Masters or not?
February 25, 2010 11:07 AM Subscribe
I'm a philosophy major in my junior year. Should I spend my fourth year of school enjoying myself or working on a masters degree in a more practical field? Life advice desperately needed! (long, but tl;dr can be found at the bottom.)
I'm in my junior year of college at a fairly prestigious institution in the US, and will have enough credits to graduate once this year is over. I am also on a four-year scholarship, and I've been trying to decide whether I should make use of my final year of funding to pursue a one-year masters degree in something, or whether I should just spend most of it doing the college's study abroad programs in Paris (which are pretty much like vacations, so I've heard). Because I am funded, I won't be going into debt either way.
My scholarship comes with an employment contract in journalism, for several years after graduation, back home in Asia. A few years back, when I first applied for this, journalism wasn't my first choice of jobs. Right now I'm quite happy with it because it's something I can do well and is fairly interesting on a daily basis. However, I don't know whether I'll change my mind in future; also, the industry isn't doing superbly and I know that I can't expect eternal job security. I still don't really have any 'dream' career path, so I can't tell you what I love to do, except maybe eat and sleep and play useless computer games. I do very well in school and enjoy it very much, but my inner core is an unambitious sloth. I spend a lot of time worrying about what I'll do in the future though, so I guess let's make that an unambitious yet obsessively anxious sloth.
To assuage the abovementioned anxiety, I was considering getting a masters degree in some field, that would possibly widen my options. A masters degree would raise my starting salary by $100/month, and probably would raise my long-term wages as well.
I don't know if my way of thinking about this is correct though, which is why I'm seeking the advice of the hive mind.
With my major and the coursework I've done, there aren't a lot of fields I could go into. The masters degrees I'm considering are in philosophy or in CS. For philosophy, the benefits are that 1. it's something I'm good at, 2. it's probably not that much more work than undergrad, and 3. I would have an extra fancy name on my resume (I'd only apply to "name brand" schools for this e.g. Stanford, even if their MA programs aren't recognized as being very strong in the field).
But, the disadvantages are that 1. it probably won't make me any more employable compared to undergrad because the skill set is the same, and 2. after finishing my philosophy major I'm not sure if I can spend one whole year doing nothing except philosophy and writing essays about ethics and reality and whatnot. I don't know if there's any subfield that I want to explore further. I know for sure that I don't want to go into academia in any field.
For CS, I'm newer to it, so I haven't got to the stage where I am bored out of my skull. I just started taking intro courses this year. While I sometimes need help, I can usually do stuff on my own. I don't think I suck at it. But the problem is that I'm not that good either -- any math muscles in my brain that I may have developed from being a physics major in my freshman year have long atrophied. One good thing about the specific course that I'm looking at is that it doesn't require a prior CS background, and seems to be more about applications than pure theory. Also, I think that a MSc in CS would look good on a resume if I wanted to switch fields.
However, I can't see myself programming for a living. The most I'd want to do with the MSc as a journalist would be business journalism about the IT industry, and if I weren't a journalist, it would be some sort of analyst or consulting gig. I don't know much about either of those things and might be delusional, so please tell me if a MSc in CS would actually be useless for analyst or consulting jobs in IT-related areas. In which case, what could I do with an MSc in applied CS that isn't actually applied CS itself?
Another bad thing about this is that I would have to teach myself discrete math over the summer while working as a full-time journalist, and I'm pretty sure this would kill me because of the insane hours I'd be pulling for the job. Since I don't *~love~* CS, I don't think I'll have the willpower to make myself keep up with what is effectively a distance-learning 11-week college course in discrete math while working 12 hours a day.
So, judging by all this stuff above, it seems much easier and much less stressful to just ignore the possibility of doing a Masters, and instead spend my last year of college slacking off doing nothing. Specifically, spending half the year in Paris doing more random humanities/social science courses, which is not conducive to the development of alternative skill sets, and then graduate with a BA in a useless field. Paris is a nice enough place, and I'll be able to travel around Europe. It would also be the last year ever that I could possibly spend enjoying myself, until retirement. But doing this makes me feel as though I'm wasting a fantastic chance to improve myself, at least on paper. I know that there are many who would love to have this chance, and I also feel that I'd be letting myself and other people down if I didn't make use of all the opportunities I have (curse this Asian-ness). Also, I'm worried about whether I'll regret this wastage several years down the road, when I might be looking for a new job with nothing but a philosophy BA degree and 6 (at least, hopefully) years of employment as a journalist under my belt.
tl;dr:
Have you ever regretted choosing to laze about instead of investing time and effort in work that might open more doors in future? Or, did you spend time working on a Masters and then realize later that it was unnecessary toil? Should I make decisions for the sake of my long-term future self, assuming the world isn't in fact going to end in 2012? I would like to hear about your experiences.
