Worth of a Master's degree in Computer Science (salary?)

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi CC!</p>

<p>I'm a current Master's student at the University of Texas at Austin studying computer science. My first semester is going pretty terribly, and I'm feeling overwhelmed and seriously questioning my decision to go to grad school. </p>

<p>I'm having motivation/immaturity problems: I feel like I can only concentrate on the work that actually interests me. And it's not like the stuff I've had to overcome in the past, where all that's required is a little elbow grease; the material is significantly more challenging than ever before and lacking a passion for some of this stuff I'm just overwhelmed by how much mental effort it takes to even understand the material much less get the work done. I had a lot of trouble working out my schedule for this semester, and I ended up registering for a random assortment of 3 classes that I basically had very little interest in. I dropped one almost immediately, finding it was over my head, and and am in the process of failing a second, due to the aforementioned lack of passion for the subject. The third class is going swimmingly and I'm extremely glad I took it. But I'm looking at the possibility of coming out of this semester with 3 hours of credit and it terrifies me. </p>

<p>I feel like I'm digging myself deeper and deeper into debt and I don't even know if I'm going to be able to finish and get anything out of all of the money I'm spending. I mean, to some extent the knowledge gained IS worth a lot of money and effort, but seeing as how I doubt that I am going to be able to register for a bunch of classes that I love all the time (I don't think my interests in CS are even broad enough for that to be possible barring any registration conflicts) that argument is beginning to take a backseat to my current misery in trying to keep up with coursework that I hate. I don't even have any strong desire for the degree, but I was looking at it as an investment for my future salary. So my most pressing motivation to work harder in my classes is basically to get the piece of paper so I can possibly have a higher salary in the future and save more money faster so that I can retire sooner and then be happy. Pathetic, I know.</p>

<p>I'm just feeling pretty lost, and I don't know if I should continue to expend money and effort on this, and I realized that I don't even have any idea what the practical benefits of this degree are, so here's my concrete question: how much does a Master's degree affect my possible future salary? Does it benefit me forever, or is it the sort of thing that affects my starting salary but becomes less relevant as I gain more experience? I've googled average salaries of Master's vs. Bachelor's in programmers, and I can find some info that suggests there is a fair difference, but this info always comes from sites that I am wary of trusting because I've never heard of them and they don't seem to be experts on any given field, just have a bunch of oddly specific stats for every career ever. (I'm not set on a particularly specific career; I'm sure I'd be happy with a variety of programming jobs, but when looking for info I generally search for "software development" or "programmer" jobs, if that is relevant.)</p>

<p>Huge thank you to anyone who waded through this whiny thread. I'd love to hear anything you've got to say, from concrete figures to general life advice.</p>

<p>Thanks,
-Stacy</p>

2

<p>Do you have a bachelor’s degree in computer science? Or are you on this master’s program with some other related bachelor’s degree?</p>

<p>[Average</a> Salary with a Masters in Computer Science Degree : Masters in Computer Science](<a href=“http://www.mastersincomputerscience.net/whats-your-average-salary-with-a-masters-in-computer-science.html]Average”>http://www.mastersincomputerscience.net/whats-your-average-salary-with-a-masters-in-computer-science.html)</p>

3

<p>Your goals are not pathetic and it is great that you actually have concrete reasons for wanting to do what you want. I have several questions for you:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Do you actually see yourself in the computer field for the long-term? IS it something you actually enjoy? I know money is important and not everyone really wants a career, but some jobs can take quite a toll on you mentally. I ask because my brother was in computer science (had a job for 6 years) and realized he hated everything about it. The money was great but no amount could justify going to work everyday and hating it. So he switched careers and will be entering medical school next year (he is extremely happy even with all of the work he has done and knows he will have to do).</p></li>
<li><p>How strong is your desire for future earnings? Can you buckle down for a couple of years now?</p></li>
<li><p>Is it perhaps worthwhile to work in your field longer and see if that is really where you want to be? No point in paying a ton of money for a field you don’t really want to pursue.</p></li>
<li><p>Do you think you would have the motivation to pursue this degree in the future if you decide not to pursue it now (when you might have a family and other responsibilities)?</p></li>
</ol>

4

<p>Thanks for your replies!</p>

<p>Featherbird, I do have a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Part of the reason I went for my Master’s is that I graduated in 3 years and just wanted a chance to take some more classes. By the time I graduated, I was sick of my school (mostly homesickness) and regretted not going to UT in the first place, so I thought a Master’s was a good idea.</p>

<p>Thanks for linking to that site; I’d seen it before but didn’t notice that their statistics are done by the NSF, who I do trust to be accurate. Those statistics seem to be based on entry-level salaries though.<br>
Average 2003 salary of 2001 and 2002 CS bachelor’s degree recipients: $45000
Average 2003 salary of 2001 and 2002 CS master’s degree recipients: $60000</p>

<p>I can definitely understand why having a Master’s would greatly impact your initial salary, since lacking other professional experience, your degree is how employers judge your competency. But what I’d like to know is if that continues to be a factor after you get some real experience under your belt. Even so, that’s a big jump.</p>

<p>

I definitely enjoy coding on my own time, so I certainly hope to find a job that I don’t hate. Yes, there are certain programming tasks that I would hate (the class I am currently failing is Compilers, and I definitely won’t be writing any compilers in the future) but there are a lot of things that I enjoy, too. I can definitely see myself being engaged by a job doing web stuff, which in my experience has been a good blend of entertaining without being frustratingly difficult.</p>

<p>This is sort of a question I always cringe at, because my passion for coding is really second to my interest in art and painting, but I always weigh the salary and especially job security of computing against what I expect would be a stressful career in visual art, because from what I have heard, it’s a field where you really have to stand out more and market yourself harder and do it a lot more often, since your work is often done on commission for short term projects. I feel like no matter how much I love something, it’s unlikely that I will find a job that I absolutely love and live for, so I had might as well go with the career that I expect will be lower-stress, even if I don’t enjoy the work quite as much.</p>

<p>

Yeah, that’s pretty much the question I’m asking myself. Like I said, I don’t think I’m ever going to be the kind of person to live for my job, so I really am thinking ahead to retiring as soon as possible. So my future salary is important to me for that reason alone. As for buckling down, I just don’t know. I’m currently having some big issues with motivation and procrastination, which are partly due to just hating the coursework, so I really need to figure out if I’m going to be able to register for better classes, or if I’m going to have to find the motivation to push myself through a bunch of classes I dislike (in which case I really need to figure out how I can invest myself emotionally in this degree, because right now I just feel like there’s very little point in pushing forward with stuff I’m not interested in.)</p>

<p>

I’m fairly certain I can find some kind of programming job I’m interested in. Like I said, I had a lot of trouble registering this semester, so even if it seems like I hate the field right now, part of that is that I’m focusing on stuff I’m not interested in.</p>

<p>

I really don’t know. That’s definitely something to consider, but I am afraid that I’ll handle the stresses of a job a lot better than I handle the stresses of school, and I’ll never want to go back. </p>

<p>Thanks again for your replies, guys.</p>