Is it OK to get a Master’s Degree in Computer Science/Engineering?

[Jonah Hill poster]

I don’t know how to ask this, but I always get awry every time I hear about people going back to school to get more education, when they can’t self-educate themselves. Maybe I am selfish, but things have changed for me in the last few days.

Not to go too TMI on here, but yesterday I could barely sleep because I had a vision that I wanted to go back to school to get a Master’s Degree in a subject that sounds interesting. In it, it had three choices: Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics. Two out of those three sound interesting to me, as you can see in the subject thread (not to say that I do not dislike math; I actually like it, but I wasn’t always good at it).

Anyway, I have one life to live, so I wanted to ask you Kiwis this: Would it be awesome to go back to school to get a Master’s Degree in those types of subjects, or just go to trade school?

I really want to choose the latter, but where I live, there’s not too many good trade schools that sound reputable. Overall, I wanted to talk to my parents about it, but I think they wouldn’t want to waste any more money due to the loans that we already have to pay back.

 

[The Pink Panther]

ok

 

[JULAY]

Get a job in one of those fields and have your employer pay for the degree.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Don't you mean Bachelor's degree? Anyways, the bottom line is money. If you are sure you can get good grades and find a job afterwards then go for it. Otherwise don't.

 

[Lemmingwise]

You're over 25 and living with your parents. Of course they're not stoked about throwing more money after bad. I think you should go with your earlier plan of becoming a human encyclopedia of anime.

Or do what other adults do and find a way to combine work with education. Though to be honest, just keeping a job for a year would probably be a huge step up for you and something to celebrate at the end of the year.

 

[Tookie]

YOU BETTER NOT

 

[dreamworks face]

The big problem with getting a master's degree in cs/engineering is that if you don't have a job in the field already, having a master's degree won't open any more doors. Many master's programs are pay-to-win (e.g. if you have minimum educational requirements and can pay the full tuition, they'll give you a degree eventually) - another issue is that because of H1B, a lot of these programs are going to be filled with Indians looking to get priority in the H1B lottery.

I would say the conditions for getting a master's degree should look like:
a) You're in a job that you're technically under credentialed to work in but somehow got the job anyway (imagine an english major who writes code that controls pacemakers).
b) Your employer is willing to pay for the degree, or the degree is somehow a funded master's degree where it's paid by scholarship or the school
c) You're looking for a promotion from that employer

I have seen lots of people who bounce off entry level jobs (e.g. not getting a job as a programmer with a cs undergrad) and go back to school for the master's to try to crack entry level. That doesn't work, and looks bad - I've seen people with masters of software engineering and degrees in medicine who were stuck doing manual QA. Similarly, some master's degrees are just fucking useless - mothers, don't let your children get master's degrees in biomedical engineering. Biomedical engineers are like the goddamn red wizards in final fantasy 1, you might as well get a degree in underwater basket weaving for all the good that's going to do you in the real world.

 

[Some JERK]

If you want to teach computer engineering then yes.

 

[Ozul]

So you want to get a degree in computer engineering because it sounds cool, basically.
Sounds to me like your still living in fantasy 10 year-old land where "You can be anything you want to be when you grow up."

Keep working a minimum wage job and pay yourself through a degree, that will actually force you to appreciate the career path you've chosen instead of mommy and daddy throwing their money into a pit.

 

[Wallace]

I'm saying this as someone who's been in academia a very long time: DO NOT DO THIS.

The only conditions which you should pursue anything above a bachelors are:
1) Someone else is paying for it, and
2) The degree is a hard requirement for the job you want. Like they won't even say hello without the degree.

 

[Ivan Shatov]

If you have to choose between one of the three: mathematics.

If you have to choose engineering: mechanical engineering. Focus on MEMS.

Can't tell you how many people I know with computer science degrees who are doing low level web development. For that matter, how many mechanical engineers who's job is just to run simulations trying to break stuff.

Hard math and nanotech skills are at a premium and will be for a while.

 

[Zvantastika]

It doesn't matter what you choose but why you choose it. If you are not even sure of it, you'll do really bad whatever degree you manage to obtain.

