Grad school questions.

[imported_vr6]

Well i am going to be a senior year soon, have a few questions about grad school.

How does one get there MS on a major that is different then their BS degree? I thought a MS was a continuation of their BS degree? Does that mean they have to take a bunch of courses not within their MS curricurlum to make up for it?

How about MBA's it seems like anyone with any BS degree can get an MBA, is a MBA worth it? It seems to be overhyped.

Would you get a MBA or a MS?

 

[Orsorum]

What's your undergraduate degree? Do you have any work experience?

 

[Kipper]

MS or MA can be in anything you want. This is how you have people who were art history majors turn into biologists. You usually do have to take core curriculum classes, though, since it's not in your field - this means usually more time taken, but that doesn't mean that it's entirely impossible. I will be doing a MA in a completely unrelated field to my major in a few years.

 

[cronos]

if you're going to go straight to grad school MS would be better. you can get so much more of an MBA if you have at least 3-4 years of work experience first (in some good school they don't even accept people without work experience).

you don't always have to continue your MS exactly the same as your BS. but if you want to get an MS way out of your BS curriculum, you need to take some extra classes to at least get you some basic knowledge of what you're doing.

 

[imported_vr6]

i am majoring in IS, doing my first internship as a programmer at an engineering firm.

So if wanted to get an MS in EE, there won't be any problems? Don't you have to have a solid foundation of the subject before you get into the MS program or does the MS program teaches you from the start?

 

[cronos]

Originally posted by: Kwan1
i am majoring in IS, doing my first internship as a programmer at an engineering firm.

So if wanted to get an MS in EE, there won't be any problems? Don't you have to have a solid foundation of the subject before you get into the MS program or does the MS program teaches you from the start?

MS curriculum is very flexible. they do have guidelines on which courses you would have to take to get your degree, but most of the time the classes that you take are a result of a discussion between you and your academic advisor, which can be related to your special interest, or his/her need for you to become an expert in something to work on a particular project.

 

[cronos]

Originally posted by: Kwan1
i am majoring in IS, doing my first internship as a programmer at an engineering firm.

So if wanted to get an MS in EE, there won't be any problems? Don't you have to have a solid foundation of the subject before you get into the MS program or does the MS program teaches you from the start?

apparently i didn't answer your question directly 🙂 but let me try to explain:

a graduate degree is different than an undergraduate degree for the fact that i mentioned in my first reply (more flexible curriculum). it means if you want an MS degree in EE, you must already have *some subject* in particular that you are interested or you want to work on, and with that in mind, you go and find the faculty member that would be best to be your academic advisor and discuss about what you are going to do. and then apply (of course this is the ideal, you can also apply first and talk later if you want to).

so, if you are accepted at a graduate program different from your original field, you already know (and your advisor knows) what you want there, and what extra classes you might need to take to strengthen the 'foundation' of what you are doing, since you are coming from a different field.

 

[TwoMix]

Hey I got my BE and ME concurently during my 4th yr since i was almost done w/ my undergrad. My ME didn't really have anyhting to do w/ my ug but it was all the same BS. I think it would be worthwhile to get experience first and then go for a MS.

 

[ggavinmoss]

An MBA with no work experience? Doesn't sound very useful...

Why don't you figure out what interests you and which degree, if any, supports your longterm goals?

-geoff

 

[ggnl]

Would you get a MBA or a MS?

Something for you to remember:

Most industries (on both the administrative and technical sides) reward specialization. Once you enter the working world you will find that depth of knowldge, in most cases, is more important is breadth of knowledge. If you already have experience in the industry an MBA can be useful because you can apply it to the experience you already have. Since you have little experience it makes much more sense to go for the MS.

 

[cchen]

Originally posted by: Kwan1
i am majoring in IS, doing my first internship as a programmer at an engineering firm.

So if wanted to get an MS in EE, there won't be any problems? Don't you have to have a solid foundation of the subject before you get into the MS program or does the MS program teaches you from the start?

you would have to take the classes to make up for what you need in EE.
I.e. if you didn't take enough physics or calc you'd have to take them
then probably some circuits classes

 

[Cat13]

I just got my BS in Computer Science, I am also starting my MS in Operations Management in 3 days. I only had to take business and accounting as pre-reqs.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: Kwan1
i am majoring in IS, doing my first internship as a programmer at an engineering firm.

So if wanted to get an MS in EE, there won't be any problems? Don't you have to have a solid foundation of the subject before you get into the MS program or does the MS program teaches you from the start?

I would think EE would require a lot more physics, math, and engineering courses than a typical IS or CS program.
But it probably depends on the school. For the most part, you don't have to have a BS in the exact same area to enter an MS program, but they will require you to have certain classes and knowledge first. Depending on the school and your background, you may be able to make up any deficiencies during your first year.
I highly doubt you would get accepted to a graduate EE program if you had a BA in Art History for instance.

 

[CanOWorms]

I'm getting my MSEE. I highly doubt that you'd be able to go straight into an EE program from IS. Many schools have accelerated graduate programs though, so you can take a year to catch up in what you don't know and then continue on to your MSEE.