Decision and Information Sciences

[Chief]

Well, I decided to return to college. I was told that in order for me to return I would have to choose a major. I chose decision and information sciences. http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/programs/majors/dis.html
Sounds interesting. "Typical positions for DIS majors include decision support specialist, information systems specialist and systems analyst." Just wanting to know if anybody knew anything about the major or those careers. I was about to chose a major in physical/biological sciences or engineering, but I decided not too. I taken many math/science courses before but none of that really was my "niche".

Heh, the only thing in life that I really enjoy doing is playing games, eating, watching TV and sleeping. I never had a real interest outside of those four activities. If there is one thing I like to do, it is to analyze everything in a concrete and practical manner. I won't be bored just sitting in an office (with a computer, lol) for hours analyzing real-life problems, and getting paid for that. Am not interested, with developing theories unless they pertain to my profession. I was wondering, if you guys know anything about the major and career that may conflict or match what I just said above. Thank you for your time and comments.

[Star]

Hm at a glance it looks like a 4-year degree in.. tech support?

As a major, it looks horrible. If you want a 4-year degree that will help you get an IT job, go for Math or Computer Science.

[jread]

Hm at a glance it looks like a 4-year degree in.. tech support?

As a major, it looks horrible. If you want a 4-year degree that will help you get an IT job, go for Math or Computer Science.

I think it looks much more like an MIS degree than anything else, which is definitely useful. Lots of business and management classes that have real-world application.

[MasterMerk]

I thought information systems was just filing and ordering shit? I agree with Deepsky on this one.

[dziner]

It looks like almost a business major. I seriously doubt whether it will lead to a job where you can sit on computer for hours analyzing problems.

You may have to participate in lots of meetings and present a lot of data. I will suggest you to go for an IT major instead. You can later on take more business classes if you feel like.

[Chief]

TY guys for the advice. Because of what you guys have said, I did a liitle more digging into the profession and found out it isn't really what am interested in or what I was expecting. I am thinking of Economics though. I bee reading the book "Freakonomics" and its been very interesting. Any thoughts about economics as a major/career for an INTP??

[Nadiar]

This board always makes me laugh. On other boards I go to which are made up of career Computer Guru's, they'll tell you not to pursue a degree in Computer Science, since its not that marketable. MIS Degrees (and therefor this 'DIS' Degree) are far more marketable when applying for positions.

Remember, a college degree is just a piece of paper, and thus not a match for Experience. Very rarely will someone get a good Computer Science position right out of college. You'll have to work your way up to where you want to be. Which means having an MIS degree will get you a lot further, since it implies you understand business practices.

I've seen several Computer Science degree's and they all teach the same thing -- programming. Well, thats great if you want to be a programmer, but not that many jobs require an in depth knowledge of programming.

So failing you going for an actual degree, the question you have to answer is: What would you like to be doing 10 years from now? How about 5 years after that?

If I were independantly wealthy, I'd get a degree in Psychology. But since I'm not independandly wealthy, I'm basically getting an MIS degree (whenever I finish my last couple classes).

[dziner]

TY guys for the advice. Because of what you guys have said, I did a liitle more digging into the profession and found out it isn't really what am interested in or what I was expecting. I am thinking of Economics though. I bee reading the book "Freakonomics" and its been very interesting. Any thoughts about economics as a major/career for an INTP??

I really enjoy all the subjects that come under the realm of "Social Sciences". As professions, all of them suck (at least in my country). You can be a professor though.

Professional economists might be involved in a lot of mathematical modeling. I think there are few people studying economics on this forum. It would be good to ask them.

[jread]

bee reading the book "Freakonomics" and its been very interesting. Any thoughts about economics as a major/career for an INTP??

I recently read "Freakonomics" myself and thought it was extremely interesting! I think that economics is a great field and there is definitely decent money in it, but you'll need at least a Master's (Ph.D. is better) to really go anywhere with it.