Any reason not to get a MS in Astronautics and Aeronautics?

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>I'm considering getting applying to MS in Astro and Aero degree program. I'm trying to think if there is any reason why I shouldn't except for the amount of time that it wll require. How crazy is this? My company will pay for the degree so I don't incur any costs - just lost time.</p>

<p>It is a 15 class program and I'll probably do 3 classes a year, so it will take 5 years. It will be a second masters degree for me and I'll try doing it after completing my first masters degree.</p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

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<p>My first two thoughts are:</p>

<p>What is your other masters degree in and why do you feel the need to have another?</p>

<p>15 classes for a MS?!?!?!? That seems absurd, as does it taking 5 years to get a MS, why not just get a PhD instead?</p>

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<p>Well I told you before I don’t honestly see the point. Your other MS is in Mechanical Engineering, so there really is no benefit to getting the MS in Aero, especially if you really are as content in your current job as you seem to be. That is kind of like getting an MS in Chemistry and an MS in Chemical Engineering… redundant.</p>

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<p>Because a PhD takes 5-7 years full time. His program sounds like it’s less than half-time (half-time is typically 6 hours/semester).</p>

<p>That said, I would be worried about the time involved. Are you going to be with the same employer in 5 years? How about in the same city? What happens if you have kids and need to devote more time to them?</p>

<p>Typically, a half-time professional MS can be done in 2 years or so taking 2 class/semester. If your employer is willing to pay for any top notch MS, you might want to consider some of the other schools in the area or some of the top online programs (you can find Top 10 programs with entirely distance-learning MS degrees in AE that only take 2 years). </p>

<p>But if this is your only option, I don’t see any reason to at least not start the program. If you end up leaving for one reason or another, you can always list it as “additional graduate coursework” to show continual learning.</p>