Associates Degree....

Heres the deal: This coming December I will have my Associates degree, I thinking about transferring to a University to go ahead and get my Bachelors degree. The main question I have is What types of Jobs do some of you guys have with just an Associates Degree? Any comments will be helpful!

 

I will have my associates next october and am trying to decide if I want to continue and get my civil engineering degree after that.

 

What is your associate's in? This is a very field- and job- specific question.

For example, I'm in computers, and a computer science associate's if you want to be in software development... you may as well wipe your ass with the degree, because it isn't any good for anything else.

 

My degree is called Associate in Arts, in NC it is a degree that will transfer 100% into any instate college, knocking out all the bs classes that bachelor degree requires. It pretty much consists of all your general classes from English, math, science, history, religion, psychology, sociology, and has about 8 business classes.

 

I'd absolutely go for your bachelors in something specific, depending on what you want to do.

 

I'd get a bachelor's if you have a specific career as a goal. That doesn't sound like much of a degree on its own.

If you don't know what you want to do when you grow up yet, you can always wait a year or two, get some internships, and try to figure it out.

 

Im more than likely going to get the bachelor, im just exploring other options. With my job now I do outside sales, which I really enjoy, just not sure if I want to do this forever

 

I would. Sounds like a good associate's to get gen-ed out of the way at community college prices, which isn't a bad thing at all. That being said, I think that's what the degree is really for... I don't think it gains you much on your resume.

 

I have an AA in Electronics technology and do Field engr work. I love it. work from home, service/install C.T. scanners. make good money. dont need a 4yr unless I want management in future which I DO NOT.

 

Go as far as you can with your education, you will appreciate it down the road.

 

thank you, I am pretty sure im going to go ahead and transfer since I only lack 2 years, but I was just curious on other options.

 

I had only my associates for a few years it helped me out .. ZERO.

Take a year off, and then get your Bachelors...

the benefit of transferring is ...
1. your GPA resets, so whatever you get your first semester is your GPA.. so make sure to get a 4.0 your first semester.
2. Most of your classes will be your "core" classes, so it will be much more interesting and involved without having to take history before 1877 and all the fun general ed. classes.

 

I too am debating this move...I have an A.S. in information technology and have reached a system administrator level so far which isn't bad at all. But now I cant decide if I want to pursue my bachelors or get a couple of certifications under my belt

 

In IT, reaching SA level is a great step, but to be honest, you are severely limited without a bachelor's (or higher) degree or substantial experience in the field. Don't bother with certifications unless they are critical to a specific career path you want to take. Degrees mean more than certifications under nearly all circumstances.

Hint: A mix of a degree + certs + experience = B.I.N.G.O.

 

Thanks for the input. I've been in the sys admin position for almost 6 months now and prior to that I was helpdesk for 1yr and 1/2 so I'm gaining some decent experience. I've only been out of school for 6 mo. so I'm thinking about waiting another 6 and go after the bachelors. Lot's of opportunity for advancement too which is nice! BTW what do you do??

 

Mostly, I think an associate's is just a stepping stone to getting the bachelor's degree. I'm pretty sure you can get just about the same amount of jobs with related work experience as you can with an associate's degree but not so much if the job requires a bachelor's or higher. Things are much tighter nowadays so the further you can take it, the more options you'll have but yes, it is a personal decision to weigh the importance of how far you take it with the time, expense and other things in life shuffling your priorities.

 

an associates in arts is worthless in the job market IMO. Go for a real bachelors in the field of your choice. If that field is any type of science you'll need at least a masters if you want a decent job.

 

Based on whom you ask associate degree means nothing or something. Associate degree usually comes from insert name here technical institutes that offer you a 8 months-2 year program. In most cases associate is good for something like Wyotec where they teach you how to work on cars and motorcycles. Outcome of that is that you will be a mechanic. You can also be a lab technician, a phlebotomist or any one of those short term careers paying no more than 30 grand per year.

Most 30K+ jobs seek at least a bachelor degree or associate with like 20 years field experience. Unfortunately that implies just that... a 4 year degree will go a longer way.

Here is something most people have a hard time coming to terms to:
You go to community college and take a bunch of credits. You then transfer some (could be all, could be half, could be some) credits into higher institution. Unfortunately your GPA resets like pointed in post above AND you have absolutely nothing to offset your GPA with. In other words unless you are a scientific genius any bad grade (below B) will negatively and permanently affect your GPA. Taking and retaking failed classes will cost you more than if you would have taken all classes in a 4 year college.

Perfect example: 127 credits required to graduate with a degree in lets say computer engineering.
80 credits taken in a community college GPA 3.7 upon finishing
47 credits required by major. Starts off with GPA of 0 and ...
4.0=A
3.5=B
3.0=C
2.5=D (possibly put on probation)
2.0=F (put on probation or expelled)

That is a huge gamble as most students do not get straight A's and significant percentage gets between B and C average.

Downside is that on your first semester you can flunk lets say 2 classes and it will haunt you until you graduate and will really suck to have a bachelor degree with low gpa to show for it.

A thing to consider is that most 4 year colleges will come up with a really good reason of why they will not allow you to transfer all of your classes or if they do they will find a way to make you take more classes (ie english 101, 102, 103).

I had 48 credits from community college. Only 24 transferred to 4 year college. In 4 year college they constantly made tweaks to my major which required me to take more classes just because.

 

As with any career pay depends on job, experience, tenure with the company, educational background and more. Entry level positions will be on lower range scaling with time and performance.