Was that Graduate degree worth it? 1

[bradpa77]

Just a quick poll to sooth my curiousity. How many of you who went through graduate school feel that it was worth the time, effort, and money you put into it.

Sometimes I think about going for it but then I remember how much less free time I'd have and I wonder if it would even help me out that much.

 

[RDK]

It’s been said many times here before.

If your only reason to go to graduate school is better jobs don’t bother, just work harder at the one you have now.

If you want more knowledge for its own sake and would actually enjoy the time spent studying (no need for time off if you like your work!) then grad school is the best way to get that experience and knowledge.

Yes I’d do it again and still might go back (MEng, MSc, PhD. BA in basket weaving???) for something to do when I retire from having to earn a living.



Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[bradpa77]

RDK,

My main reasons for considering it:

1.) I think it might give more options for jobs
2.) I think it would increase my payrate
3.) It would give me a warm fuzzy feeling to know that I did it
4.) I feel like I'm supposed to for some reason.
5.) My company would pay for it all with no strings attached and that seems too good to pass up

So I guess it sounds like reasons 1 and 2 are probably not going to happen from your response. In my opinion, reason 3 isn't a good enough reason on it's own. And although my annoying conscience thinks otherwise, reason 4 is not a good way to base a major decisions. Reason 5 is a good one but I still don't think it's enough to make me say yes.

Don't get me wrong. I liked school. I actually think I liked school much better than I like the real world. It just fits me better for some reason. But I love my free time much more. If I could quit my job and be a full time student for a couple years, I would, but I can't afford that. I think I'd need some sort of incentive other than the quest for knowledge for me to go for it.

 

[wes616]

I was laid off, and took the opprotunity to go back for a MS. I did it for my own persoal reasons... It hasn't affected my employment (or pay) in any way whatsoever. But it is nice to know that I have a pretty good theoretical understanding of what goes on inside the extrusions I design part from when they are under load... It helps me personally... and as it should be...

That said... if I was to do it all over again, Id' have studied pottery...

Wes C.
------------------------------
When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions...

 

[RDK]

Reason 3 is IMHO a necessary and sufficient condition to take the grad degree.



Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[MrMojito]

I wish I had done it immediately after I got my B.S. Now its 22 years later and I work for an employer who will only contribute $1k/yr for it, only if they so desire. But there are also other methods of acquiring knowledge (courses & seminars from professional societies, etc.).

 

[dcroasmu]

I went directly on to grad school after undergrad, and that's the only way I would've ever done it. I had 2 good reasons at the time:

1. Didn't have a job offer that I really loved.
2. The school offered to pay for it.

Is it worth it? Absolutely, there's no way I could pass up a free MS and not having to face the real world. Did it benefit my career any? Probably not. At most it counted for 6 months of experience (as far as my starting pay and job title go), and probably narrowed my options due to being seen as a "specialist". So, when it's all said and done, I got to not be an adult for an extra 2 years, I'm about where I would've been (minus 2 years income), and my mom's proud of me, so it was worth it.

 

[jpankask]

Now that I have completed my MS degree (4 years of part time classes while working full time and raising a family), I can say that I would do it all again. While I was working on the degree, there were many, many, MANY times I questioned ever starting. You will lose sleep, you will spend time studying and doing homework when you would rather be at the lake (or the mountains, etc.), you will miss out on time with your family. Most likely, your company will NOT give you much recognition for completing your degree (especially if they pay for it, they will consider that your "bonus" pay, and they might heap more responsibility on you). However, if and when you move on to a different company, the new company most likely WILL reward you with a higher salary or more experience credit toward your pay.

For these reasons, if your personal desire to complete a master's degree and gain more knowledge does not weigh more heavily than your desire for promotion and money, your chances of completing the degree diminish exponentially. If you decide to go for, check out many programs because there is wide variation in the programs at each university. Good luck!

 

[JStephen]

You tend to take a course, and learn the basics of it. But you get a lot better grasp on that material when you use it in the next course. So maybe your grasp of algebra isn't all that great, but by the time you get through a few semesters of calculus, you can do algebra in your sleep. That's sort of the way it was with the Master's degree. I don't know that I gained a thing in terms of job prestige, but did get a lot better understanding of some of the subjects I studied as an undergraduate.

My advice: If you have the time, inclination, and finances, go for it.

I stopped after my master's, because, as far as I could tell, the main applications for PhD in ME was either military-related or teaching, two routes I didn't want to go down.

I've always heard you should work a few years, then get a master's. After you get a family and house and lots of bills, it's awfully hard to take a year or two off to go do this stuff.

 

[FACS]

If you feel like you are suppose to do it, then you probably are.

A warm and fuzzy feeling is more than enough reason.

Sounds to me like you are going to go for it; good luck.

Just do it, no one can ever take it away from you.

Charlie

http://www.facsco.com

 

[zdas04]

There are fields where a Masters is part of the entry requirement. I don't know of any in Mechanical. Neither my MS nor my PE made a nickel's worth of difference in my pay, job assignments, or "prestige" (whaterver that is) at the large company that paid for it with employee benefits, but both the MS and PE were key in my decision to start my own company. Without either one I don't think I would have had the self confidence to start a business.

The only way you will make it through an MSME program while working full time and raising a family (my kids were 7 and 9 when I finished Grad School) is with an intense inner drive. If that is not sufficient for you, don't bother. I've known people who were "working on" graduate school for decades. Maybe take a class every couple of semesters and do ok in it, then take a year or so off--they typically are doing it for someone else's reasons and will seldom finish.

The only reason for doing grad school I've every seen work is RDK's #3 above. If you don't get the motivation from an internal intrinsic value, it is way too much work to spend "betting on the come". You would be assured that you will be very disapointed in the monetary rewards that go with an MSME.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The harder I work, the luckier I seem

 

[MRM]

I agree that #3 is the most important reason to go do it. To this day, I'm still very proud of what I acheived during my graduate work, and how I was able to really gain knowledge they can't share with you during your BS (due to time constraints). I actually get that "warm fuzzy feeling" every time I think back to graduation day.

As others have alluded to, it's difficult to put a direct dollar value on it. I'd say that's true of most things in life, however.

Having said that, I have been able to sense very important benefits from having an MS degree. For one, I had my pick of where I wanted to work. It seemed like anywhere I chose to interview, I received an offer. Talk about a great feeling. Was it due to the MS degree? If it wasn't, it was due to the added confidence the MS degree gave me. My BS friends, unfortunately, seemed to have a more difficult time in finding a job that suited them. They eventually did, of course, but some of them had to settle for something they weren't excited about, as they described it.

I think it's given me peace of mind too. I feel that if I ever found myself looking for work for reasons beyond my control, it would not be difficult to find in short order. That's important to consider when you have family that depends on you.

Getting back though, the bottom line is that you'd better be interested in the subject matter-very interested. If you're not, it will probably be a long two years. I'm not sure what you'd gain by it either in that case.

 

[KiwiMace]

There are courses and there are courses...

My masters was a research project only, with no coursework at all. I never would have gone back to school for another year of sitting through classes and slogging out assignments, i think four years is enough for that. I got a huge personal reward from having 18months in front of me to really make something happen.

Find a school and program that suits you.