<p>It's almost unreal to say that I'm almost done with undergrad ... 12 more credits (3 more classes) after this term and I'll be done with undergrad. I have a return summer internship/job offer and I am in the process of applying to grad school. Undergrad hasn't been perfect, but I know I can't complain; I'm feel very lucky to have what I have today. </p>
<p>The problem is: I've done 3 years (almost 4) years of computer science, and I'm not too sure that I actually like it that much. Is this normal? It sounds like people are supposed to be extremely passionate about their work, but I'm not sure if I actually am that passionate about computer science (e.g. I'm rarely truly excited about stuff that I do in school, and I'm having trouble writing a statement of purpose for grad school). I still want to go to grad school for a masters degree, but I'm not sure how long I'll last as a programmer ... whether it's burn out or lack of interest. </p>
<p>Lately, I've been thinking about going into law school - specializing in patent law in the technology field (I find the battles between Samsung and Apple interesting) ... after spending 2 years or so at the tech firm that I plan on joining in Seattle. But I'm worried that I'm not ready for a grueling 3 years of law school ... I hear people telling me how difficult law school is, and as an engineer, I might not be prepared for the reading and writing, though I still find time these days to do casual reading though, which is atypical of an engineer (I'm currently reading "Watership Down"). It sounds like the job market for patent lawyers is rebounding, and that's not a bad way to go, it seems. I've always been sort of ambitious.</p>
<p>I'm a bit confused with life right now ... so I welcome and appreciate any advice/wisdom you parents have. (I haven't told my parents about this because I think this will freak them out)</p>
<p>If you were my child, I would probably advise you to hold off on grad school for awhile. I’m not sure what the rush is for the graduate degree.</p>
<p>Find a job doing something in the CS field for a few years and see how you like it. You really don’t need a Masters in CS unless you want to teach.</p>
<p>While you are working, you can take a few classes and ponder law school. </p>
<p>Realistically, I think most people are not passionate about their work. As long as you do not hate it and it does not interfere with whatever else you want to do in life, CS is an excellent profession. Young lawyers on the other hand seem to have much difficulty starting their career. As a CS professional who is not passionate about her work but likes it well enough, I say go with CS. You can always switch later, and go to law school or become a product/project manager etc.</p>
<p>There are lots of CS jobs where you interact with some other discipline that you might find interesting in doing two things at once.</p>
<p>The CS major can wear you down over four years but you may find the actual working world to be less work than undergrad leaving you with time to explore other, personal interests.</p>
<p>I’d agree with others in give the working world a try. You major gives you opportunities that many others would love to have.</p>
<p>do not go to law school unless you are absolutely sure you want to be a lawyer. it is very expensive and the job market is not great. I can’t imagine it’s that much more interesting than being a programmer (and I say that as a lawyer who likes her job!). Any reading you’ll get to do as an attorney will be pretty dull. Might be better to have less debt, a tolerable job, and free time to read or do other things you enjoy. I agree with others that you do not have to love your job, and would add that working is different than going to school, no matter what subject you’re in (boss v. professor, getting paid, no homework, etc.) so you might feel differently about the field when it’s your job and not your major. Also, I find that if I’m good at something, it becomes fun to me even if I didn’t think it would. So by getting good at a job, you might find you really like it!</p>
<p>I agree with the posts above. There seem to be a lot of good reasons to defer grad/law school. One of them being that your employer may be willing to help pay for you to go, IF it’s something that you really wants and relates to what you’re doing at work. Going to grad school when you’re NOT passionate about it and can’t write enthusiastically about it is also tough. That’s why our S decided to work for a while after he got his EE degree instead of going straight ahead to grad school (even though he COULD have gotten a master’s degree with just one more year of school). His employer has a program that will help pay for education and training for him, so he’s exploring that while he’s getting experience in his field.</p>
<p>There are many people who aren’t PASSIONATE about their field, while there are some who ARE. Jobs all have more and less exciting aspects, and sometimes you don’t learn the more interesting parts until you’ve been working for some time and are given more interesting projects to handle.</p>
<p>At this point, with the price of grad/law school, it makes good sense to work while deferring it until you have a better idea of what you want and how you’re going to pay for it. No point in incurring CRUSHING debt for no good reason.</p>
<p>People usually are not extremely passionate. And toward the end, they usually just want to graduate and move on. I think you should postpone grad school and work for a year or two before you decide to move on. The work world in computer science is very different from the school world.</p>
<p>There are programming jobs out there, and they pay reasonably well. (At some companies, incredibly well.) If you have student loans, working for a couple of years at such a job could help you pay off those debts and get a little nest egg started.</p>
<p>My older S has always talked about grad school, but by the time senior year rolled around, he was ready to work for a while. He does not want to burn out halfway through a PhD program. He’s also 21. He has time to work a few years and then go to grad school.</p>
<p>I know many young attorneys who graduate with heavy debt loads, even though they attended our in-state law school which has one of the lowest costs in the country. The 6+ figure debts are crushing and limit their options upon graduation and for a long time thereafter. It is not unusual to find them holding more than one job to help make ends meet–a law job if they’re able to get one as well as a food service or other one.</p>
