<p>My son is currently a sophomore in a BS Computer Science / Software Engineering program. Soon he will have the option of electing to enroll in his university's 5-year accelerated MS program. The question is - how advantageous is it to enroll in the 5 year MS program as opposed to finishing the BS first and then deciding on grad school options later? Advantages that I can see include: automatic acceptance to the MS program based on his current GPA, the convenience of not having to go through the full application process to other grad programs, and finishing the degree more quickly. There is a good chance he may be hired upon BS graduation by a great company he's been interning for and perhaps they would then pay for the MS. Possible disadvantages may include: not having the option of competing for scholarships, bypassing the opportunity to be accepted to a more prestigious university for grad school (has over a 3.9, no problems earning high test scores so GRE should be a cinch, great internship experience and likely to get excellent recommendations), plus the possible inertia of getting the BS, starting a job and not getting around to grad school at all. Anyone have any advice on whether the 5 -year- Masters is a good move? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>What kind of additional costs is he looking at for the master’s degree program?</p>
<p>Purely from an employment point of view, a master’s degree is unlikely to pay for itself, unless bachelor’s degree graduation happens during an industry downturn with high unemployment in the field, so staying for a master’s degree delays entry into the work force until (one hopes) a better job market (graduating into an industry downturn and the unemployment line can kill one’s career before it even starts).</p>
<p>Can he plan his schedule to leave both options (graduate with BS or stay an extra year for the MS) on the table as long as possible? If the industry crashes while he is looking for post-graduation jobs in his senior year, he may want to have the “stay for an MS” option on the table.</p>
<p>What does getting a Masters require? My son wasn’t interested in research or writing a thesis which he would have had to do for the Masters program at his school. He was eager to get out in the world. The firm he interned at summer before his senior year offered him a great job - if someday he ever thinks he needs another degree he can always get it later. I don’t think in CS there’s any real need to get a Masters.</p>
<p>So far our gifted son who has only a BS in math and comp sci is having a satisfying (intellectually, peers) job as a software developer- we hope he will get a more advanced degree some year. Your son may want to earn some money and then decide where, when and what to do regarding a masters program.</p>
<p>Most of the “recent grad” hirings for top tech companies is done in the fall of senior year.
The interviewing involves a lot of on-the-spot programming so it is good to prepare over the summer. If he gets hired by one of these companies he will probably learn a ton in his first year and be ahead of someone who stayed for a 5th year masters.<br>
Good Luck to him!</p>
<p>“The interviewing involves a lot of on-the-spot programming so it is good to prepare over the summer.” - Interesting. Wouldn’t the CS classwork prepare students for that? Oh… maybe having a short to-do (under pressure) is different?</p>
<p>Personally, if he gets a job at a good company, I don’t think the MS/PhD is worth it. That being said, my son is in a PhD program. Mind you, my son kept shifting between 2 fields, and not until he worked in one, decided to return to his CS roots. His path has been a meandering route and definitely not easy.</p>
<p>When I was thinking about doing the same thing (though in Industrial Engineering instead of CS), the main factor in my deciding not to was a disadvantage (or how you framed it-advantage of not doing the 5 year program) you failed to mention, the inability to do the similar masters after the first career job. Many people have told me the biggest advantage of getting a Masters is to help facilitate a career transition. If you wanted to change the industry you work in right in between jobs it’s harder, if you go get a masters and then do it, it’s easier. </p>
<p>My company does offer more to new employees (they hire almost exclusively straight out of college so experience isn’t a factor) with a Masters over a Bachelors, but that amount is 5K a year. Considering the opportunity cost of foregoing that year of work, it’s not financially worth it to go get that Masters over a bachelors. Some on this site have told me that other companies have differences of 10K or 15K, at which point it may be worth doing, but I can’t speak about those companies.</p>