Computer science is fine, it IS getting a bit crowded but you need to know which research topic is trending and don't aim for the most simple or basic one because nobody is going to give a single shit about your degree if the MIT is currently giving free 1 week courses covering everything you did in the MSc.

Think first what you want and what you need, then start thinking on possible solutions and evaluate each of them as real as possible and go with it.

 

[qu_rahn]

Join the military bub. Great benefits and you'll learn a thing or two

 

[Consenticles]

Never pursue higher education than a bachelor, unless your current employer is picking up the tab and it opens the door for a promotion. And even then you need to weigh the pros and cons, because getting that masters will suck up your time that you could otherwise use to garner experience. And experience is by far the best thing on your resume.

 

[kūhaku]

The only reason to get a computer science degree is if you plan to go into professions that require said degree. You don’t learn anything in a university that you couldn’t learn on your own in the realm of computer science, in fact you probably learn more things much faster on your own, but employers don’t know that so they’re want degrees.

Both Engineering and Math on the other hand would require a higher education, unlike computer science. If you’re willing to put the commitments of potentially 8 years to get said degree then feel free. I’m not sure how easy it will be to get a good job though since those are very general.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

Only if you have a penis and testicles.
Otherwise: GET OUT!!!

 

[karz]

I'm saying this as someone who's been in academia a very long time: DO NOT DO THIS.

The only conditions which you should pursue anything above a bachelors are:
1) Someone else is paying for it, and
2) The degree is a hard requirement for the job you want. Like they won't even say hello without the degree.

Pretty much this. It gets even better if you work for a Western Intelligence Agency.
If they have leftover budget money before the annual budget review is started, they will:

• pay you for full time work, up to two years of education at your university of choice (within reasonable distance)
• cover 80-100% of all academic expenses (within a reasonable price - they will not foot a $70,000 tuition bill)
• after graduation, you come back to your job.
• can do this ad-infintium, so long as there is leftover budget money.

Of course, the difficulty is getting into an intelligence agency to do such a thing.
It is not easy.
If I were in your position, I wouldn't do a Master's in CS. Get into something like Intelligence Analysis / Cyber Security or start designing a new encryption algorithm. The latter is a one-way trip to either being arrested or being offered a permanent job.

 

[ArnoldPalmer]

Why would it not be? That's like asking if it's okay to get ASE certified to become a mechanic. If not you, then who?

 

[???]

What is your Bachelors in?

Getting a masters in CS is stupid. Just go to a community college and take CS classes until you can figure out shit on your own. Preferably a college in a big city or state capital, as they have the most classes.

* Take as many classes as you can on a single language, ideally C# or C++.

* Take the core CS classes (intro to CS 1, 2, 3, and data structures), PHP aka server side scripting, JavaScript aka client side scripting, html/css, and SQL aka relational databases.

* Take classes on functional languages like lisp and haskell, assembly language and computer organization, linux scripting, and CS theory classes.

* Take college algebra, trig, calculus 1/2/3, discrete math 1/2, and as many other math classes as you can.

* Complete physics 1/2/3, and as many of the engineering classes as you can. Statics, dynamics, and AutoCAD especially.

* Some schools separate the electronics, FPGA programming, and embedded programming classes into am applied electronics field. Take all of them.

* When you're done with all that, take the remaining CS classes they have, which is usually 3D animation, health care coding systems.

All that will take as long as a bachelors except you'll learn more useful stuff. If you still want to after that, get a bachelors and masters in Math and electrical or civil engineering.

This site explains how to teach yourself CS:

Teach Yourself Computer Science

All the resources you need to give yourself a world class computer science education

teachyourselfcs.com

To pay for it, enlist in the Reserves or National Guard. Choose a job that gives you useful training, like electrician, plumber, medic, or admin.

 

[HunterHearstHelmsley]

Seeming as I joined the pile on you in the last thread may as well pile on in this thread too.

I’ve never heard of an Engineering masters degree which will aid you in obtaining entry-level jobs. Masters in most fields of engineering serve 3 purposes:

1) allow an engineer to pivot to an adjacent field.

2) facilitate career progression (see: construction management)

3) allow entry into research and theoretical work.

there is no reason to get a masters unless there is a very specific reason you want that particular masters course and generally it should fall under those 3reasons.