Is Graduate School For Me?

To determine if graduate school is right for you, start by asking yourself the following questions:

1. What do I want to accomplish in my life?

2. What are my short and long range professional goals?
Many careers in Computer Science do not require a graduate level degree. However, if your professional goals include management, research in a university or a national lab, or teaching at a college or university, you should seriously consider obtaining a Masters or Ph.D. degree.

3. Is graduate study necessary for me to achieve these goals?
To teach or do research at a university, a Ph.D. is almost always required. At least a Masters degree is necessary to do research at a research laboratory. Community colleges will hire teachers without a Ph.D., but a Masters is always manditory. Many companies will require employees interested in management positions to already have a Masters, or to have a plan to obtain one in certain period of time. Some companies will provide funding for employees to obtain their Masters.

4. Do I have the interest and ability to be successful in a graduate program?
Do your interests include teaching others, research, and self-motivated learning? Do you have the ability to organize your time, motivate yourself, work on large-scale projects, interact with others, and communicate ideas clearly? Have you done well in your computer science classes on the undergraduate level? If so, you probably have what it takes to succeed in a graduate program.

5. Am I willing to invest the time and money to pursue another academic program?
Actually, money is usually not an issue for computer science graduate programs. Your tuition will most likely be waived by the school or provided by the company for which you are working. In addition, most students receive a stipend in the form of a teaching or research assistanceship, which is adequate to maintain a decent standard of living. True, you may be giving up a high-paying job for a few years while you complete your degree, but a post-graduate degree will broaden your career choices, and provide you with an even higher salary. As far as time investments go, the average student is able to get a Masters degree in two years, and a Ph.D. in five to six years.

Masters vs PhD

If from answering the questions above, you feel that graduate school is right for you, the next step is deciding whether you want to apply for a Masters or PhD program.

If you feel the least bit interested in obtaining a PhD, apply for PhD programs. If later on you decide you only want a Masters, you can fulfill the requirements for a Masters and leave the program early with the Masters degree. It is much more difficult to switch from a Masters program to a PhD program. Even if you are sure you want to get a PhD, make sure you fulfill the Masters requirements along the way (not difficult in most PhD programs), so that if any unexpected events make it impossible for you to obtain your PhD, you can at least get a Masters for your efforts.

If you are only interested in getting a Masters degree, be warned that funding is more difficult to obtain as a Masters student. Since the program takes only about two years to complete, this is not a major setback (especially considering the salary boost you will receive once you get your degree). Your other option is to find a company that will pay you to get your Masters. Generally, this takes longer since you will be working and studying at the same time, but funding will no longer be a problem.

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