Best Grad Program For a Computer Science Major? 372
ryanleary writes "I am currently a junior computer science major at a relatively competitive university. I intend to remain here for some graduate work, and I would like to get a master's degree. What would be a good field to study? An MS in computer science appears to be highly theoretical, while an MS in IT seems more practical due to its breadth (covering some management, HCI, and design). What looks best on a resume, and where might I expect to make more money in the not-too-distant future? Computer Science, Information Technology, or something different altogether — perhaps an MBA?"
Clarification (Score:5, Informative)
Thanks for all the replies so far, the reason I ask what will look best on a resume is with the economy the way it is, I've begun to wonder what combination of education and experience will give me the most opportunities down the road.
I am an excellent programmer, but working 9-5 in a cubicle writing code scares me and does not seem like a good way to spend the next 30+ years of my life.
That being said, I have done some freelance web design and web database application development and really enjoyed it. I have also worked in various environments doing IT work and found it alright.
So further complicating the issue, (and no offense to people who have a BS or MS in IT) but I often hear that IT degrees are for people who couldn't make it in Computer Science. So does going from a competitive CS program to an IT program look like this?
I don't know how graduate school works. I'm not worried about being miserable at school. I can do anything for one year. It's after school that I'm most concerned with.
And finally, regarding staying here at the same Uni for graduate work, I had never really thought of leaving. A big part of that, however, is I have worked really hard while here and will be completing my B.S. in a total of 3 years. I will still have quite a bit of scholarship money that may be applied to my graduate work if I stay here.
Again, thank you all so much.
Re:Business or Accounting (Score:5, Informative)
Listen, kid. I'm a professor of business and management science. My masters and PhD are in Computer Science. There is a hidden rule in academic life: you cannot swim upstream. It is easy for a mathematician or a physicist to become an engineer. It is easy for an engineer to become an economist or work in any business field. But it is close to impossible for a marketing type to become a physicist. After your mid-twenties, you can still have some room for maneuver if you don't have kids. After 35 (like I am), people have a very, very low probability of change. Doesn't happen. When it happens it's a miracle, like a disney movie.
You can always be a business type if you know math and logic and programming. Remember, information is power. Study, for example, data mining. Checkout project weka in your IDE and study the code, submit modifications, get an interesting thing done or two.
My advice to you? First, read freakonomics. The guy's an economist that works with data mining. He may very likely get the Nobel some day. Then you'll see how easy it is for a computer scientist to play business roles.
Finally, go to the most hardcore, most academically rigorous career first. Learn assembly language. Find a professor that's good and say these words to him/her: "I'm here because I want to do top-notch research during my undergraduate degree. Now go on and tell me what to do. I'm up for anything." At first, the professor will look you with some giant eyes. Months later, you will be on your way to writing REAL papers and understanding how real science is made. Fuck grades. Even if you graduate with loads of C's, one or two papers in academic journals will really set you apart. Tell your employers later on that you couldn't care less about grades because "they are made to be fair in a world that's not fair, and you wanted to do REAL work while on university, not the little clean academic assignments". That is hardcore maturity and courage. And if things go wrong and you want a change later on, all disciplines nowadays are needing data mining, from accounting to marketing to finance to operations management, etc. Weka is the new Excel.
I wish you good luck, brother.
Re:BMA is the BMW of diplomas (Score:3, Informative)
Re:BMA is the BMW of diplomas (Score:3, Informative)
Re:get a job (Score:4, Informative)
get a job. work 5 years. figure out what you want to do in life.
if you work for anything approaching a decent company, they will pay for your grad school when you figure out what you want to study.
This is the route I followed, and it's made pursuing my PhD very difficult. It's way harder to focus on PhD work when you've got a family to provide for. I probably could have entered the PhD program at the Ivy League school where I got my Master's, but they required full-time participation in the PhD program, and that wouldn't have let me support my wife and kids.
All of this would have been avoided if I'd gone straight into grad school right after my undergrad work, and I probably would have had my degree by the age of 26-27, plenty young enough to still start a family.
So now my advice to people considering grad school is: start ASAP, if you even suspect you want to go for a PhD.
For me, it was useless (Score:4, Informative)
I did my Masters (in Engineering, not Comp Sci, but my example might still be relevant) and discovered that, although I enjoyed the program, as far as my career was concerned a Masters degree was worse than useless.
After I graduated I was hired at a starting salary. My Masters' experience counted for nothing. I was therefore making less money and had less seniority than my former Bachelor's classmates, and was essentially doing the same work. When I was looking for a job, some employers were openly suspicious of my intentions, saying that since I had a Masters degree I would probably quit after a couple of years and go seek a Phd (so why hire me?).
Would I do it all again? YES! Because I really enjoyed doing my Masters and was very very interested in the research that I did. That is the most important thing. If you don't love the subject, you will hate doing your Masters.
I know many people who have done Masters degrees, and the only ones who benefited career-wise were those who continued on to their Phd and those who did MBAs.
Re:Programming Language Research (Score:2, Informative)
Re:get a job (Score:4, Informative)
get a job. work 5 years. figure out what you want to do in life.
This I agree with. Getting a job and making some money is better than spinning your wheels. However 5 years may be too long, and likely it will only take a few years to come to a decision.
if you work for anything approaching a decent company, they will pay for your grad school when you figure out what you want to study.
These days, you can't expect the company to pay your schooling. My friend graduated a couple of years ago and has been working for HP. He had been planning to get some company to pay for higher education, but at his current job it seems unlikely. So he applied to a Ph.D. program and got in, and is going to quit his job.
On the other hand, another friend of mine did an internship with VMware during undergrad (I think) and now he's getting his Master's tuition paid by VMware.
So YMMV, but these days the mileage is a lot lower than it used to be.
Re:Business or Accounting (Score:4, Informative)
As it turned out, I had a friend that worked for a major tech company, one whose recruiters wouldn't give me an interview. My friend passed my resume on to his manager, and I was invited for an onsite interview with tech people. I got the job and started in May 2001.
Moral of the story (by my experience): Maintain a high GPA, because you'll most likely have to deal with HR recruiters that use it as a filter. But if you have friends or other inside connections, make use of them. Sometimes, it's not what you know, but who you know. Even in tech.
Re:MBA is the BMW of diplomas (Score:2, Informative)
Quoted for truthery.
I'm an undergrad business major, and even I'm consistently hearing that I ought to hit the real world for a few years before going MBA.
If my employer doesn't demand one, great. If my employer does, then they often provide support on the tuition.