Anon because the details I've mentioned make me easily identifiable, I think, by people I know IRL who are on Mefi, and I would rather not have my account found for various reasons. Throwaway email is indecision11 at gmail, for more details. Sorry about the ramble, and thanks if you got this far.
I'm in my junior year of college at a fairly prestigious institution in the US, and will have enough credits to graduate once this year is over. I am also on a four-year scholarship, and I've been trying to decide whether I should make use of my final year of funding to pursue a one-year masters degree in something, or whether I should just spend most of it doing the college's study abroad programs in Paris (which are pretty much like vacations, so I've heard). Because I am funded, I won't be going into debt either way.
My scholarship comes with an employment contract in journalism, for several years after graduation, back home in Asia. A few years back, when I first applied for this, journalism wasn't my first choice of jobs. Right now I'm quite happy with it because it's something I can do well and is fairly interesting on a daily basis. However, I don't know whether I'll change my mind in future; also, the industry isn't doing superbly and I know that I can't expect eternal job security. I still don't really have any 'dream' career path, so I can't tell you what I love to do, except maybe eat and sleep and play useless computer games. I do very well in school and enjoy it very much, but my inner core is an unambitious sloth. I spend a lot of time worrying about what I'll do in the future though, so I guess let's make that an unambitious yet obsessively anxious sloth.
To assuage the abovementioned anxiety, I was considering getting a masters degree in some field, that would possibly widen my options. A masters degree would raise my starting salary by $100/month, and probably would raise my long-term wages as well.
I don't know if my way of thinking about this is correct though, which is why I'm seeking the advice of the hive mind.
With my major and the coursework I've done, there aren't a lot of fields I could go into. The masters degrees I'm considering are in philosophy or in CS. For philosophy, the benefits are that 1. it's something I'm good at, 2. it's probably not that much more work than undergrad, and 3. I would have an extra fancy name on my resume (I'd only apply to "name brand" schools for this e.g. Stanford, even if their MA programs aren't recognized as being very strong in the field).
But, the disadvantages are that 1. it probably won't make me any more employable compared to undergrad because the skill set is the same, and 2. after finishing my philosophy major I'm not sure if I can spend one whole year doing nothing except philosophy and writing essays about ethics and reality and whatnot. I don't know if there's any subfield that I want to explore further. I know for sure that I don't want to go into academia in any field.
For CS, I'm newer to it, so I haven't got to the stage where I am bored out of my skull. I just started taking intro courses this year. While I sometimes need help, I can usually do stuff on my own. I don't think I suck at it. But the problem is that I'm not that good either -- any math muscles in my brain that I may have developed from being a physics major in my freshman year have long atrophied. One good thing about the specific course that I'm looking at is that it doesn't require a prior CS background, and seems to be more about applications than pure theory. Also, I think that a MSc in CS would look good on a resume if I wanted to switch fields.
However, I can't see myself programming for a living. The most I'd want to do with the MSc as a journalist would be business journalism about the IT industry, and if I weren't a journalist, it would be some sort of analyst or consulting gig. I don't know much about either of those things and might be delusional, so please tell me if a MSc in CS would actually be useless for analyst or consulting jobs in IT-related areas. In which case, what could I do with an MSc in applied CS that isn't actually applied CS itself?
Another bad thing about this is that I would have to teach myself discrete math over the summer while working as a full-time journalist, and I'm pretty sure this would kill me because of the insane hours I'd be pulling for the job. Since I don't *~love~* CS, I don't think I'll have the willpower to make myself keep up with what is effectively a distance-learning 11-week college course in discrete math while working 12 hours a day.
