Then go with the CS minor. That will make a difference when you get compared to other folks that major in MIS/IT. Take Data Structures, Algorithms, Computer Architecture, Discrete Math, Probability and statistics, and an introductory course in Software engineering and you should be all set. These are the core courses that make up a computer science major.
If the first two, three or five years of your career don't work out absolutely perfectly, dispel that notion immediately. There is a really good chunk of time in your mid- to late-twenties to double up with grad school or a strong second bachelors and really widen your professional opportunities and prospects for managerial roles.
I'm iffy on the discrete math. Prob. and statistics is a nice to have. The others listed will give you cred with the IT brehs if you use it to understand what they're talking about. The keys to management is empathy with whom you're managing and understanding your domain. All the other courses to track, predict, and maximize look past those assumptions. While presenting those three to your bosses well gets you promoted, they should be complimentary skills to help you get better at the first two. At least, that's what I see from successful PMs who are still rising. Take one of those udemy classes to learn python and eventually push yourself on some of the harder stuff beyond scripting. There are specific exercises called koans that are also available for other languages, and that'd be the path I'd take for self learning. Getting that certificate does make a difference in your resume if you mention you're learning it the geek way. I'd stay away from Java/C#/C++ for now because they're more wordy and have a higher learning curve and slower feedback. The idea there is to help you learn how to think and code, but the stuff you see in corporate will likely be the languages I mentioned not to learn first. Javascript is also good to know but harder to learn because the educational stuff available out there isn't being used the same way the "hotter applications" are being used right now. Plus it's mostly used on the front end and that's more limiting in both career options and understanding what you're managing. The irony is that if you happen to land in a new and shiny company, IT infrastructure has changed a lot since college. The cloud is already here. Learning about that too and deploying your app on a free server will probably boost your ask a few grand. I don't...have a CS degree
I feel like there are a lot of software jobs out there and not enough competent people. Generally, the pay is going to be better if you're an engineer (creating new things) as opposed to learning how to set up and manage different systems for someone else. Your mileage may vary though, and sometimes it's a little hard to get in the door. So, in conclusion, I would definitely minor in CS, if nothing else than to keep that door open. You might get lucky and get involved in some thing at your job that starts out with some simple Python scripts, and the grows into something bigger. But you may not want to take my word for it. I'm a software engineer, not an IT guy.
a) don't take MIS. It's just a lesser computer science degree. b) Its always good to know how to code regardless of your major (I would say the same thing for finance. Always good to know what to do with your money). Automating processes at work will make you far more efficient than your colleagues and invaluable to your company. Don't take algorithms, automata, machine language, compilers, or any CS course that doesn't require you to write lots of code. Learn as many different languages as you can. Georgia Tech Online Masters in Computer Science Program. Georgia Tech is a very good computer science school and the whole program costs about 7K. Since its entirely online you can get it while staying employed very easily.
Getting a minor in CS with an MIS major should be a no brainer. Many CS classes should could towards the MIS major, and as many others have said CS is more valuable than MIS. I found them personally to be a good combination, since the management portion of MIS combined well with CS for my career. Unless it would take you a full extra year, I can't think of a good reason not to do it.
Doesn't sound like a bad idea. But rather than minoring in CS, why not find a different business program to double major or minor in. It may not require more than an extra semester or so to double major in MIS and Business Management for instance. I was a CIS major until my third year before I switched to management. A couple more classes would have gotten me a minor in CIS, and an additional summer session would've gotten me a double major. A course I took on Cobol absolutely destroyed the though of CIS for me and I wanted nothing to do with it after that.
Honestly, I don't feel that a minor in Computer Science is going to make much of a difference. My personal recommendation would be to minor in Project Management or Supply Chain Management, if either one of those are options. An MIS degree coupled with some Project Management courses will serve you well in your career, whether you elect to go the technical route or management. It would help serve as a base to help you prepare for the PMP certification later on as well.
