication at the physical layer.)

I had lots of number theory and, of course, discrete math in addition to those mentioned by aneeshm.

It is one of the regrets of mine that I do not have any deep exposure to number theory. We of course made extensive use of it in our study of cryptography and cryptographic algorithms, but that is a poor substitute for doing it on its own.

[Asher]

Do you still work at that company, aneeshm? And if so, will you be there in July?

I'm supposed to spend 2-3 weeks in Nagpur in that timeframe at one of your company's offices. Judging by your location, I assume you don't work there anyway.

[aneeshm]

Do you still work at that company, aneeshm? And if so, will you be there in July?

I'm supposed to spend 2-3 weeks in Nagpur in that timeframe at one of your company's offices. Judging by your location, I assume you don't work there anyway.

No, I resigned, with my last working day being the 29th of last month.* I've never worked at (or even seen) the Nagpur office; I've worked out of whichever Pune office was more convenient for my boss and project.

* Oddly enough, the reason I quit at the time I did is relevant to this thread. I realised that I needed to refresh my grasp of continuous mathematics, which I did not find satisfactory. I have spent this month doing so, along with working on a number of other projects (three papers, deploying a HPC laboratory for my institute). The next month, I shall revise the 'core' undergraduate CS curriculum to my satisfaction, as I want to focus on what is new in my MS courses. (After June, I shall leave Pune to spend around a month with my family and parents in Indore.)

[Sava]

Go for the MBA. That's the ticket to $$$. Unless you are a serious genius, going a CompSci route will just end you up in IT... the mechanics and plumbers of technology... either that or a replaceable code monkey.

Don't even worry about the MIS... it's only useful if you are looking to be a director of an IT department.

To advance, you need experience and the MBA. Nepotism and personality (fitting in with the good ole boy networks) can help. But that really only comes in to play once you start to get to VP levels. Most everything up to and including director levels requires merit.

The source of my knowledge is likely the highest ranking member of corporate America on these forums. KH probably would have good advice, but I doubt it would apply in most any other industry besides finance. For that, you just need to be a sociopath.

[Main_Brain]

Leave the Senior Threads alone.

[loinburger]

Get an associate's degree in paralegal - that's what I did, and now I make a fortune flipping houses.

[PLATO]

I was thinking that a masters in MIS is pretty much what a librarian would want these days. MSCS is where the big bucks are.

[loinburger]

The only data points I have are that back-end and middleware development earns you more than front-end development and testing, but I don't know what sort of degrees the front-end people and testers have.