Master's

[cesiumboy]

I'm trying to figure out if I should go for my Master's degree in Computer Science. I don't really want the title, but I do want to take some of the advanced distributed-systems-and-databases classes, and do some research in that field

Comments

[beeblez]

Do the courses start in January or is it like many post-graduate degrees in that it only starts in September? If you have most of a year before that date I highly recommend it. Worst case scenario you can change your mind later if you decide in a different direction to channel your focus and energy outside of work. Life is long and for the living, so plan for what you think is the best way to live now, and if you have to change it later to do whats best then, you can.

That aside I say go for it. There's something so intoxicating about learning information that's blindingly new that even in an interesting job you never quite get in the same staggering volume. The feeling of learning about something that you really care about mingled with the feeling of a very real purpose is a nice one. Despite how much we all love to despise the suffering intrinsically tied to it.

Although, I'm not sure if this is a difference between the disciplines or the countries or what, but is the expense that high just because it's a trade oriented night course? Graduate schooling that I've been looking into, even in the states, tends to waive tuition upon acceptance. Is that only the case for some fields? Kinda embarrassed I have no idea on this count actually.

[cesiumboy]

Well, I missed the deadline for the courses that start in January. The next series starts in March, after spring break.

I'm already doing quite a bit of research for work. In some ways my job is exactly like research, except it involves applying theoretical work to a practical use and seeing what happens. It was interesting, seeing a lot of my nighttime reading show up on MIT's OpenCourseWare site for database & distributed systems classes.

Well, it's not exactly trade-oriented. The price is about 2/3 more than the normal graduate rate, but that's perhaps due to having to pay professors for late nights. There's also no option to pay for it by being a TA, but with my job reimbursing it that's not a huge concern.

I'm wondering whether I should put it off a year or two, not altogether. Chances are I'll have a bit more free time, and other parts of my life (like relationships) will be a little more settled then.

[beeblez]

Well, if you have a job that allows you to enjoy the fun of research and get paid for it then that's worth taking advantage of.

If you're happy with what you do theres no reason to rush in this March. Extra training and skillsets (and extra paycheques that result) are all great and awesome things, but if you're picking up the skills and knowledge on your own, and you're not in it for the money, it might be a bit excessive.

I'm a big fan of post-grad degrees overall. And do really encourage them, but only if you're desperate to go. Getting into an obligation and a long term painful commitment like that should be something you do out of foolish love, it sounds like you're into the material so maybe that's the case. But if you're not really dying to do it, the suffering will be all the more bitter and frustrating. Letting life get itself more in order first might be the ticket to motivating you to do it properly, or maybe it will flow the other way for you, and going for it will give you the motivation or the key to getting what you want in life.

Yet, life is nothing if not unpredictable and resistant to setting still. Who can say how things will be in a few years or a few months. If you're on the fence I'd still lean towards going for now and withdrawing before march if you decide that your life has more important priorities.

This comment probably wasn't much help, what with my fascination on sitting both sides of the fence, but I've always found that with myself, no matter how I reframe questions like this, theres always the one side I'm secretly yearning for and the other I'm considering because of my mind's nagging tendency towards rationality.