<p>is it necessary to go to graduate school for engineering?
will going to graduate school give you a better chance of getting a high paying job?</p>
<p>basically: what are the main reasons one would and would not go to graduate school?</p>
<p>In civil engineering, it's becoming more and more necessary. Most of the larger companies who do more interesting things profess loudly that they won't even interview you unless you have a masters degree, and ASCE's pushing for legislation to require a masters degree in order to take the PE exam, which would make the MS or MEng the first terminal degree for civil engineering. This is what the industry's going towards, so it would behoove potential civil engineers to just go ahead and get their masters in addition to their bachelors degree.</p>
<p>i don't think i'm going for civil engineering. thanks tho.
i'm undecided.</p>
<p>bump.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say that it's necessary. However, I would say that if you're going to work as an engineer, the return on investment from getting an engineering master's degree, even from a not-so-famous school, is quite high. </p>
<p>Many schools offer the option to get a BS and Master's in 5 years. I would strongly consider this option if you intend to work as an engineer.</p>
<p>Is it possible, and if so, how difficult, to get a BS in one engineering field and a masters in another field. </p>
<p>What must you demonstrate in order to be accepted into a masters program in a different engineering field?</p>
<p>Sakky,</p>
<p>Do you have any numbers showing the payoff of getting a masters degree compared to just a BS?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>If you plan on getting a BS in some sort of engineering, then going out and working for a couple years, then go get your MBA... is it still worth it to spend that extra year for a MS after your BS?</p>
<p>One advantage to getting your Masters right after college -- life happens. If you put off your Masters, you may never go back and get it. You fall in love, get married, have kids. Next thing you know, you're coaching soccer instead of going to school.</p>
<p>That said, my EE Husband decided long time ago that a Masters wasn't worth it. He has been an engineer for 26 years, and has no desire to go into management. According to him, the amount of extra money you get with a Masters wasn't worth going back to school.</p>
<p>And he's a damn fine AYSO soccer coach.</p>
<p>peggy, I suppose I'm asking your husband this through you: Would he have thought that a MS was worth it had he gotten it right after his BS instead of working for a while first?</p>
<p>Well I'll be damned . . .</p>
<p>For the first time in 26 years, my EE Husband mentioned that he wishes he had gotten his Masters. I asked him peck191's questions, knowing what he would say. And he said something totally different. He said that he probably should have gotten his Masters somewhere along the way.</p>
<p>He said that getting it right after school is probably the best suggestion, if it works out for you. In his case, he could not have afforded to go straight to grad school. Parents would not have paid for it. There were two sisters following him to college, he was getting married, and the money just wasn't there. Also, he was pretty tired of school at that point. It took him an extra quarter to graduate, and by that point, he just wanted to get out into the real world.</p>
<p>He looked into getting his Masters at one point, but (cutting out the long story) he knew he wasn't going to be working there a whole lot longer. He looked into it again a number of years later, but by that point, he was devoting a lot of time to our kids. And now he's just not sure it would be worth it. (He's 48 years old, been working for 26 years.)</p>
<p>One thing he mentioned that you all might want to be aware of. If you go back to get your Masters after you start working, it will probably take you 5 to 6 years. And there are a lot of different things to take into consideration. One of the reasons he put it off these past 15 years (while we've lived in Michigan) was the closest place to get a Masters in Engineering was over an hour way. Which meant 8 hours of work and two hours of commuting, in addition to classes and homework. It means trying to schedule your classes around overtime and crisiss at work. It also would have meant sacrificing time with our kids, and that was (and still is) a very important part of his life.</p>
<p>So I guess the answer to the original question is -- if you get a job where your employer plays for your schooling, get your Masters while you are working that first job. Or, if you can swing it, get your Masters right after you graduate from college. If neither of those happen, getting your Masters in the evening is more difficult, but do-able. And if you never get your Masters at all, you can still be a happy, successful Engineer.</p>