Is Graduate School for You?

Nah – Time to Make Some $$ M.S. earns MORE $$$$ 2002 spring: B.S. CS: $53,000; M.S. CS: $63,000 Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers Bachelors Degrees 2002 That’s 20% more a year, likely for a long time Two years of missed salary is not much 40 years * $100,000 (avg) = $4,000,000 What’s an extra $100k? Money isn’t all you might think it is You don’t have it now, so you want it – understandable The thrill of that new car (or whatever) soon wears off You’ll never feel rich since other around you will have the same (you actually already are rich – feel rich?) Be patient – the time will come to make money

Does an M.S. or Ph.D. Get Me a Better Job? Hiring/Promotion Many openings state that M.S. or Ph.D. preferred or required Some companies ONLY hire M.S., some only Ph.D. A Ph.D. opens the opportunity to work at research labs (NASA, AT&T, IBM, etc.) or to become a professor M.S. (and Ph.D. of course) may be more likely for project lead or management With an M.S. (or Ph.D.), you can teach at colleges on the side too! But aren’t there more jobs for B.S. than advanced degrees? True, but the quality of the jobs for advanced degrees is better If quantity were the goal, then why go to college? Nearly every McDonalds is hiring.

What’s Grad School Like? Masters Fewer classes, less exam-oriented, less stress We assume you are smart, mature, independent Interesting project (and you have a large say in choosing a project) TA’ing – teaching is fun and educational Summer job is possible 1-2 years Spend time in lab (TA and/or research), great “networking”

What’s Grad School Like? Ph.D. No classes other than a few seminars REALLY interesting project – can have major impact, can change the lives of many people 3-5 years (but it’s more like a job so you aren’t waiting to “get out”) Reading, running experiments, writing programs, writing papers, attending talks, giving talks, lots of thinking Travel – attending conferences, presenting research Quite a nice perk (e.g., travel to Europe) Visiting companies (day, weeks, perhaps summer jobs) Occasional TA, even teach a course (lecturer) Part of a research team, in a research lab Smart, fun lab mates – often become lifelong friends Time for fun stuff too

But School is Expensive Most students get support Teaching assistantship, research assistantship, fellowship (scholarship) Cover tuition/fees, plus monthly stipend ($1000-1500) And you can live in inexpensive student housing And you can walk to school Low income, highly educated neighbors – you’ll never find that combination anywhere else Compare to the two other popular professions Law and medicine School is a bear, and you come out in debt

I Heard Some Companies will Pay the Costs of a Masters Big deal You probably would have gotten support The tuition/fees really aren’t that expensive (unless you go to a private school) Squeezing school in with work is tough

I Want to Work First, and then Maybe go to Grad School Later Good luck Hardly anybody actually goes back to grad school To hard to wean self from a $50,000 salary Night classes make life tough You may be starting a family At 1 class a semester, expect about 6 years to complete a masters Ouch Doesn’t the work experience lead to a better thesis? It could, but so does a summer job If you want a graduate degree, now’s the time, not later

What if I Don’t Get Accepted? So what? At least you tried Get rid of the fear of failure – if you aren’t failing at something once in a while, you aren’t aiming high enough Apply to several schools (including UCR!!) The cost and time of applying is trivial in the big picture Get your priorities in order Domestic students are in short supply in C.S./Engineering graduate programs They need you!

Is Graduate School for You? In my opinion, it’s the best kept secret in America