M.S. in CS or Information Science with B.S. in IT

Answer 1

Forgive me if I sound condescending here but I can't help but get the feeling you're forgetting that degrees are a means and not an end. I only mention this because it's becoming a significant problem amongst developers with degrees. Lots of school knowledge, very little practical knowledge. Personally I only hold a B.S. in CompSci but I've had coworkers who went for Masters degrees and understand less than I do and make less than me.

So before anyone can really give you any advice I think you should state your goals. If you're hoping to work with lots of computing theory an M.S. is probably the way to go. If you're hoping to work with application development your time would be better served developing on your own.

Answer 2

Given your stated goals the Information Science MS seems more relevant to your eventual goal to me. However, If I were you I would find the PHd program I wanted and then talk to some of the professors there for suggestions on what would best help you be accepted into their program at some future date. That's who knows what they really are looking for and it might be different for different schools.

Answer 3

It really depends on what you want to study. One of my comp sci professors had a B.Sc. in psychology. A fellow grad student had a medical degree and went into hard-core theoretical computer science (all pencil and paper proofs - only use of a computer was word processing).

Don't worry about having to do remedial work - you can easily fit it in as you are required to take some courses anyways. Just figure out what it is that you want to do, then select the best program in which to do it.

Answer 4

I re-read your questions. Here are some answers:

•How feasible is a Masters in Computer Science? - very feasible. People can do M.Sc. in Comp Sci from all kinds of disciplines.

•Are there reputable CS programs that are known for taking grad students without a CS background? - almost every reputable CS program that I know of would take grad students without a CS background, in the sense that their undergrad might be in another area. They would want some other indication that the student would be capable of handling the coursework, though, usually by their marks in some CS courses.

•What are some general thoughts about the field of Information Science? - I don't know much about information science. However, given your stated goals, you will require a broader approach than you would get in a M.Sc. in Comp sci, and you will probably be better able to meet those goals by taking an Information Science degree. I'm sure you can still take any CS courses that you want within the Information Science course - at the grad level the course sizes are small so there is no problem taking another department's courses.

If I were in your position, I would go for an Information Science degree, but try and strengthen my comp sci background by taking some upper level undergrad courses. The value of the undergrad courses is usually higher than grad courses, because "cutting edge" information tends to get obsolete very quickly, whereas the undergrad stuff is all old hat and will be valid probably for 50 years.