4 ms·

Will a master's open up any doors that wouldn't be open for a Stanford grad with a good resume? Wait and see. In your case, I'm extremely doubtful that a mast

Will a master's open up any doors that wouldn't be open for a Stanford grad with a good resume? Wait and see. In your case, I'm extremely doubtful that a master's will make any difference whatsoever. And getting one now is premature optimization. Wait until you find yourself trying to get a specific kind of job, but failing, because the jobs are being snapped up by people with advanced degrees. Then get a master's. It only takes a year. I bet you'll wait a long time before that happens. And why play the go-back-to-school-for-free card now? It's valuable. Keep it in your pocket for a while. You've been in school recently, at Stanford for god's sake -- you've already got a lot of recent contacts from your school days, and you're already in a startup hub. So, wait. After you spend a few years in industry, and find yourself stuck in a rut, you'll discover that it's wonderful to have a ready-made excuse to take a year off, go back to school, and make a whole new set of friends and professional contacts. You might even have a better idea of what you want to study, and where, and with whom.

mattrepl 19y ago
A MS usually requires about 30 credit hours, or 10 courses. Do these accelerated MS programs have the same requirements? Sounds like earning the degree now may shorten the program's duration.
- maximilian 19y ago
  An MSc and a Masters of CS are slightly different. Basically a Masters of CS is a masters lite. 2/3 the coursework with no thesis. Its a whole different bag. I'm doing a masters in applied math, and not having to do a thesis would sorta ruin the whole super independent part of it. I'm looking forward to doing cool research that I want to do. It will probably suck towards the end when I'm finishing the details of my thesis, but right now its exciting to dream of things to research.
Readmore 19y ago
Not true. A CS Masters will get you a higher salary across the board. Even if you end up doing your own thing the more in-depth studies of a Master's program will help you in that respect as well.
- axod 19y ago
  Getting a higher salary is only relevant if you're working for a big company.

mattrepl 19y ago

A MS usually requires about 30 credit hours, or 10 courses. Do these accelerated MS programs have the same requirements? Sounds like earning the degree now may shorten the program's duration.

maximilian 19y ago
An MSc and a Masters of CS are slightly different. Basically a Masters of CS is a masters lite. 2/3 the coursework with no thesis. Its a whole different bag. I'm doing a masters in applied math, and not having to do a thesis would sorta ruin the whole super independent part of it. I'm looking forward to doing cool research that I want to do. It will probably suck towards the end when I'm finishing the details of my thesis, but right now its exciting to dream of things to research.

Readmore 19y ago

Not true. A CS Masters will get you a higher salary across the board. Even if you end up doing your own thing the more in-depth studies of a Master's program will help you in that respect as well.

axod 19y ago
Getting a higher salary is only relevant if you're working for a big company.