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<p>I only ever applied for one programming job and I got it and never bothered applying for others. What I’ve been told from friends is that some companies ask questions that are straight course material with a slight twist. Like something you’d see in a major data structures or algorithms class. But you’re expected to be able to answer these fluently, on the fly. What my company (and not just my impression-confirmed by others who interviewed here) does is ask pretty strange questions and then allow essentially unlimited time to answer them (though they do track how long it takes) that aren’t really like what you’ve seen in any class. They’re not consulting interview strange, but not the type of thing you learn about in class directly.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. Food for thought. We were hoping the university would offer the MS path tuition-free with a research or teaching assistantship, but hadn’t really considered the cost of delayed entry into the workforce as part of the financial downside. Another thought he has been kicking around is possibly earning a PhD with an eye towards becoming a college professor of CS.</p>
<p>UCBAlumnus, very good point about leaving options open. I asked him to discuss that with his advisor.</p>
<p>Note that PhD programs in CS do admit students straight from their bachelor’s degrees (likely where most PhD students start).</p>
<p>I agree that if he intends to work in industry jobs where a PhD is not needed (most jobs do not need a PhD), going directly into the workforce from a bachelor’s degree is probably the better option, unless an industry downturn in his senior year prevents him from getting a job at all (which is why it is good to keep the stay-for-a-master’s-degree option open).</p>
<p>There are many components to the OP question and there is no “one size fits all” answer. My simplistic view is I’d rather be 23 with a MS than 22 with a BS in today’s workplace. Plus, it’s very hard to go back once you start a career and family. My daughter is considering a 5 year BS/MS in her field but we’ll do more research as she gets closer to having to make the decision.</p>
<p>Colorado_mom - it is usual to have several rounds of interviews and it is smart to prepare for the technical interview as it can sometimes be daunting. (Just like you wouldn’t normally take the GRE cold even though you should have learned those things in school.) There are books and online resources to help with that. You will likely need to do some review of data structures and algorithms. You would practice types of puzzles you may be given to solve. You will have to code and talk your interviewer through your process. When you do code on a whiteboard or in a google doc in an online interview, it is very different than doing it with all your library resources and compiler at hand so it is wise to practice that.</p>
<p>I hope this isn’t too much of a sidetrack question, but if he does decide to do the 5 year MS he could opt for either an MS in CompSci or an MS on Software Engineering. Similar, but is there an advantage to one over the other, aside from his interest level (which could go either way but leans towards the later)? The Software Engineering MS offers a concentration in cyber security which is related to his ongoing internship work.</p>
<p>Fortunately we live in an area with a strong job market in tech fields so his job prospects even with just BS look good and his internship company seems very interested in keeping him. He could also opt to do the MS classes in the evenings while working.</p>
<p>So would he be committed to staying there for the 5th year? My son’s school allows them to apply senior year for the 5th year Master’s but they can also apply elsewhere and apply for jobs so they have a complete set of options to choose from. They do have to decide on getting a Master’s early enough to get graduate-level credit for some of their upper-level undergrad class courses ahead of time. Otherwise, it would take more than the extra year to complete.
The problem with trying to get a Master’s after you enter the job force is that you don’t have time to take courses when you are working 60 hours a week! That what life is like these days in the software world from my experience and that of my friends. So I’m an advocate of getting a MS sooner rather than later, unless the student would really rather work right away.</p>
<p>You can probably save up enough over 3 years of working as a software developer to support yourself for a 4th while getting a Masters full time and not working.</p>
<p>Good questions Beantown, I’ll remind him talk with his advisor about that. I know he’d probably like to keep his options open as long as possible.</p>
<p>Way back as an engineering undergrad at Ohio State we had a 5 year BS degree program. But the top ranking students were able to enroll in the Graduate School and get a combined BS/MS in 5 years. It took some course overloading senior year but was well worth the effort.</p>
<p>If a current student’s college had a 5 yr program where he/she could earn a MS degree, my recommendation would be to do so.</p>