Should I bother with grad school (EE major)?

[nipplefish]

I know there are a bunch of electrical engineering people here on AT so I thought I'd pick your brains.

Some background: I'm 30 years old. Started school in 2003 in Comp Sci, switched schools and majors the following year (to film...:|), had my kidneys fail, and eventually flunked out due to a combination of health problems, depression, and simply not giving a f about my major. Worked sales for a few years, then enrolled in a community college EE program. Got straight A's, got my associate's degree, and went on to university. I've gotten a 3.6 GPA here, am completely healthy thanks to a transplant last September, and am set to graduate at the end of the coming fall semester.

I had been planning for a while to go straight on to grad school as soon as I finish my BS in EE. I've already been accepted (at the same university I'm at now) and would start in January. I'm starting to question that line of thinking. If I go to grad school I'm looking at an additional $30k in debt (I have approximately that much in debt now) and staying in school till May 2015.

I'm tired of school. I want a couch that isn't a bent futon I got off craigslist. I want an apartment larger than 500 square feet. I want to start getting paid. Are my job prospects that much better having an MS vs. a BS? Would I be better off simply entering the job market ASAP and getting myself established? Then I'd have a BS and 2 years experience in 2015, vs. an MS, no experience, and more debt. Or should I just press on and get it done? I'm in a school mindset now. If I join the workforce I'm not sure I'd want to come back. According to the university, "MS is the new BS," but of course they're gonna tell me that - they want my tuition money.

Another point to consider is that as a transplantee, I have Medicare coverage for 3 years after the transplant - that means I lose my coverage in September 2015. So I NEED to have a job with medical coverage by then. What if I finish my master's and then can't immediately find a job? Maybe it's better that I just start looking ASAP.

What do?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Honestly, I'd look for a job that has tuition reimbursement and get my MS that way if I were you. Or, maybe one of your professors has a research assistantship available which pays all/most of the tuition plus a stipend?

 

[Vic Vega]

I agree with IndyColts. Go to work, you've worked for it and now it's time.

 

[SheHateMe]

Do you have work experience? Internships?

 

[edro]

I think the market for 30yo, no experience BS engineers is a lot higher than 30yo, no experience MS engineers.

If I were hiring for a position that required an MS in EE, I would expect them to be well experienced. MS without experience comes off as being too book smart and not enough real world know how.

I am in the MFG industry though (get it done)... I am sure in other industries (more research/development, etc), they want MS right off the bat without experience.

 

[nipplefish]

Honestly, I'd look for a job that has tuition reimbursement and get my MS that way if I were you. Or, maybe one of your professors has a research assistantship available which pays all/most of the tuition plus a stipend?

Research is unlikely; from what I've gathered from talking to my professors they favor PhD students for these positions, and my GPA, while pretty good, isn't mindblowingly awesome either. I do like the idea of my job paying for it though...

Do you have work experience? Internships?

I've been working since 2000, but not much of it is related to my school work. I should have done an internship this summer, but my transplant and recovery kinda distracted me from looking until it was too late.

 

[Imp]

I did a grad degree in civil engineering... I don't regret doing it for a minute because I had the time of my life despite the relationships and time lost.

Unfortunately, the biggest thing I learned from it was that I hate my career path. I would not do anything different considering that it was only a $10k degree done part-time while employed full-time.

The takeaway might be that one should focus on their career with their bachelor's degree first, get a feel for where they want to go, then do a grad degree.

 

[edro]

The takeaway might be that one should focus on their career with their bachelor's degree first, get a feel for where they want to go, then do a grad degree.

Great advice.

Live as an engineer for a few years to see if it's for you.
Not that an MS in EE would be a waste if you hate engineering, but you might want an MS in something else, like management or computer related, or medical EE, etc.

 

[Josh123]

I'd look around for places that will pay for your graduate degree and go. I've looked at A LOT of job openings here lately hoping to find something for my wife who just graduated. Almost all are looking for people with a Masters or a PhD.

 

[rcpratt]

Work. I'd tell a 22 year old the same thing, but there are a bunch of age-related reasons to add to that. Time to start earning that moolah.

 

[jagec]

Wait, debt? Don't go to grad school if you have to pay for it.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Research is unlikely; from what I've gathered from talking to my professors they favor PhD students for these positions, and my GPA, while pretty good, isn't mindblowingly awesome either. I do like the idea of my job paying for it though...

Maybe look around at other schools? I had a research assistantship for my MSEE that paid 90% of tuition plus I got a stipend to do research.

At any rate, I think the best option is to get a job and let work pay for it. Any job worth having will have some form of tuition reimbursement. With few exceptions, I don't ever think a Master's degree is worth paying for with your own money. It would also give you the chance to see if you really want to do an MSEE.

 

[CountZero]

It probably depends on what exactly you want to do. What specialization within EE did you pursue? Are you planning on doing that for your MS as well?

If you have absolutely zero experience I think a MS and work your butt off to get an internship/coop would be better than no experience BS.

As for paying for it do they offer TAs for MS? When I went back to school full time I paid for one quarter, aced the VLSI class, talked with that prof for an RA position and got the rest of my tuition covered (some as RA some as TA). I then made it a priority to get some work experience the summer between the two years and to do as much applicable work as possible as an RA.

I think my advice would be (or have been) accept the school offer and start looking for a job. If you get something you like don't look back but if you don't then go to school. I did not find an MSEE with minimal experience a hindrance at all but I did find a BSEE with some internship/coop experience to be near impossible 4-5 months after graduating. For the record I did embedded systems for BS and vlsi for MS.

 

[Born2bwire]

I'd look around for places that will pay for your graduate degree and go. I've looked at A LOT of job openings here lately hoping to find something for my wife who just graduated. Almost all are looking for people with a Masters or a PhD.

Yeah. If you can't get an assistantship (even just a partial one to get the tuition waiver), then try other universities and professors. You can also teach. Send feelers out to professors to see if you can get an RA or TA.

 

[nipplefish]

I've focused on electromagnetics/antennas in undergrad, with some signal processing. My plan was to continue that path in grad school with more of a focus on signal processing, as that's what I've been most successful in.

There are TA and RA positions, but most of them go to PhD students so my chances aren't that great of getting one. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to inquire about them, though.

Another thing I should mention is that I live with my girlfriend, so it isn't quite as easy to just pick up and leave to go somewhere else.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Definitely look into potential employers that will pay for your masters program and allow you to work full time. You need to get out of the academic world and hit the real world pronto my friend. Grad school will always be there in a few years if you want to go back.

In fact, you'll likely have a much better idea what you want to focus on in school after a few years of real world experience.

 

[Patranus]

If you are going to grad school get a MBA but don't waste your time in other fields.