doesn't an MS in CS give you a better pay scale especially for entry level positions?

I've heard that an MS in CS could usually get you another 10,000 net wages versus a BS

a) i actually wasn't referring to you, i was referring to Eep since he hated writing papers.
b ) for entry positions? that implies you're considering getting a master's full time. that's a huge opportunity cost. consider these options:
1) graduate with bachelors, go straight into masters for 2 years, get a job after graduating
2) graduate with bachelors, get a job making 60k+, build up 2 years experience, get a master's part time and make the company pay for it

2) is much better than 1). your work experience will be much more valuable, you won't get the same debt, and you'll make more money from working for two years. it's a huge opportunity cost to go straight towards the masters.

GIT also has an online MS in CS really cheap (7k$ or so) which is worth considering. that's the only way i'd ever consider a masters in CS. otherwise it makes more sense to get a masters in something other than CS, which increases your career options considerably in contrast.

This post was edited by carteblanche on May 24 2014 08:53pm

IT teachers can be so stupid...

Unfortunately most CS programs have programming classes that teach a language, rather than concepts and theories.

This is why I LOVED my undergraduate program. They started freshmen out with 2 semesters of programming (intro/adv) which was taught in Java where most of the course was geared towards teaching you basic Java syntax and introductory algorithms. By the end of the 2nd semester (advanced programming) you were expected to have a grasp on intermediate programming concepts and a wealthy understanding of the Java programming language.

And then came 1st semester sophmore year. Abstract Data Structures and Algorithms. This course was way more indepth. And it was taught in C++. Let me rephrase that. The projects you were expected to turn in were to be written in C++. The course was taught in pseudo code. The professor did not teach you C++. You taught yourself C++.

Needless to say, the department weened out the shitheads from the major real quick. Those that had the ability to problem solve flourished. Those who skated by freshman year by paying some dudes on a forum a fake currency to do their homework failed. And failed hard.

I'd go with these personally:

intro to number theory
intro to math stats

software engineering
advanced object oriented programming
web languages and standards
independent study

They seem to be the best balance between being interesting, challenging, flexible, and having the most job potential.

Most of the teachers I've talked to really recommended the independent study because it both helps you really put yourself under a microscope to see what you like doing, and can be really fun/interesting/fruitful depending on what you pick.

could you elaborate more on specialized career options with different MS? I'm curious what you mean



people say Calc III is really important, but they also favored number theory and math stat too. knowing number theory and math stat helps you with probability for things like financial software?

I was thinking of taking adv object oriented programming and web languages for sure. interested in intro to AI and intro to security as well

This post was edited by NoMNoK on May 25 2014 12:07pm

i didn't say "specialized", i said you have more career options. Ask yourself what career options you have with a bachelors in CS. there are quite a lot. now ask yourself how many new options you gain with MS in CS which are not available if you just have a BS. answer: not very many.

now consider getting a higher degree in a different field. say accounting, finance, business, engineering, or pharmacy. how many new options do you gain? quite a lot.

it's not a downfall specific to CS. it happens to most fields where you get a masters in the same field as your bachelors.

but as for specialized fields, you can look into more math applications or something like bioinformatics. if you're really hardcore into CS and want specialized fields, you should consider a phd into whatever interests you and skip the masters.

I've been hustled for code the most in Assembly and Operating systems. I guess that sounds about right.

Seems like a harsh approach still, though it does filter out "shitheads" lol. Were I am we have way more practice than theory and I like it that way. Theory gives us a hint of what we are talking about but the real understanding and testing of our knowledge is in practice courses

This post was edited by m0hawk on May 26 2014 04:45am