I’m torn between universities with good reputation but expensive and the one that’s cheap.
Thanks to my family working there, I can get half discount on the top of in-state discount at Arkansas State University for CS master’s program, which is no more than $2,000 for tuition and fees each semester.
But the school doesn’t look good on its ranking (not published or tier-2), that got me thinking…
My GRE score is 314 (V: 151, Q: 163) and 3.48/4.00 for GPA, these are not well enough for fellowship or getting an assistant job right upon admission to high ranked schools where I’ll be otherwise paying a lot.
One thing I’d like to make sure is how high the chance of getting a nice job is if I were to go to ASU.
What I mean ‘a nice job’ isn’t like 6-figure salary but more of at least more than median salary for a master’s degree.
Do you think going to nationally ranked universities is worth up to $60k~$70k for master’s degree in terms of getting better chances not only for entry to industry but also for the long term?
Or is it a better idea to cost myself less than $10k for whole two years of ASU staying where I am now?
Talk to the computer science department at ASU and ask them some questions about placement of their MS graduates. Where do they go after graduating? What kind of positions do they take? Average starting salaries? That’ll help you decide whether the program has the kind if placement results you desire.
CS is one of those high-paying fields where the best grads from top MS programs do go onto make six-figure salaries, so yes, going into $60-70K of debt at those programs is usually a good investment (although I would imagine the cost would be higher than that - if the program is a two-year program, that’s usually a total cost of $120-140K). The question is whether you are competitive for those programs, competitive enough to forgo a bird in the hand. The other thing is that people with degrees from places like ASU frequently work their way up to better-paying positions over time.
Count me in the group that’s skeptical of the value of a MS in CS from a bottom tier school. If you want to get a faculty position or do research, you should get a Phd from a better ranked school. If you went to a low tier school for undergrad, then a MS from a top tier school can open doors. A MS from U. of Arkansas may not be much more employable than a BS from U. of Arkansas. Exceptions to this might be if A) your BS was in something other than CS, or B) you had low grades in undergrad, then this provides an opportunity to get the grad school gpa you lacked in undergrad.
I graduated computer engineering from a “third tier” school (top class, however) and started with a salary probably in the 30 percentile. The low starting salary was not necessarily because of the school, but mainly because I didn’t have US citizenship, and in So. CA at the time, everyone in engineering did something related to defense, which required citizenship.
Thank you for your advice. As for me, I do not have any plan to get a job in a university. The reason to go to MS for now is mainly because I got my bachelor’s degree overseas even if I majored in CS then too. I have 3 yrs of job experience indirectly related to CS (not coding job) but didn’t think it would help me get a job right away after coming to the US. With those said, I decided to go get MS with plan to get a job in 2019 when I’ll be eligible for my citizenship (permanent resident currently). Do you think it’s no value for me to go a low tier MS school under this condition?
Thank you for sharing your experience. As a worker in the field, could you elaborate what it’s like to be around the industry? I’m curious of how much the name of a school influences on your career. If you don’t mind, I hope you could give me some idea of how much of pay for a MS in CS for the very first year and after.
@qshick I’m not in CS myself, but I know plenty of people in the field. From their experience, there is some correlation between being hired at a company, especially good ones, and where you went to school. If I were you,I’d invest in a quality education instead of just going somewhere that is cheap. The network at the school can get you get a job, after all.
Since you’re an international student and have no coding experience, I think there’s still value in getting a MS from U. of Arkansas. However, I think there’s more value in getting a degree from a top 20 CS school, assuming you could get admitted there.
Start by asking the CS department at U of Arkansas about where their graduates find jobs, and then check up on some of those people who have been out of school for a few years. Do they feel that they have been trapped or limited by their degree?
Frankly, if you’re going into industry, not academia, ASU should be just fine. It’s not worth the price difference. Yes, a better university will add value, but not as much as the sticker price it sounds like.
After getting the first job (BTW, I got it through an ad at the school’s career center), if someone asked what school I had graduated from, it was like “what city do you live in?”, just a piece of conversation. The school name has no impact whatsoever on my career.
When we interview people for a job, we set the salary range ahead of time. And after we picked a candidate, we set the exact salary based on his/her (forecast) contribution to the company. School name never comes up.
Data on starting salaries are all over the internet, do a search.
As noted in posts above, a graduate from a “third tier” school may have a lesser starting salary then one from an “elite” school. But that’s only the starting salary. Your performance on the job has more impact on salary than anything else.
Thank you for your advice. That’s almost same as a professor I met a couple of days ago told me. I truly agree with name of a school doesn’t really matter if I’m going into industry.