engineering graduate school question

Hello,

I know this isn't really a technical question, but I was wondering if
anyone in here might be able to offer some insight on this.  I
recently got my BSEE, and am considering going for a Masters, and my
question is, is it worth it?  Does anyone know what the major
differences would be graduating with a BSEE or a MSEE, I don't know if
it would be better to start working and trying to learn stuff in
industry or continuing school, I'm 30 right now, which is a bit older
to have just got a BSEE.  The University I attend isn't a top 100 or
top 200 in the country as far as EE goes either.

Thanks,
Joshua

The master's says

*you were a good enough student to make it into grad school
*you can handle advanced material
*and (for most schools) you can handle a large independent project, e.g. a
thesis

I think you'll find from salary tables that the MS pays for itself, i.e. you
make more in higher pay than you lose in the 18 to 24 months it takes to get
the degree.

However, these days you shouldn't have to choose. Many schools have night
time MS programs and you can probably get your employer to pay for it. Not
really the same experience as being on campus, full time, with a research
team but valuable none the less.

Good luck,
Clark

"panfilero" <panfilero@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1182203977.820765.80400@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I know this isn't really a technical question, but I was wondering if
> anyone in here might be able to offer some insight on this.  I
> recently got my BSEE, and am considering going for a Masters, and my
> question is, is it worth it?  Does anyone know what the major
> differences would be graduating with a BSEE or a MSEE, I don't know if
> it would be better to start working and trying to learn stuff in
> industry or continuing school, I'm 30 right now, which is a bit older
> to have just got a BSEE.  The University I attend isn't a top 100 or
> top 200 in the country as far as EE goes either.
>
> Thanks,
> Joshua
>

The master's says

*you were a good enough student to make it into grad school
*you can handle advanced material
*and (for most schools) you can handle a large independent project, e.g. a
thesis

I think you'll find from salary tables that the MS pays for itself, i.e. you
make more in higher pay than you lose in the 18 to 24 months it takes to get
the degree.

However, these days you shouldn't have to choose. Many schools have night
time MS programs and you can probably get your employer to pay for it. Not
really the same experience as being on campus, full time, with a research
team but valuable none the less.

Good luck,
Clark

"panfilero" <panfilero@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1182203977.820765.80400@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I know this isn't really a technical question, but I was wondering if
> anyone in here might be able to offer some insight on this.  I
> recently got my BSEE, and am considering going for a Masters, and my
> question is, is it worth it?  Does anyone know what the major
> differences would be graduating with a BSEE or a MSEE, I don't know if
> it would be better to start working and trying to learn stuff in
> industry or continuing school, I'm 30 right now, which is a bit older
> to have just got a BSEE.  The University I attend isn't a top 100 or
> top 200 in the country as far as EE goes either.
>
> Thanks,
> Joshua
>

"cpope" <cepope@nc.rr.com> wrote in message 
news:467704e5$0$16562$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> *and (for most schools) you can handle a large independent project, e.g. a
> thesis

That sounds more like the "non-thesis project" option to me... My experience 
was that the "thesis" option was, "work on the professor's current pet 
projector that he's been working on for some years prior and will continue to 
work on after you leave."  Nothing wrong with that, but I'd stress that it's 
*very important* to make sure the professor is working on something *you 
actually give a damn about!*

> However, these days you shouldn't have to choose. Many schools have night
> time MS programs and you can probably get your employer to pay for it. Not
> really the same experience as being on campus, full time, with a research
> team but valuable none the less.

I suspect that it'd be very hard to find a school offering an 
off-campus/night-school MSEE in IC or RF design, as these typically require 
the use of large labs outfitted with lots of fancy equipment few people could 
realistically duplicate at home.  For MSEEs that are more "computer science" 
oriented, I'm sure it works fine.

I was a little disappointed that there were various HP employees in some of 
the classes I took who were there only because HP required them to get a 
degree to advance in title and hence salary.  From an employee's point of 
view... ok, fine, I can understand why they do it (no worse than going into EE 
in the first place primarily because the pay if good and you find the work 
"tolerable")... but from a corporate point of view, I'm amazed that HP 
condones such activities.

---Joel

"cpope" <cepope@nc.rr.com> writes:
> [...]
> However, these days you shouldn't have to choose. Many schools have night
> time MS programs and you can probably get your employer to pay for it. Not
> really the same experience as being on campus, full time, with a research
> team but valuable none the less.

I would caution the OP that, from what I've seen, employer-supported
(in either tuition pay and/or time away from work to attend class)
masters degrees are on the downswing. This was the reason I left my
previous employer, even though they advertised support in obtaining
an advanced degree.

If you're accepting a job based on an employer's promise to pay for a
masters, get it in writing. 
-- 
%  Randy Yates                  % "She's sweet on Wagner-I think she'd die for Beethoven.
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC            %  She love the way Puccini lays down a tune, and
%%% 919-577-9882                %  Verdi's always creepin' from her room." 
%%%% <yates@ieee.org>           % "Rockaria", *A New World Record*, ELO   
http://home.earthlink.net/~yatescr

On Jun 18, 5:59?pm, panfilero <panfil...@gmail.com> wrote:

> am considering going for a Masters, and my
> question is, is it worth it?

Experience counts too.
So, if you were not in the EE workforce before or during your BSEE
years, you might hold off on the Masters program, at least for now.
Here's why:

Time was, a Double-E degree was a guarantee of life-long employment.
Perhaps with a Fortune-500 Company, great benefits, retirement....

