   Advanced Degrees?
  Hi all.  I am currently finishing up a B.S. in CS.  However, I'm not sure as to whether I want to go straight into working.  I was considering advanced degrees, such as M.S. in SE or CS, however, it seems(from pages/course descriptions) like the M.S. in CS would just be a rehash of what my B.S. was(is this accurate?) .  With PhDs, you need to do research for 2 1/2 years(8 hour days?) or more usually?  That seems kind of long to be researching the same thing..  Is it boring to be doing that?  Also, what if the thing you are working on can't be solved(or can't be solved by you).  Wouldn't that mean you just wasted 2-3 years?  Anyway, i was hoping someone here might have completed an advanced degree in comp sci/Software Engineering or would provide  feedback. I'm very interested in Software Engineering, but I am unsure of the benefits of obtaining a M.S. if I already have a B.S. in Computer Science.  I am also unsure of whether to keep going, and get a M.S. in SE or CS, or a PhD.  Another option is to keep working as a Software Engineer.  What option would make the most sense?  Thanks   
  Do a Masters or Phd if you are actually interested in the subject. Otherwise, get a job.   ;Quote:What option would make the most sense? What makes the most sense for you is something that only you can decide.Quote:However, I'm not sure as to whether I want to go straight into working. It is easiest to get a graduate degree before entering the work force because you aren't really dependent on the salary to support a family, a mortgage, and other expenses.If you are interested in additional education, you should get it.  If you are sick of school and can't stand the thought, then obviously you should get a job.  If you are just afraid of change, you should do some serious soul searching and perhaps get some career and education counseling, maybe even some psychology counseling if your school offers a few sessions for free.Quote:I'm very interested in Software Engineering, but I am unsure of the benefits of obtaining a M.S. if I already have a B.S. in Computer Science.First, you must know that your educational experience is whatever you make of it.  You can go to class and learn nothing, or you can go to classes and learn everything presented.  Or you can take full advantage of the University and go far beyond anything that is presented by taking initiative.Next, know that every graduate school is different.  One school may have an extremely theoretical approach, another might have a very practical "you will use this" approach, yet another will have a goal of getting papers published, another of getting research grants and funding or of doing new original research, or of extending existing research or....  you get the point.Finally, know that ever student works with an adviser to build a program of study that is personalized for them.  As for your question about if it is just an extension to a BS degree, the answer is "no".  There are very few required courses -- my school had four of them, and two were courses I would have taken anyway.  If you want to learn everything there is to know about machine learning techniques, then you can specialize there and never take another class on topics you hate.  If you intend to learn about parallel and networked processing, you can take classes on that instead.  A masters degree may require a thesis at some schools, while others have coursework-only options.Quote:With PhDs, you need to do research for 2 1/2 years(8 hour days?) or more usually? That seems kind of long to be researching the same thing.. Is it boring to be doing that? Also, what if the thing you are working on can't be solved(or can't be solved by you). Wouldn't that mean you just wasted 2-3 years?A PhD will continue on that vein focusing on a single specific topic.  It will almost always require a dissertation requiring several hundred hours of original research and generally resulting in one or more published papers.  Some schools will accept a collection of published papers in lieu of a dissertation. I don't know of any CS schools that have non-research PhD programs.The amount of research involved varies by school.  It will probably be a minimum of 18 credit hours, more or less.  Because of the intensity required at the graduate level, it will be around 500 hours minimum.  For comparison, that's about 3 months of full time employment, which is 2000 hours/year.If the problem is something that cannot be solved, then you have done your dissertation by proving that it cannot be solved.  Congratulations!If the problem cannot be solved within a reasonable time frame of three to four years of part time effort, your doctorate adviser should be severely punished, and you should also take a lot of blame for not knowing what you were getting in to.Quote:I am unsure of the benefitsThe educational and academic benefits should be obvious.  The employment benefit of a masters degree is that you earn much more money through your career.  You will generally be initially employed a few rungs up the career ladder.  You will generally be more able to move across careers, and more quickly move into leadership roles.With a PhD you earn more but typically cannot get the same types of jobs.  You will focus on less directed research on a specific area.  Typically PhDs earn more money, but due to the specialization they have severely limited opportunities for lateral and vertical career migration.  