Is Graduate School for You

1
Is Graduate School for You?
2
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
• Thats 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
• Whats an extra 100k?
• Money isnt all you might think it is
• You dont have it now, so you want it
  understandable
• The thrill of that new car (or whatever) soon
  wears off
• Youll 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

3
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, ATT, 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 arent 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.

4
Whats 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)
• TAing teaching is fun and educational
• Summer job is possible
• 1-2 years
• Spend time in lab (TA and/or research), great
  networking

5
Whats 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 its more like a job so you arent
  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

6
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 youll
  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

7
I Heard Some Companies will Pay the Costs of a
Masters

• Big deal
• You probably would have gotten support
• The tuition/fees really arent that expensive
  (unless you go to a private school)
• Squeezing school in with work is tough

8
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
• Doesnt the work experience lead to a better
  thesis?
• It could, but so does a summer job
• If you want a graduate degree, nows the time,
  not later

9
What if I Dont Get Accepted?

• So what? At least you tried
• Get rid of the fear of failure if you arent
  failing at something once in a while, you arent
  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!

10
Is Graduate School for You?

• In my opinion, its the best kept secret in
  America