<p>Hi, I've heard a lot about how MS degrees aren't really important for CS jobs (software engineering in particular), so I wasn't planning on going for one, but I found out that my school has a 5 year BS/MS program, and because of my grades, I would get an automatic 50%-off tuition for the MS year. I'm wondering if it would be worth staying the extra year. Can you really get all that much out of a single year of Masters studies, though? (especially since I can already take masters-level classes as an undergrad). It seems like a good deal, but my school isn't really a CS powerhouse - would money be better spent at a place like a UC or Stanford where you're closer to the jobs, for networking, etc?</p>
<p>Well, if you really want to study some subarea in extra depth, that may be a reason to do it.</p>
<p>The other reason to do it is if your senior year job search produces no offers (or nothing good), so you stay another year and get a master’s degree and try the job search again. This was a common tactic for those graduating in civil engineering in 2009 or 2010 (though the industry hiring them is still doing poorly).</p>
<p>do you go to CSULA? lol I think they have have a ME program thats similar to that.</p>
<p>I think it’s worth it, esp considering the low cost.</p>
<p>More competitive companies may prefer MS degree holders, e.g., MS, Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc. I’d say if it’s cheap and something you’d like to do, go for it; MS degree holders have greater lifetime earnings, and you might just end up doing a higher-level job you enjoy. Not being able to find a job should not be a reason for grad school.</p>
<p>M.S. in Computer Science?..to me?..NAH!</p>
<p>Why do I feel this way?..because no CS specialty (and you goto grad school to specialize) will be 10 courses. I think it is better to take a Systems Engineering or Engineering Management graduate program and use the 3 or 4 elective courses in your CS specialty while using the other 6 or 7 courses for technical management/soft skills to progress up the ladder.</p>
<p>At Qualcomm, I would say the majority of engineers have at least a master’s degree, including the software folks. Even if you come from a top 10 school, it’s pretty difficult to get a job here straight out of college with just a bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>If you’re doing really well academically, I think you should try to get into a stronger graduate program. In the long run, that will pay off more – and you’ll probably learn more too.</p>
<p>I have a friend who once interviewed at General Atomics while he was finishing up his MS and he was told by the interviewer that an MS in computer science was useless. So I guess it depends on the company.</p>
<p>Hmm okay, good to know. I’ll have to think about that…</p>
<p>And no, I’m at WUSTL. But it seems like most of the industry is in California, so grad school there would be better (or UIUC, since its strong in the field and I’d get instate tuition…). But I don’t really know if my application would be strong enough to get into a better program, either.</p>
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<p>It is for many recent civil engineering graduates. Many of them figure it is better to be waiting out the recession getting a master’s degree (which could help them in future job searches) than in the unemployment line (which would hurt them in future job searches). Unfortunately, the poor employment situation for civil engineering is lasting a lot longer than in typical recessions.</p>
<p>Ari7, I don’t know if I can recommend the UCs if you have to pay the out-of-state tuition. I would only recommend it if you can get decent financial aid and a TA gig.</p>
<p>Another route you can take is to get an interesting job here in California and work for a year before starting grad school. That way, you get some industry experience AND you can pay the in-state tution (which is roughly 1/3 of the out-of-state tuition).</p>
<p>It’s difficult to tell how competitive you are as a grad school applicant. I recommend that you apply for UIUC, even if you think it’s a stretch. Good luck!</p>