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I just graduated with an M.Sc.A. I feel the biggest thing I got out of it was the ability to take a vague project idea, and properly make it into something tan

by auxym 12y ago

I just graduated with an M.Sc.A. I feel the biggest thing I got out of it was the ability to take a vague project idea, and properly make it into something tangible, by myself. Analyzing previous work, modeling, designing building and testing protos. The specific tech skills I learned along the way are mostly moot. So, I guess it was more of the "learning to learn" thing that undergrad engineering degrees are supposed to be. I can't say I regret it, mainly because trying out research/academia is something I wanted to do. The opportunity cost is definitely high though, around 100-120k in lost salary alone, plus the salary I'm expecting now, out of school, is likely not very much above a new B.Eng. grad. Had I gone to work out of undergrad, I'd have enough experience to get PE and pull a much nicer figure. My only expectation is that it might help pull a job more tech/R&D oriented that is generally given to more experienced people, but even that is far from a given.

bane 12y ago
> I feel the biggest thing I got out of it was the ability to take a vague project idea, and properly make it into something tangible, by myself. Yeah, I agree with that. In my program at least, the assignments were heavily structured around teamwork. And they were just large enough that one person couldn't just do the whole thing. So it really forced you to work on soft skills. I had already been in the workforce for quite a while when I got my M.S., so I'm sure it colors my feelings about it. I had already been working on team projects, so I didn't get much out of those aspects of it. But I did learn how to work with younger people who hadn't had the same experience, and that has proven more and more valuable the older I get (and relatively the bigger the delta between me and new hires). I could take or leave the technical and functional things I studied. I think I got a new appreciation for UML, I now merely hate it instead of loathe it. But I honestly couldn't point to any class I took that I felt I really learned something from other than the soft skills.

by auxym 12y ago

bane 12y ago

> I feel the biggest thing I got out of it was the ability to take a vague project idea, and properly make it into something tangible, by myself. Yeah, I agree with that. In my program at least, the assignments were heavily structured around teamwork. And they were just large enough that one person couldn't just do the whole thing. So it really forced you to work on soft skills. I had already been in the workforce for quite a while when I got my M.S., so I'm sure it colors my feelings about it. I had already been working on team projects, so I didn't get much out of those aspects of it. But I did learn how to work with younger people who hadn't had the same experience, and that has proven more and more valuable the older I get (and relatively the bigger the delta between me and new hires). I could take or leave the technical and functional things I studied. I think I got a new appreciation for UML, I now merely hate it instead of loathe it. But I honestly couldn't point to any class I took that I felt I really learned something from other than the soft skills.