I’m considering going back to school (distance education, part time) for a MS in Computer Science. Wondering if it would be beneficial to me? I currently an employed engineer, having both a BS and MS in mechanical engineering. Hearing that software development pays a lot more than mechanical engineering, and thinking about getting in on the action.
Only downside is I’m not young anymore. I’ll be 41 or 42 by the time that I graduate. Not sure if employers would want to hire a new CS graduate at that age.
Most effective explanation I’ve heard is that BS+MS CS > BS CS > MS CS, which has a lot to do with the propagation of low quality MS students that come from other majors.
It doesn’t pay a lot more, maybe a little bit or not at all more that ME depending on concentrations. Given that your stated reason is money, I’d say the answer is that you shouldn’t go for it.
Many of the successful career-changers into the CS field are self-educated in CS.
It is likely that if you can self-educate to the point of being ready for master’s degree study in CS, you can self-educate to the point of finding work in areas that look for CS bachelor’s degree graduates. Being in mechanical engineering, you probably have the logical/mathematical thinking skills, and there may be roles in your current employer or others where you can move into software development with mechanical engineering applications.
“propagation of low quality MS students that came from other majors”… Epic lolz and very accurate. As a BS + MS CS I can attest to the low quality - esp back in the mid 80’s… Basically 2-3 semesters of prerequisites and then a quick MS and all of a sudden… I had people with degrees in Nutrition, Home Econ, any natural science you can think of, Journalism, English… This diluted the value of the MS degree to no end, and good luck if your TA had basically the same CS experience you did.
One of my best buddies has BS + MS MechEng and did an MS CS, awesome guy, spent decades writing microcode and battery management software… One of our interns is BS MechEng, who shelved his BS degree and is now coding Android apps…
“self education” is different, as @ucbalumnus indicated. In larger companies it’s easy to move around and into a coding role esp one related to MechEng, but still I would not discount the value of an MS CS. The MS degree often adds stuff that’s too specialized for a BS CS.
As for old age, I got my MS Industrial Engineering at 40, from a highly ranked school (Purdue). I focused on Human Computer Interaction which is my passion. I did exceedingly well even pushing a stroller thru West Lafayette. My wife likewise, MS Industrial Engineering at 40, focusing on Manufacturing Systems also from Purdue. We’re in our mid 50’s now, no plans to retire, doing what we like and having a lot of fun in the process.
I would try to get some software experience with my current employer if possible. Also, I would make sure that I have the ‘talent’ (read, patience and mind set) for computer programming.