There’s an interesting discussion going on at Scout.com with insightful statements given by IST alumni. They talk about what an IST degree is worth, which is a mildly controversial topic among current students. I’ve heard playful phrases such as “You can’t spell bullshit without IST” or “IST stands for I’m Self Taught.” This forum thread takes this to the next level by offering real stories from our alumni. While there are a mix of both positives and negatives, the following are some highlight posts.

underScoreTom:

And may you soon learn that everything you learned in any IST class is pretty much not relevant to the real world

Isn’t the major almost 10 years old now?

I graduated shortly before the IST program was introduced, and looking at the then new curriculum, found that most of those classes mirrored the classes I took as a general science major.

The stuff they teach tends to assume that time/money/resources are all unlimited. Obviously that’ll never be the case in the real world.

One point…there’s no way you can really teach real world applications in IST since they vary so much. It really isn’t meant to be a negative when saying “nothing you learned is relevant”, just, there’s no good way to really teach it otherwise.

The customer isn’t always right. But the customer always has a business problem that needs solved. They hired you to solve that problem. And sometimes finding the right questions to ask is more valuable than brainstorming on the right answer. The client has the answers (I mean, it is their business), just the right questions have to be asked to get those answers.

wannynator:

I’m assuming this is Information Systems and Technology?

Being a Senior Systems Engineer for a firm, I can honestly tell you that 90% of the stuff you learn means nothing in the “real world”.

I firmly believe that a degree in the “IT” world is worth less than a degree in any other profession.

EXPERIENCE…EXPERIENCE…EXPERIENCE….that is what makes you valuable to an employer…however, you have the issue…”need experience to get a job…but you need a job to get experience”

Usually it is who you know and not what you know that starts an IT/IS career. It certainly did for me.

PSUjosh11:

I am an IST student at PSU and totally relate to that statement. I will be graduating next year at this time and had an internship last summer and have one again this summer. I noticed in my first internship experience last summer that almost everything I learned in my IST classes was irrelevant and had nothing to do with what I was actually doing in the real world…it’s kind of ashame to find that out, its like why am I paying for this then?

One of my prof’s put it nicely and said that since the college of IST is still fairly new they are still learning what to teach the students and prepare them for the real world, especially because they are still finding out that they are teaching irrelevant information for 4 years.

PennStateMtnMan:

I graduated from IST in ‘02. I have another degree in Instructional Systems. Before I was the Director of IT of a company in the 90’s before returning back to school. I found the IST classes to be very elementary, but I would not trade it for the world since nobody wanted to hire me with experience alone. I needed that sheep skin. I can think of quite a few classes they need to teach and for the students to become masters at instead of foreign language classes.

altrock78:

I’m not doubting what you say but I can’t back that statement up at all. The faculty work very closely with many of founding corporate sponsors to develop a curriculum that fit their needs. I’m not exactly sure who told you that but I wouldn’t back that statement up at all.

To be completely honest IST isn’t for kids looking to hone their technical skills. Its for kids that are ambitious enough to teach themselves new techs while possessing the soft leadership and communication skills. Those things never become irrelevant.

BlueBandTrumpet07:

IST ‘07 here, and I can safely say that in the year I’ve been working so far (federal IT contractor/consultant with a Big Four public accounting firm), the most valuable part of my four years at PSU was everything I did besides class — leadership, student activities, etc. Technical skills were never meant to be the point of the IST major (something I had to explain time and time again to high school students and their families when working admissions visits) - the point was to teach how to synthesize information, think critically, and apply knowledge to new and different situations. That being said, IST, as with Penn State in general, is really all about name recognition - I could have graduated with a degree in business, MIS, economics, communications, or any number of other majors and still been just as successful at my job, provided I had the other extra-curricular experiences to hone the “soft skills” others have mentioned.

GolfNut1981:

I graduated from IST in 2003 and I thought the major was a joke. Being the first year student in the major I definetly felt like a gunny pig. IST doesn’t teach you anything technical, but tries to make you into a project manager/business analyst. I think thats a mistake. No newly grad should be put in a management position. You should at least get 2 - 4 years of experience before becoming a manager or an analyst. There is no substitute for experinece in IT world and a new grad will get no respect from seasoned IT professionals until he shows some technical proficencies. I think IST is more suited for someone who worked in IT field for several years and then wants to take the next step in his career and become manager, business analyst or project manager. During my time at PSU I remember having a teacher that is a drunk teach me database design IST 210 at PSU berks and the whole class having to sign a petition to kick him out. I remember having moron try to teach me distributed programming and unless you could learn this stuff yourself the IST classes will do little to help you. After spending a lot of time teaching this stuff to myself I become and embedded software engineer in King of Prussia PA. But I can’t say IST classes helped me that much. If you want to become a programmer take computer science. If you want to become a project manager/busness analyst first work as a programmer and then make the change. GO PSU!

mancobob:

We get to do less work then alot of the other engineering disciplines but at the same time sound the most impressive.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Please post them below.

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