4 ms·

Ask HN: Should I get a Master's in CS?

• jlintz 17y ago
  It's one extra year, take it. The companies you mention, they all work with large amounts of data and are generally working on problems not many other companies are dealing with. You may learn some math or comp sci theories that could one day help you with an "Aha!" moment while on the job.
• tjr 17y ago
  I wish I would have stayed in college for a master's degree, especially had it just been one extra year. Work will be there forever, but once you're at work, it can be hard to get back to school. (The primary benefits I personally see to a master's degree are more options for getting work teaching (which I like to do... you might not), and a possible edge in some work environments. I've done lots and lots of software work that probably doesn't use much more computer science knowledge than I had before I started college, so I hardly think the graduate degree is required to do well at work...)
• tsally 17y ago
  The choice is obvious is my opinion. Saving one year of your life (getting a masters in one year instead of two) is extremely valuable. If you think you will ever get a masters, take the opportunity to do it in one year. If you can get jobs at those companies now, you certainly can still get them with a masters degree. The only reason not to get a masters degree now is if you would like to study at a different school.
  • anonymous94 17y ago
    That's a good way of thinking about it. I guess the issue is that I'm actually not sure I'd ever get a masters (if not now). So -- would I be closer to my goals foregoing a masters (for all time) and getting an extra year of work experience?
    • jhancock 17y ago
      I doubt that getting a one year jump on work will be more valuable than spending the year and doing the masters. Look at it this way: What are the odds of your first startup being a big hit? If you think its incredibly high, then I'd say you are "high". Instead think about all the collateral and experience you will need to get through multiple startups before you hit a big one. The one year more in school should pay higher dividends than the one year jump in the work place.
• longx223 17y ago
  I went with one of the 3 companies you have listed there right out of college and if I had an option for a Master's degree I would have taken that. Like tjr said, work will always be there. The company might "pay" for it but they still expect you to work the 50+ hour weeks while you are going to work and school.
• justlearning 17y ago
  where is it more interesting (in terms of meeting people,learning every day opportunities) Forget about whether those learnings can be used today or later. Where would I meet interesting people and get to learn every single day, and even at the coffee station? where is it better? at work? at school? - is the question I would ask myself.
  • BrandonWatson 17y ago
    Don't forget about the people you will be enabled to meet tomorrow (meaning the future) because of the choices you make today. That extra year of school opens up a whole new network of people. As I get older (mid thirties now), I am discovering how woefully I underestimated the value of "networks" for my professional life. I'm not talking about the fake facebook friends, or even twitter followers, but the bonds forged by the common experience of school. You'd be surprised how many people will take your call just because you went to the same school as them, even 20 years after they did.
• russell 17y ago
  I have neither a CS degree or a Masters, but I would say if it's only a year, go for it. The world is really competitive for newly minted CS graduates, although probably less so for UPenn, but the masters still puts you at the head of the line. Even in the entrepreneurial world it may still help in fund raising. Grad school is a good place to look for like minded founders.
• BrandonWatson 17y ago
  I graduated Penn in 1997 with BA, BSEcon and MBA. I was undergrad class of 1996 in the M&T program (Systems Engineering, and in Wharton I dualed with Finance and Operations & Information Management). I was granted permission to submatric into Wharton to get my MBA. I interned at MSFT summer of 94 and 95, and Morgan Stanley in 96. With all that as a preamble, staying the one extra year cost me nothing, and has opened many, many doors. That one year, in terms of your earning power, is pretty small in the grand scheme of things. Further, the extra degree has materially boosted my earning power a decade on. However, I stayed to get my MBA because I thought I wanted to be a VC. Turns out I am an entrepreneur at heart. If you think you want to create startups for a career, staying in school doesn't help you with that goal unless you use that year to basically have a subsidized year of starting a company. You don't learn startups from school. You learn the from doing. I am more than happy to discuss offline - my contact email is in my profile.
• evanmoran 17y ago
  I went the Microsoft direction and learned a ton. These large companies don't make billions by accident. Clearly they aren't as agile as some companies are but the scope of what they do is tremendous. You get the chance to see how software is made for millions and then actually see millions use it. It's a wonderful thing, trust me. In reading the other comments I was surprised at how many people would choose the masters degree. In the end it is just an expensive piece of paper. It only means something if the next people in line think it does. Let me be honest and say a startup will likely not care that you have it. A large company would give you a level jump and with it a 5% raise. And academia would care the most, but that doesn't sound like the direction you want to go. Now don't get me wrong, college is a great ride and I can see the temptation to hang on just for that. For me, in hindsight, I can say honestly that the job route was right for me. I learned about the business of software -- my chosen profession. I paid off my not-so-small loans. And I saved up and started a company. This was my path and it was a good one. It worked. It fit me. I suppose it might fit you as well..
• newsdog 17y ago
  Get it. The Bachelor's is too depreciated these days.