<p>The more technical the engineering, the more likely an advanced degree would be needed.</p>
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<p>According to Fortune Magazine, the most admired firm in the world for innovation - a firm that also happens to be a prototypical Silicon Valley firm - is Apple, a firm founded by 2 college dropouts.</p>
<p>I don’t think we should be worrying about the outliers in this situation. Sure there have been college dropouts who have made it big, it doesn’t mean a master’s degree would not benefit many others.</p>
<p>I’d like to see the actual percentage of college drop-outs who made it big.</p>
<p>Its very beneficial if you want to work for a big corporation (Chevron and Bp come to mind) or the government (defense contractors such as Lockheed and Raytheon). A much easier way to get into the door. Its not so much about the money (although there is some compensation, 5-10k extra, a pay grade) but the ability to go into what you find interesting with more ease i find worth it.</p>
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<p>Many firms will trash your resume if you don’t have a masters degree in the structures field. Also, if you have a masters degree from a good program, you’ll have the opportunity to work in some non-traditional fields doing specialized finite element-y sorts of work. Definitely worth it in structures.</p>
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<p>I worked as a college recruiter for one of the companies listed in that group, and we gave no preference to MS students other than offering credit for one year of experience (a PhD was worth two years of experience if he/she applied for an entry-level position, so almost no one applied for those positions with a PhD).</p>
<p>I’m fairly sure that Boeing’s manned aerospace program would not have touched me with a ten-foot pole if I’d not had a masters degree in structures. As it were, I received an offer from them. I’m pretty certain that it really has to do with what sort of thing you want to work in, and with where you’re coming from. A masters has its advantages in certain situations, but in others, it doesn’t really matter. I’m just not sure you can make blanket statements towards one side or the other.</p>
<p>Except for structures, in which case you should always get a masters. ;)</p>
<p>I’ve heard it said that a masters degree today is equivalent of bachelors degree 10-20 years ago… who knows that in another 20 years phd is what you need to enter the job market…</p>
<p>I agree with aibarr. I can’t imagine being a structural engineer without a master’s. There’s too much to learn. You also make great contacts with profs and other grad students you’ll use all throughout your career.</p>
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<p>My point is that the computer industry is itself the outlier. Replete with entrepreneurial opportunities and notoriously disdainful of hierarchy, the computer industry is one where a master’s degree, or heck, any degree at all, is probably the least useful of any tech industry. Many of the best developers in the world do not hold engineering bachelors degrees, much less masters degrees. Can you imagine telling Mark Zuckerberg that he needed to get a master’s before he could found Facebook? </p>
<p>Now, certainly I agree that to enter a more bureaucratized industry, a master’s degree can indeed be useful.</p>
<p>For some who are pursuing an advanced degree, means they get to grow more older and wiser. </p>
<p>For some employers, it means that the person has perhaps grown more older and wiser.</p>
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<p>In terms of monetary wealth, depends. Based on the results of DS, at this stage in his 3rd month in his profession, a most definite, No; Even with scholarships paying for graduate degree and someone else paying for his one year of internships and expenses. </p>
<p>In terms of non-monetary wisdom, Most likely, Yes. Maybe. Don’t know. Check back with me in 20 years.</p>