Nowadays, a lot of EE's (newly minted and otherwise) find themselves
scrambling for contract work.  (Not all, but a lot.)  Times ain't what
they used to be.  You are at the perfect crossroads, in a sense.  Take
some time, and find out.

If you find yourself leaning towards more education simply because job
prospects appear bleak (be honest!), I personally would face that
situation square in it's own reality.  Jobs are hemmoraging from the
US in general, (and on the whole, they are being replaced by lower-
pay, lower-skill, and much lower-satisfaction jobs IMO.)  Or they are
off-shored.   If that is an underlying reality in your part of the
world, or in your particular field of interest, make sure you bring it
to the surface before making a decision.

Also, I don't personally think 30 is too young to get your BSEE.

On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:59:37 -0700, panfilero wrote:
> 
> I know this isn't really a technical question, but I was wondering if
> anyone in here might be able to offer some insight on this.  I
> recently got my BSEE, and am considering going for a Masters, and my
> question is, is it worth it?  Does anyone know what the major
> differences would be graduating with a BSEE or a MSEE, I don't know if
> it would be better to start working and trying to learn stuff in
> industry or continuing school, I'm 30 right now, which is a bit older
> to have just got a BSEE.  The University I attend isn't a top 100 or
> top 200 in the country as far as EE goes either.

It depends what you want. If you love going to school, then do that. If
you want to actually do something useful, then get some practical 
experience.

If you already have all of the money you need, then retire. ;-)

Good Luck!
Rich

panfilero wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I know this isn't really a technical question, but I was wondering if
> anyone in here might be able to offer some insight on this.  I
> recently got my BSEE, and am considering going for a Masters, and my
> question is, is it worth it?  Does anyone know what the major
> differences would be graduating with a BSEE or a MSEE, I don't know if
> it would be better to start working and trying to learn stuff in
> industry or continuing school, I'm 30 right now, which is a bit older
> to have just got a BSEE.  The University I attend isn't a top 100 or
> top 200 in the country as far as EE goes either.

I too was 30 when I got my BEE. It was too long ago for my experience to 
be relevant, so I can offer only an observation, not advice. I got on 
fine without an advanced degree, but they are more necessary now than 
they were then. And even considering the more than 40-year interval, I 
was lucky to have advances as far as I did. (I was good. The luck was 
working for people who valued achievement more than credentials.)

Jerry
-- 
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

On 6/18/07 3:55 PM, in article pan.2007.06.18.22.55.31.843507@example.net,
"Rich Grise" <rich@example.net> wrote:

> On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:59:37 -0700, panfilero wrote:
>> 
>> I know this isn't really a technical question, but I was wondering if
>> anyone in here might be able to offer some insight on this.  I
>> recently got my BSEE, and am considering going for a Masters, and my
>> question is, is it worth it?  Does anyone know what the major
>> differences would be graduating with a BSEE or a MSEE, I don't know if
>> it would be better to start working and trying to learn stuff in
>> industry or continuing school, I'm 30 right now, which is a bit older
>> to have just got a BSEE.  The University I attend isn't a top 100 or
>> top 200 in the country as far as EE goes either.
> 
> It depends what you want. If you love going to school, then do that. If
> you want to actually do something useful, then get some practical
> experience.
> 
> If you already have all of the money you need, then retire. ;-)
> 
> Good Luck!
> Rich
> 
Of the responses I have seen so far, this is the best advice. What do you
want to do? Do you have any passion for some specialty? In my day, I am
retired now, amateur radio was a passion for many a potential EE. That seems
to be replaced by computers now and ham radio is dying. Do you like working
at the bench in preference to design and analysis? Let that guide you.

Good luck!

Bill
-- Support the troops. Impeach Bush. Oh, I forgot about Cheney.

>
> Of the responses I have seen so far, this is the best advice. What do you
> want to do? Do you have any passion for some specialty? In my day, I am
> retired now, amateur radio was a passion for many a potential EE. That seems
> to be replaced by computers now and ham radio is dying. Do you like working
> at the bench in preference to design and analysis? Let that guide you.
>

 Amateur Radio killed itself off by allowing appliance operators to go
wild. They should have insisted on taxing imported ahm equipment and
put a practical test in place like the one for an A&P license for the
Extra.

 As a career decision the MSEE makes sense only if very, very
carefully evaluated in terms of the future of the H-1B program, which
has killed EE/CS as a desireable career path for many Americans.

You can't compete with an Indian who will work for thirty or forty
thousand a year in Silicon Valley and live eight-up in a one room
apartment. I know a man that with a master's in EE and several years
experience in defense plants bought a bus and headed out to Silicon
Valley with the idea he'd live in the bus for awhile. This was a very
nice MCI MC-8 conversion formerly used by a famous country singer on
tour. He couldn't get hired in any engineering job at any rate of pay,
he even applied for engineering tech positions and they turned him
down, of course, as overqualified. He FINALLY (speaking very good
Spanish) had the wild ass idea of getting a Matricula Consular card
under a fake name-and to understand why it's funny he's a really
Nordic looking guy-and got a job at a big semiconductor company as a
fab maintenance person. He finally was able to get an engineering
support job under his real name, but the pay isn't a lot better. If he
didn't own the bus, and its economical 'toad' (a towed small car
behind it) outright he couldn't possibly live out there. As it stands
he dreads having to get California tags and insurance on the bus: the
toad will never get past CARB.