On Wed, 2008-03-26 at 14:49 -0600, Andrew Jorgensen wrote: > On Wed, 2008-03-26 at 14:05 -0600, Andrew McNabb wrote: > > On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 01:19:56PM -0600, Derek Davis wrote: > > > I have applied to graduate school, and been accepted to my top two > > > choices, University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech. However, I don't > > > know how to choose between the two. > > > > My opinion is that the advisor is everything. > > I was going to say the same thing but leave out the "opinion" part. I > have not been to graduate school but I have worked with / known many > graduate students. You should not be thinking about what school at all. > Period. Your experience in graduate school will largely be determined > by the professors you work with. >
Being a current Master's student I will agree with this wholeheartedly. The advisor is the one that makes or breaks your degree. It will determine how much you get out of a master's program. > > On Wed, 2008-03-26 at 14:09 -0600, Mike Lovell wrote: > > Jesse Stay wrote: > > > On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 1:19 PM, Derek Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > >> I'm hoping that as a bunch of students/ex students/future > > >> students/never-want-to-be-students, your collective wisdom may help me > > >> with > > >> a difficult decision. > > > > > > Not to spoil your decision, but what is your reasoning for graduate > > > school? Do you want to become a Professor? > > > > > I have thought about doing grad school just to get a grad degree. Not > > necessarily to get a higher pay or for a better resume. I would just > > like to say that I have a Master Degree and that I accomplished that. > > Just doing research in a particular area of tech for 2 years also sounds > > kind of fun although the rest of grad school might be kind of painful. > > Anyways...... > > Like I said, I haven't done it yet myself (and don't plan to) but I know > people who have (am married to a Master of Music). The amount of pain > you go through (and money you burn through) to get a graduate degree is > absolutely not worth the paper they mail you at the end and often not > worth what the line on your resume can do for you. Overqualified, > under-experienced is not a recipe for landing a great job. I am really going to have to disagree with the majority of people that assume that a Master's degree is worthless. It isn't. It might be harder right out of graduate school, if you didn't work during that time. I have worked full-time while in graduate school, so I have an edge up on everyone else that graduated with me. It is a tie breaker. If I am going for a job with someone else with similar experience, I am going to have a better chance because I have the more advanced degree. A Graduate degree says not only am I able to learn (bachelors degree) but I can research and write intelligently as well. A thesis shows that you can write and communicate what you have done to others. That is huge in the IT field. How many tech people do you know that are absolutely brilliant but they can't communicate that to anyone outside the computer field. There are also companies that require a Masters degree for certain senior level positions. These are still tech positions not just management. Now there aren't many of these out there, but 10 years ago there weren't many tech jobs that required a Bachelors either. It seems like the trend maybe heading there. The good thing is that experience will probably be a substitute for many companies, but not all. One last note, the classes I took at the graduate level applied to industry 10x better than any of my undergrad classes. I have used what I learned there more than my undergrad classes. I am not saying my undergrad classes were worthless, but my graduate classes better prepared me for the industry. I have no idea between the 2 schools on which one is better. I just wanted to throw in the good side of going to graduate school. There are more reasons that just wanting to be a professor. Nathan
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