Looking for preparation for help with IT (or IS) major in college

[littletinman]

Hey friends,

I'm currently entering my senior year of HS, and i plan to major in Information technology/systems in college. I really like working with computers but most of all i like helping people with thier computers. Software or Hardware. I love problem solving. I was wondering if any of you guys/gals would know of any way i can prepare for a major in IT? I have a whole summer and i'd like to do a lot of prep beofre college in a year. I'm already learning PHP and MySQL. Any feedback is very welcome1!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[littletinman]

Does anyone know of any recourses i could look at? is this the right place to post this?

[rickyjones]

I really don't think there is any good way to prepare for a major in information systems. Either you know computers and you know what you want to do with them or you don't.

For example, I've been supporting servers and desktops for years. I'm a junior in college right now. I officially start my CIS program this fall. I know that I want to continue computer consulting and supporting the technology (Servers and Network) that run a business.

The program at school will teach me the history and industry of this. It is supposed to expose me to different sections of it. Yours will probably be similar.

I hope this helps!

-Richard

[Luke has no name]

I am studying MIS with a minor is CS.

MIS by itself is woefully lacking in programming experience. If you want to be truly literate on all ends of the computing spectrum (Science and Information) then you should dual major or minor in one, major in the other.

In CS, C++ is a major language, as is Java. CS is more about software development and is very heavy on math and logic.

MIS is very self-descriptive: Info systems. You'll learn PHP, MySQL, Linux, etc. Web design, databases, and networking are big topics in MIS. You don't get much actual programming at all.