If I hate doing research should I not even think about grad school?

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>boneh3ad, I discussed doctoral degrees because of the title of this thread: “If I hate doing research should I not even think about grad school?” Heck, the only choices are MS and PhD so why not discuss both? If the OP doesn’t aspire to academia, he can comfortably remove the PhD option from the table and feel quite satisfied with his BS or even a future MS.</p>

<p>From the engineering grads I know, everybody who did not choose to go to some sort of graduate program was able to get a fine job with a bachelors degree. I don’t think an MS is the new BS. However, graduate degrees will eventually help you to advance within a company - maybe it’s best to get a job and let your company pay for that.</p>

<p>I got the distict feeling from colleges that an MS was sort of the poor cousin to the PhD. This is not at all true. They serve completely different functions. No one should feel pressured to pursue ANY graduate degree, nor take on a PhD program only because it is fully funded.</p>

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<p>You are missing the point. The thread was about by liking research. Whether he aspires to academia or not, if he hates research, no one should advocate academia at all to him. Academia is 100% about research. That is beside the point, however, as the thread was just asking if grad school was realistic if he hates research. That requires a simple answer of “only if you choose a non-thesis MS program.”</p>

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BINGO! And don’t let your profs or friends nudge you into more just because it is “better” or “cheaper”.</p>

<p>Nor should you discount the possibility of working with the BS for a while either.</p>

<p>(btw boneh3ad, I think the point of the post was not about liking research, but rather about graduate school options for those who don’t enjoy research. Okay, I’m done. We are not even essentially disagreeing anyway!)</p>

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<p>On the contrary, you absolutely SHOULD work for a while with just the BS if all you want is a non-thesis MS. After all, if you work for 6 months or a year at a reputable company, they will pay for said degree. You can save yourself a lot of money that way. If you go the thesis route, you ought to do it right out of undergrad, as that seems to work better for most people, and requires more of a time investment.</p>