5 ms·

My masters degree in Computer Science was incredibly educating and opened many career doors for me. It filled in a lot of gaps that my undergraduate education

• lordnacho 5y ago
  CS is pretty special: - It's not a legally qualifying degree like studying medicine - It's academic in the sense that you can use it to gain entrance to a phd, and has academic content that isn't just "how to code". - And yet you learn a fair bit about how to code. You'll in all likelihood come across actual tools, not toys, that real coders use, eg Git. You might also do some specialist stuff that is directly applicable to an employer, rather than just demonstrating interest. Eg if you do a systems programming course, you might actually understand systems in a way that's useful from the start.
• MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
  I've read universally it's very hit or miss unless you specialize in some specific field.
• ghaff 5y ago
  It's probably generally true of engineering degrees. While there's obviously an opportunity cost, there's usually not a big out of pocket expense other than living expenses. In my case, it wasn't so much that I really used a lot of specific things I learned getting the Master's but I still think it was a useful supplement to what I learned undergrad--the thesis in particular. The same applies to some degree of the sciences in general but, there, you probably have to get to a PhD for the opportunities to be significantly elevated relative to a BS. In any case, this meme about Master's degree scams is mostly directed at high-cost degrees in journalism and the like where the career opportunities aren't great with or without the degree.
• depressedpanda 5y ago
  Conversely, I don't even have a bachelor's degree in CS, and I haven't suffered at all because of it. I got a job offer before graduating, and decided my time was better spent earning money than learning stuff I would probably never have any use for. Rather than focusing on degrees, I think it's a lot more important to focus on learning, however you don't know what's important to learn until you actually start working on real problems.
  • hallway_monitor 5y ago
    Funny how those of us who didn't spend more than a couple years in school think the rest of the years are probably a waste, and those that did spend a lot of time and money in school think it was useful.
    • bootlooped 5y ago
      I have a BS in computer science. I felt like less than 25% of it actually made me a better programmer. At least 25% of it was a total waste of time. The rest was stuff that was maybe academically relevant or interesting to me at least, but of dubious value given the time and financial costs.
    • youareelitist 5y ago
      I have a degree. It will go down as the biggest regret of my life and my life has changed drastically simply because I thought getting an education was good for society.
    • matsemann 5y ago
      Who got more accurate information in that case.. ;) It might be because education is free in my country, but I loved my Uni years and am glad I got 5 of them no matter the use for my career.
    • the_jeremy 5y ago
      I spent 6 years in undergrad (3 for MechE, 3 for Econ). I think it was a waste in terms of my career (which is SWE). I enjoyed college from a social perspective, but there were way cooler things I could've done with $15,000/yr
• sys_64738 5y ago
  What was your undergraduate degree in?
  • wffurr 5y ago
    Also Computer Science but from a much less prestigious state school. It was also in a region with a much smaller tech sector. It's actually hard to say how much of the career boost was from moving to Boston and how much from the degree. I did make some very useful connections during the degree as well as actually learning quite a lot in some of the classes.
• sgustard 5y ago
  My CS masters was also no cost to me. Working as a half-time teaching and research assistant covered my tuition. I finished in twice the usual time with no debt and valuable work experience.
  • dehrmann 5y ago
    It's also worth considering the opportunity cost. Usually for more junior candidates, time in school is treated equivalently to work experience. You just get paid more for working those years.
• EthanHeilman 5y ago
  I think this really depends on your undergrad, the value of masters degree seems to diminish with the following factors: - A well taught undergrad degree in CS (Masters fill gaps caused by bad classes or different fields) - Graduated with undergrad degree recently (getting a Masters degree after being out of school for 10 years can be a good refresher and update on how the field has evolved/changed) - Masters degree classes in an area of CS you are familiar with (Masters degree is a great opportunity to take classes in areas that you care about but don't know well, if you are a great Rails webdev with 7 years experience, then taking a Masters degree class in Rail WebDev is just wasting your time.)
• BeetleB 5y ago
  The article is poorly titled - it's mostly about non-tech degrees or online programs. In engineering, an MS in CS has the least value to employers. However, in other areas of engineering, it has a pretty high value. Many big companies will not let you do EE design work with just a BS, for example.
• ncfausti 5y ago
  Similar experience here. I did a BA in 'Information Technology'. It wasn't until after I graduated that I taught myself to program through Stanford lectures on YT. The MSE in CS was incredibly beneficial for me.