Mechanical Engineering and MIS Questions

Gary_ISU

Active Member
Apr 12, 2006
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I was at a graduation party over the weekend. I was talking to one of the kids at the party that is in his sophomore year of ME at ISU. He is thinking about switching to MIS. I tried to give him some information. I was MIS and had ME roommates but that was 20 years ago. I figured I would post out here to get him some more info.

For you ME's out there, does the course work get easier after the first 2 years of pre-reqs and weedout classes? Any other general thougths on ME?


For MIS, I had heard there was not as much programming anymore. Is that true? When I was in school, I had C++, COBOL, a database class, and an analysis class. What does the coursework look like now?


Thanks
 
I was at a graduation party over the weekend. I was talking to one of the kids at the party that is in his sophomore year of ME at ISU. He is thinking about switching to MIS. I tried to give him some information. I was MIS and had ME roommates but that was 20 years ago. I figured I would post out here to get him some more info.

For you ME's out there, does the course work get easier after the first 2 years of pre-reqs and weedout classes? Any other general thougths on ME?


For MIS, I had heard there was not as much programming anymore. Is that true? When I was in school, I had C++, COBOL, a database class, and an analysis class. What does the coursework look like now?


Thanks

I have 2 ME roommates and I am MIS. All gonna be seniors.

They said this upcoming year will be the easiest year they've had. They also said the first 2 were definitely the "hardest" because they had no idea what they were doing.

For me, I have no idea but I am taking 100% MIS classes next semester which is apparently becoming common because MIS is getting bigger as a degree each year and it pretty much requires Senior Status to get the classes you want.

Programming wise you only are required to take 2 Java classes and you have a few MIS electives and some people like to fills those up with programming.

Hope this helps.
 
For you ME's out there, does the course work get easier after the first 2 years of pre-reqs and weedout classes? Any other general thoughts on ME?

They said this upcoming year will be the easiest year they've had. They also said the first 2 were definitely the "hardest" because they had no idea what they were doing.

In theory, this. For me, my 2nd, 4th and 5th semesters were my hardest. I have taken a couple semesters off for internships/co-ops, so my class schedule has been a bit wonky. Ended up that my schedule got a bit backloaded with the harder ME courses, so this coming school year, my 5th (and final), will have pretty loaded 17 and 14 credit semesters.
 
Programming wise you only are required to take 2 Java classes and you have a few MIS electives and some people like to fills those up with programming.

Hope this helps.

The java is nice but you better know .NET too. Don't they still do a c# class? That was required ~10 years ago for me and it's the most applicable thing you need in the job market right now.
 
I guess I would look at jobs in considering the two, not necessarily the ease of classes. My brother-in-law was MIS, got laid off after working at the same place for years, and has struggled ever since because he kind of got pigeon-holed on what he was doing and with changing technology. Have a nephew who is ME and seems to have no problem finding jobs. He has taken the step of trying to get his employer to move him into different areas just so all of his experience isn't in one little area, so that may be the true difference.
 
The java is nice but you better know .NET too. Don't they still do a c# class? That was required ~10 years ago for me and it's the most applicable thing you need in the job market right now.

If you know Java C# is a piece of cake. I have 1 year left in Software Engineering, I don't think there's a C# class.
 
been about 5 years but MIS was pretty open when I took it. You do a variety of classes(coding, database, tech, software development) and then your last year you could pick whatever you want to get deeper into.

If you really didn't want to do coding I think you'd only end up with 2 introductory type java classes.
 
Let me clarify. In central Iowa, .NET/C# is by far the most important language to know.

I don't want to take this too far off topic but that is a bold (pun intended) statement and I don't agree regardless of location. I guarantee if you know C/C++ and most likely Java you will be placed ahead of someone that only knows C# (.NET isn't a language) when going through applicants. If you're not, I wouldn't want to work there anyway.
 
I don't want to take this too far off topic but that is a bold (pun intended) statement and I don't agree regardless of location. I guarantee if you know C/C++ and most likely Java you will be placed ahead of someone that only knows C# (.NET isn't a language) when going through applicants. If you're not, I wouldn't want to work there anyway.

I understand your point and I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you but I've seen the numbers for central Iowa.

.Net developers are by far and away the most in demand, with java a distant second. c# being the most common flavor of .Net
 
I understand your point and I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you but I've seen the numbers for central Iowa.

.Net developers are by far and away the most in demand, with java a distant second. c# being the most common flavor of .Net

One more statement and I'll drop it: most demand != most important
 
Not trying to be an jerk (or derail the thread), but if someone is trying to choose a major based on course workload, they are probably being short-sighted.

Ability to get a good job that one can enjoy should really be the deciding factor.

He's probably already taking that into consideration, but I've made enough short-sighted decisions in my own life not to just assume...
 
Not trying to be an jerk (or derail the thread), but if someone is trying to choose a major based on course workload, they are probably being short-sighted.

Ability to get a good job that one can enjoy should really be the deciding factor.

He's probably already taking that into consideration, but I've made enough short-sighted decisions in my own life not to just assume...

I think this is the first time anyone here has ever started out with "not trying to be a jerk," and actually came off as not being a jerk; I agree with you.
 
My son is in his 3rd of employment with a degree in MIS. He doesn't do much programming at all but has taken on anything and everything with the company to keep his resume attractive. He likes what he does and has been promoted twice.
 
Thanks for all the different perspectives. I will share this thread with him. I remember being 20 and not really having any clue what I wanted to do. I am over 40 now and some days it still feels that way.

Just FYI about Java vs .Net, my employer is primarily . Net. We still have some Java but going forward most of the work is .Net for the back end and Angular JS on the front. We tend to have a little of everything.
 
Just want to point out that MIS is definitely the best Business degree you can get at ISU. The average offer rivals most engineering and the number of offers is huge per person because it is such a small degree.

The best way I can put this is that almost every company that comes to the Engineering Career fair also comes to the Business one, looking for MIS guys.

Even the most dumb guys in my MIS classes had multiple full time offers coming out of Senior year. (Which is good and bad in my opinion)
 

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