I don't know. But, I wanted to say I've been looking at resumes for an open position and I'm getting bored to death of these applicants who got a BA in finance, with a minor in accounting and then went on to get a masters in finance (oh, and president of the finance club!) and then worked as a financial analyst for some financial institution. Some finance acumen is useful for this job, but my god I need to be able to have a conversation with the person too! You like sports? Yeah, that Brewer signing on a declining contract was awesome; he'll be a bargain in 2 years. Do you like to read? Yeah, I check out the WSJ and the FT everyday, and of course the analyst reports whenever the investment banks publish something on one of my stocks. And I'm supposed to sit next to this guy every day? So, anyway, my advice is don't be boring. Maybe what you pick as a minor isn't the difference-maker. Maybe CS makes you more interesting. I don't know. And there is an implicit question here about how much should your college education be about education and how much about vocational training, which you need to answer for yourself. The double-barreled computer degree thing sure does sound like it's in some danger of being boring. But I don't work in IT. (This won't make you any less boring, but a minor in accounting is always useful.)
What's the difference between computer science and software engineering? I figured they would be a lot similiar
Learning the languages, theory, structures, and algorithms is the kind of stuff you learn studying computer science. Learning how to apply those principles actually develop new software, rather than just working towards a known solution with a TA looking over your shoulder, is the nature of software engineering. There are best practices, design patterns, testing, different kinds of process (agile vs waterfall for example). Making the leap from taking some coding classes to becoming a software engineer is something that not everyone can do apparently. A lot of guys I went to school with never got a job as an engineer. I remember when I was at my first job, we hired an intern who was a 4.0 student from the same program I went through, and I was a little intimidated by him. (I definitely wasn't a 4.0 student) But he actually didn't last long because he never figured out how to make the leap. That's a more philosophical answer than you were asking for, but really it's all the stuff I said in the first paragraph. They introduce you all that stuff in a software engineering class.
I too know how to search stackoverflow for all my advanced SQL and VBA needs. No point in getting a minor in CS just to have a minor in CS. Daryl Morrey doesn't just acquire players to have players. I don't work IT. I don't have a CS degree.
I was actually being serious. I think it would give you a competitive advantage. As Zboy pointed out, majoring in CS would be most ideal. A lot of IT managers that are banking at a young age have a CS degree. It also keeps other options open (software engineer).
A common misconception is that computer science is coding. It is not. In fact, if you look at most computer science departments you will notice that they are associated with the mathematics department. The reason for this is that computer science is more math than coding. I suspect this is also why a lot of computer science majors drop out of the program. A computer science major is taught to use computers to solve problems. The way to use computers to solve problems it to learn data structures, algorithms, mathematical modeling,and coding. So coding is just one aspect of it. You could be a computer scientist and hardly code. In short computer science lays the theory and foundation for you to be a successful in many areas including a coder or a software engineer. You can learn to code over the years via trail and error. Or you can master data structures and algorithms, especially algorithms, and get a head start. Software engineering is a specialty/concentration within computer science field. Other things you can concentrate on as a computer scientist are Artificial Intelligence, Networking, Computer systems, Computer Graphics/computer vision, Language processing, Data Mining, computer security, etc. etc. A software engineer applies all the theories he/she has learned to develop, test, or maintain a software product. Other computer scientist with different concentration use the theories they have learned to work in their own field. One of the hottest concentration in computer science right now is Artificial Intelligence. A lot of work is being done in this field and its more math/theory than coding. Why is Computer science a great degree if you want to code? Because it lays a good theoretical foundation for you. It is not guaranteed to make you a good programmer. But it will make you a better programmer. Why is Computer science a good minor option for any field? Because if you have taken the core courses that I mentioned, you will be considered for many software jobs out there. Why is Computer science a good major/minor even if you don't want to work as a computer scientist/coder? Because it is a math/computational field and it looks great on your resume no matter which field you want to work in. It is also great for graduate schools (does not matter which field you are appling to). As such, I always recommend people...no matter what field you want to work in or go to graduate school later on, you should get a bachelor's in either engineering or computer science.