<p>I agree, in the real world most people are not passionate about their jobs. Most people work in areas of interest but often keep a job because of benefits, location, hours, whatever, but rarely passion.</p>
<p>I agree with others, you don’t need a graduate degree yet. Get a job, earn some money, pay off any debt, start saving for retirement, work a while, get a better feel for what you like/dislike and THEN consider grad school. Often if you get into a larger company, they will pay for your schooling for you anyway. Why go into more debt when you don’t have to?</p>
<p>As for law school, give it a couple years. There is an overabundance of lawyers in the country and most can’t find jobs and have huge student loan debt to pay off. It’s just not worth it now.</p>
<p>Get thee to the career placement center at your school. There are lots of jobs for people who have comp sci degrees but who don’t want to be programers. The are jobs in project mgt., sales, customer support, etc…There isn’t an industry out there that doesn’t need people who are both computer savvy and interested in their industry - but aren’t themselves programmers. Someone has to translate client needs into language that programers can understand. Getting those specs defined can be both interesting and challenging. And after a few years of that, you can decide whether grad school means law, business, advanced degrees in comp sci or something else entirely. People who go to grad school because they don’t know what else to do with themselves almost always end up regretting it. Give yourself the gift of time and learn to be comfortable with some amount of professional and personal uncertainty. The ‘unsettled feeling’ is what being in your 20s is about and it’s usually highly productive time if you don’t let yourself get spooked into poor decisions.</p>
<p>Back at a job a few decades ago, we had people that did this and they were called business analysts. They had a variety of backgrounds like psychology and business but the common attribute was communication skills. Today we expect computer science graduates to perform this function but they often don’t do so well at it.</p>
<p>If you are a people-person, you might find these CS-related jobs interesting.</p>
<p>Have you considered the possibility of applying for a job as a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office?</p>
<p>It would be a way of finding out whether the world of patents is where you want to be. And they hire people with computer science degrees.</p>
<p>I looked at their Web site, and there isn’t a vacancy announcement right now, but if one comes up within the next few months, you might want to apply.</p>
<p>A nice bonus is that the jobs are located in the Washington, DC area, which is full of young, single people. You might like living there.</p>
<p>There is no need to rush into graduate school. It is not a place to find yourself or your passions; it’s a place to go when you already know what you want to do. I strongly favor a gap between undergrad and graduate school; working, volunteering, etc. Don’t continue on to graduate school just because you can’t figure out what else to do with yourself. People who do that usually drop out anyway.</p>
<p>We know folks who went straight from UG to law school. They regretted going straight through by the time they hit second year. DH worked almost five years before going to law school, and it made a big difference in terms of how he approached it and how we were prepared financially. He was giving up a great job to return to school, so he was motivated to do very well. We saved $$, and my career was established to the point where I could support our living expenses without borrowing for them.</p>
<p>I have many friends who picked up a graduate degree (business, career-related) while they were working and on (mostly) the employer’s dime.</p>
<p>I am a patent attorney. I went straight from UG (with an EE and Comp Sci major) to law school, because I did not want to be a “boring” engineer. My parents thought I was crazy. And it cost a ton with student loans. But it was the best decision of my life. I love my career as a patent attorney (been doing it for 20 years). Law school was not that bad, but a hell of a lot of reading which I as not used to. Talk to some patent attorneys. I got hired immediately out of law school as a patent attorney with the first law firm that I applied to. So, the job market for patent attorneys shouldn’t be compared to that of regular lawyers - patent attorneys are in demand. In fact, I don’t know any unemployed (competent) patent attorneys! Working for the patent office (as an examiner) may also be an option. A friend of mine took that route out of UG, got his law degree while working for the patent office, and then went to work for a high tech firm as a patent attorney. Good luck with your future.</p>
<p>Sorry about dropping off for a few days (project due date)… </p>
<p>I would like to assert that I am <em>not</em> interested in going to law school right away. However, I <em>do</em> want to go to grad school for a masters, especially if I get back into my school (program compatibility = shorter length of study of about 2 or 3 semesters), because working is different from schoolwork, something I know because I’ve had a couple of internships. I want to go to grad school because I <em>do</em> want to take advanced and more specialized classes, and my employer encourages this, though they won’t subsidize it. I also want to go straight from my BS to MS because I am worried that I will lose my ability or focus to study, especially if I end up being out of school for an extended length of time. I do want to continue on to grad school while I’m still interested in school and being a student.</p>
<p>If I do end up going to law school to become a patent lawyer, I probably won’t do so until I’ve spent a few years in industry working for some major companies (or even sticking with the one that I’m with right now). My hope is that several years of technical experience will help me in patent law. I do understand that it is a major time and financial investment, and perhaps quite a gamble, especially if I end up taking that detour somewhere in my late 20s. And there is a chance of this because I’m not sure if I would like to program for life, even if it means a different area (e.g. health or financial). I will note that I definitely find legal issues in the tech field very interesting, and I do read more than the average undergrad in engineering. I don’t think I’m the only student at my school thinking about this path; I know of a student who graduated from EE, went to Harvard Law, and got an internship in law with Apple in 1L.</p>
<p>Thanks to all the parents for the helpful advice!</p>