Whats the point of a CS masters, and why am I doing it? | Hacker News Reader

Whats the point of a CS masters, and why am I doing it?

6 pointschrchang6 comments

I graduated with a degree in computer science for undergrad, worked for a year in an unrelated field, and then came back to do a masters in computer science because I wanted to return to tech and do a startup later on. I understand that the value of a masters is highly suspect, but my belief was that I needed a stronger theoretical foundation before I got back into it. From my perspective, it seems that "coding" itself has always been something learned on your own time, since NONE of our classes teach practical coding. And as a result, I'm embarrassed. If someone asks me what language I code in, I can say that I've had a good amount of experience coding in Java and C. But I have nearly no experience in Python, Javascript, you name it. Everyone tells me that this stuff is learned on your own time, but I have no time to spare. I'm becoming frustrated as I take these master classes, as I find my time being increasingly consumed by things I no longer find relevant. Everything I do now seems geared toward acing interviews at Microsoft or Oracle (even in algorithms, my favorite class, I have heard "now this is an interview question so pay attn" all too many times). I don't have the time to learn how to do something as simple as setting up a complete backend, or learning objective c to make a fun app without my grades taking a huge hit. This is bothering me. What should I do? I actually thought about dropping my masters and just learning what I want on my own, but I already paid for the (very) expensive tuition and it's nonrefundable. If I try to learn things on the side then I struggle academically and I probably will half ass the extracurricular programming too. If I go all in on my masters classes I will end up not learning what I want but will hopefully learn the theory well. On a final note, I'm taking internet and web systems, software systems, and software foundations class next semester, which I think is more practical....

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm aware of the idea of sunk costs but it sure is hard to use that idea in practice haha. You are also right in that I am confusing the role of a masters education and "practical programming". I guess my real frustration is that I'm getting very impatient, every time I read about some guy who hacked together some brilliant thing I want to be able to do the same, but I haven't done anything like that. And then I start to think that what I'm learning now isn't helpful enough, etc. You're right, I need to be less short sighted and focus on the long term. In the end I can always take my time out after I graduate to wrap my head around the "practical programming", and do small things each week to improve those skills.

Thanks for all the insight!

A Masters Degree, in my opinion, is something you take to learn. It's about delving deeply into an area you want to learn more about.

If you're in the program purely to pick up skills that you need in an average programming job, then you're going to be frustrated and you're being inefficient.

If you quit your masters and light the money you're spending on tuition on fire and then spend your days hacking on an interesting project using technologies that you want to get a job in, then you're going to be farther ahead than if you get a masters.

If you're in your masters to learn something that fascinates you, or to pick up some deep understanding of an area that you want to work on, then stay in. If not, then seriously consider dropping it.

When looking at the question of whether to continue in your masters, it is a fallacy to consider the (non-refundable) tuition you've paid. This is a "sunk cost" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_costs ). The question you should ask yourself is simply whether you can pick up the knowledge you want cheaper and better elsewhere. You've not mentioned your other possible options at this point (do you have friends with these skills?), nor the amount of time remaining for the masters degree.

Thanks a lot for this link. When I was trying to quit smoking, I would always have a full pack and would rationalize "Well, it would be a waste of money to throw this pack out now."

I knew there must be a name for this irrational thinking, and that article taught me a lot.

Thanks again.

Don't be short-sighted. Finish your Masters as you've already started - AND PAID for it.

My advice is to spend an hour or two each weekend day learning the practical programming skills that interest you.

The answer should depend on what kind of programming you like to do in your spare time.

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