~ryanlowe/blog: Masters

Masters

I've heard from many people that the time to go to school is in a bum market. This seems like a bum market, doesn't it? Relatively it is of course, but will it get worse?

So the question is: should I get a masters in software engineering slash computer science? There are a few unresolved points:

Disadvantages
1. I will have to pay for it completely by myself, which means a bank loan.
2. It will take another 16? months of university. That doesn't seem like long, but consider I will already have 12 semesters under my belt by the time I graduate in December, or a total of 6 and 1/3 years all told with co-op.
3. Which reminds me, no co-op program. (Why? Strange, isn't it?) This doesn't help point #1.
4. I don't want to be known as an "academic". School doesn't leave a lot of time for "real world" projects. Of course, neither does work.
5. I will probably have to TA. Ugh.
6. I have no idea what I would do for a master's thesis.
7. My grades (B+) are ok but aren't spectacular by any means.

Advantages
1. I won't have to find a job in this less than ideal market.
2. I will presumably be paid more with a Masters.
3. I'll have a Masters. How cool is that?
4. Even higher education. Classes on specialized software subjects.

Maybe I should ask the co-op office if they'd make an exception for me ...

Posted at March 31, 2003 at 04:06 AM EST
Last updated March 31, 2003 at 04:06 AM EST

Comments

I could've swore I saw Masters WITH co-op? Are you sure about that. When I was thinking about doing a masters in Electrical Engineering, there was an option for co-op I believe. Definitely look further into that.

Oh, and yes, it's a shit market. Read my latest entry about the shit you have to put up with at job fairs.

» Posted by: roy at March 31, 2003 06:48 PM

a few comments...

d1: you are get what's called an RA (research something) - where the prof gives you money to work for him or her... your topic is a little more restrictive

d2: 12 month is possible... in practice, i took what equates to 16 month - but for at least a full semester i was dedicated to that ontario engineering competition...

d3: try to find profs that need work done... they'll pay you - you do real seg style stuff and you can still graduate in 12 month

d4: so you'll need to do contract work on the side

d5: this is the best job in the world... easy, easy money

d6: two bits... first, something like a blog is perfect... just ramble about your subject and eventually you'll have lots of sheeat to say... second, try to write 'papers' first for conferences on your subject... it helps to solidify the worthiness of your work and it's only about 8 pages of work... and i guess i have 3 bits... do empirical research... build theories that agree with your initial findings and test out your theories with more research... you'll be struggling at that point to keep your thesis under 150 pages

d7: b+ is good enough to get in

a1: yipee

a2: in this bum market - nope... in fact it can work against you because of that academic problem

a3: that's the coolest part

a4: my seg classes were tr�s cool - i enjoyed them all

» Posted by: andrew at April 2, 2003 10:56 AM

Yeah! Do your Thesis on Blogs! Time well wasted :-)

» Posted by: roy at April 3, 2003 06:52 PM

Ryan, totally in the same boat as you: will pass on the advice i have been given:

Get lots of profs/bosses/etc. to write stunning letters. They look at these first.
Get lots of teaching experience.
Apply for every scholarship you can.
Try to get a job in IT for the university instead of being a TA (my friend does this at Syracuse)

Thanks for visiting!
much love,
Diana *

» Posted by: Diana * Artemis at April 5, 2003 05:30 PM