Unless you are interested in teaching, or interested in specialized research, or interested in  specialized implementations such as advanced computer physics, a PhD is generally overkill.Once you are nearly finished with a masters degree, you should be qualified to know if you should apply for a doctoral program.   ;  Agreed; only get an advanced degree if you are very interested in the topic you are studying. If you aren't interested in your research, you won't do as well and it will be a bad experience for you. Don't go just to avoid getting a job in the "real world".   ;Quote:Original post by nagromoAgreed; only get an advanced degree if you are very interested in the topic you are studying. If you aren't interested in your research, you won't do as well and it will be a bad experience for you. Don't go just to avoid getting a job in the "real world".Or just getting a job and then going back for your Phd later is always another option. That's what alot of my professors at community college did go back and get their phd after teaching for several years.One thing I noticed thought is that the ones that went on to get their Phd's don't teach anymore and are in higher paying administrative jobs buy this is community college and not all professors have phd's in the first place like at a 4 year school.;  So basically the PhD isn't a good idea if I want to work as a Software Engineer?Also, is it better to get a M.S. in CS or SE?  Seems like SE would be more practical, but not many schools seem to offer that kind of degree.   ;Quote:Original post by ginkeqSo basically the PhD isn't a good idea if I want to work as a Software Engineer?Also, is it better to get a M.S. in CS or SE?  Seems like SE would be more practical, but not many schools seem to offer that kind of degree.I am also searching for schools these days. CMU seems to offer one   ;Quote:Original post by ginkeqSo basically the PhD isn't a good idea if I want to work as a Software Engineer?Also, is it better to get a M.S. in CS or SE?  Seems like SE would be more practical, but not many schools seem to offer that kind of degree.There are many different definitions of "Software Engineer".If you want to work as a code monkey or 'normal' worker, a PhD is a very bad idea.  Prefer a BS.If you want to work in a software development leadership role, a PhD is a bad idea.  Prefer a MS.If you want to work as a technical director or moderate research, a PhD is not a good idea.  Prefer a MS.If you want to work in pure research or academia, a PhD is a very good idea.  The highest of research jobs require a PhD outright.;Quote:Original post by ginkeqHi all.  I am currently finishing up a B.S. in CS.  However, I'm not sure as to whether I want to go straight into working.  I was considering advanced degrees, such as M.S. in SE or CS, however, it seems(from pages/course descriptions) like the M.S. in CS would just be a rehash of what my B.S. was(is this accurate?) .You'll probably cover many of the same topics, but at a higher level.  To say it's just a rehash would be like me saying that college physics was just a rehash of the physics course I took in high school.Quote:With PhDs, you need to do research for 2 1/2 years(8 hour days?) or more usually?  That seems kind of long to be researching the same thing..  Is it boring to be doing that?  Also, what if the thing you are working on can't be solved(or can't be solved by you).  Wouldn't that mean you just wasted 2-3 years?If you're thinking about getting a PhD, here's the advice I'd give you: If you think researching the same thing 8 hours a day for 2 1/2 years would be boring, a PhD isn't for you.  If you think finding that a topic cannot be solved means your research work was wasted, then a PhD isn't for you.I'm sure there are exceptions, but most PhD students don't mind taking their time getting their PhD because the general idea is to get a PhD, get a post-doc, then get a permament research position somewhere (national lab, professorship at a university, etc.).  Basically, they don't mind taking their time getting their PhD because that's the sort of work they want to do for the rest of their lives.  If the idea of researching a topic for 2 1/2 years bores you, then think about doing that for the rest of your life.  On the other hand, it's basically the dream job for the people who do it.Quote:I am also unsure of whether to keep going, and get a M.S. in SE or CS, or a PhD.  Another option is to keep working as a Software Engineer.  What option would make the most sense?I think frob broke it down really well.For what it's worth, I was a PhD student.  My advisor is moving so I took that as a chance to reevaluate where I was headed.  I decided to get an MS instead for reasons similar to what I was saying above.;Quote:Original post by frob[...]The educational and academic benefits should be obvious.[...]Quite the contrary - I don't understand what I can get studying something at school that I can't get studying it at home. I can still talk to the same people, buy the same books, read the same papers, etc. The only real benefit might be if the school will provide hardware or software too expensive to buy for yourself, but then again, you might actually be able to afford them if you put the money toward equipment instead of school.The paper itself will obviously help with employment (though I'm not sure it's better than an equal period of work experience), but the academic and educational benefits are not obvious to me.   