jread
26 Oct 2005, 10:49 PM
I'm still a year away from finishing my undergrad degree in Public Administration, but I'm already in the process of figuring out what to do for graduate school. I have looked at my options around here and it looks as if staying at my current university is the best bet. I like it there and their graduate programs cater to adults. They are also accelerated programs and you can finish a master's in about two years while working full-time. The other schools around here would take longer and are either too far away (Texas State) or do not have any programs available to people who actually work (University of Texas).
So, with that decision made, I'm now trying to narrow down which degree I'm going to go for. Most of the graduate programs at my school are "Human Services" type degrees, which I have zero interest in. I'm going for more of a technical direction in a social science field (demography/GIS). So, I've narrowed it down to two degrees that the school offers:
Master of Liberal Arts (http://www.stedwards.edu/mla/program/academic.htm) - Curriculum (http://www.stedwards.edu/mla/program/curriculum.htm)
Master of Science in Computer Information Systems (http://www.stedwards.edu/business/graduate/mscis/index.htm) - Curriculum (http://www.stedwards.edu/business/graduate/mscis/curriculum.htm)
The attractive thing about the MLA program is that it is very broad and extremely open for customization. There is a social science focus available and I would be able to include many courses related to what I want to do. The downside,which is ironically the upside, is that it is very general and doesn't give a specific focus to any subject.
The attractive thing about the MS in CIS is that it is a pretty complete look at the IT field and I'll be learning many things (data mechanics) that are essential to the field I'm in (and will be in). Demography is an especially data/database oriented field and you really have to be good at these things. The downside is that the curriculum is more focused on one area and you don't get the opportunity to learn from a more broad approach.
I guess I'm trying to decide because I can get a head start if I take certain classes: there are a handful of undergrad courses that are "dual-level", meaning that they are of the difficulty of graduate work and you can get graduate credit for them, but they also count toward your undergrad degree. This would be really nice.
The main question, though, is which of these would really be more marketable in the long run?
So, with that decision made, I'm now trying to narrow down which degree I'm going to go for. Most of the graduate programs at my school are "Human Services" type degrees, which I have zero interest in. I'm going for more of a technical direction in a social science field (demography/GIS). So, I've narrowed it down to two degrees that the school offers:
Master of Liberal Arts (http://www.stedwards.edu/mla/program/academic.htm) - Curriculum (http://www.stedwards.edu/mla/program/curriculum.htm)
Master of Science in Computer Information Systems (http://www.stedwards.edu/business/graduate/mscis/index.htm) - Curriculum (http://www.stedwards.edu/business/graduate/mscis/curriculum.htm)
The attractive thing about the MLA program is that it is very broad and extremely open for customization. There is a social science focus available and I would be able to include many courses related to what I want to do. The downside,which is ironically the upside, is that it is very general and doesn't give a specific focus to any subject.
The attractive thing about the MS in CIS is that it is a pretty complete look at the IT field and I'll be learning many things (data mechanics) that are essential to the field I'm in (and will be in). Demography is an especially data/database oriented field and you really have to be good at these things. The downside is that the curriculum is more focused on one area and you don't get the opportunity to learn from a more broad approach.
I guess I'm trying to decide because I can get a head start if I take certain classes: there are a handful of undergrad courses that are "dual-level", meaning that they are of the difficulty of graduate work and you can get graduate credit for them, but they also count toward your undergrad degree. This would be really nice.
The main question, though, is which of these would really be more marketable in the long run?