So, judging by all this stuff above, it seems much easier and much less stressful to just ignore the possibility of doing a Masters, and instead spend my last year of college slacking off doing nothing. Specifically, spending half the year in Paris doing more random humanities/social science courses, which is not conducive to the development of alternative skill sets, and then graduate with a BA in a useless field. Paris is a nice enough place, and I'll be able to travel around Europe. It would also be the last year ever that I could possibly spend enjoying myself, until retirement. But doing this makes me feel as though I'm wasting a fantastic chance to improve myself, at least on paper. I know that there are many who would love to have this chance, and I also feel that I'd be letting myself and other people down if I didn't make use of all the opportunities I have (curse this Asian-ness). Also, I'm worried about whether I'll regret this wastage several years down the road, when I might be looking for a new job with nothing but a philosophy BA degree and 6 (at least, hopefully) years of employment as a journalist under my belt.
tl;dr:
Have you ever regretted choosing to laze about instead of investing time and effort in work that might open more doors in future? Or, did you spend time working on a Masters and then realize later that it was unnecessary toil? Should I make decisions for the sake of my long-term future self, assuming the world isn't in fact going to end in 2012? I would like to hear about your experiences.
Anon because the details I've mentioned make me easily identifiable, I think, by people I know IRL who are on Mefi, and I would rather not have my account found for various reasons. Throwaway email is indecision11 at gmail, for more details. Sorry about the ramble, and thanks if you got this far.
Seconding pwally. You're framing this incorrectly. There are a huge amount of ways that you could potentially benefit from spending a year abroad in Paris, and not everything that you do in life needs to translate directly to increasing your earning potential or whatever. Plus, when is the next time that you will have an entire year free to spend in a new and amazing place, working on foreign-language skills and making new friends. It sounds to me like you really *want* to go to Paris -- and spending a year studying abroad isn't exactly the same as sitting around on the couch with your thumb up your butt. Plus, is $1200 a year really worth giving up the chance to spend a year of your life in Paris? When is the next time that you're likely to have the personal freedom to spend a year in Paris if you feel like doing so?
Go to Paris, it'll give you a year to develop more of a sense of who you are and what you want as a person, it'll give you a year of amazing life experiences and make you better-rounded. I'm against getting extraneous degrees in fields that you don't find interesting -- the best possible outcome is that you've spent a year of your life intensively studying something you don't care about. We don't get all that many years of our lives that it's worth it to intentionally spend one doing something you don't want to do.
posted by kataclysm at 11:41 AM on February 25, 2010
Go to Paris, it'll give you a year to develop more of a sense of who you are and what you want as a person, it'll give you a year of amazing life experiences and make you better-rounded. I'm against getting extraneous degrees in fields that you don't find interesting -- the best possible outcome is that you've spent a year of your life intensively studying something you don't care about. We don't get all that many years of our lives that it's worth it to intentionally spend one doing something you don't want to do.
posted by kataclysm at 11:41 AM on February 25, 2010
There is more to life than preparing for life.
Oh man, this needs to repeated a thousand times. Go to Paris. I think you're just looking for permission.
/jealousy
posted by desjardins at 11:52 AM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
Oh man, this needs to repeated a thousand times. Go to Paris. I think you're just looking for permission.
/jealousy
posted by desjardins at 11:52 AM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
My initial thought is "don't do philosophy, do something USEFUL". I've got a philosophy major, and wished I'd gotten either some better work experience, or a different major, something just a little more useful and employable.
...But, 20/20 hindsight is an amazing thing - If I were in that situation again...go to Paris.
sorry , I'm not really helpful.
posted by robotot at 11:58 AM on February 25, 2010
...But, 20/20 hindsight is an amazing thing - If I were in that situation again...go to Paris.
sorry , I'm not really helpful.
posted by robotot at 11:58 AM on February 25, 2010
Seriously - go to Paris. Of all the things you may come to regret later in life, this will NOT be one of them.
posted by estherbester at 1:45 PM on February 25, 2010
posted by estherbester at 1:45 PM on February 25, 2010
Yeah, I did the philosophy degree, and it's been useless as far as earning a living. But I don't regret it one bit! In fact, I'd say, it's been very helpful on a purely psychological level. In practical terms, you if you don't want to pursue an academic career, there's still a lot you can do to earn a living, and where such a degree will not be an obstacle (tons of lawyers started out with philosophy degrees, a lot of people in public policy etc., etc.). AND, you absolutely must take some time off and go to Paris - I'd say, every young person should live abroad for at least a year, no matter where they come from. Also, please knock it off with the "asian" bit - you are your own person, don't let anyone or anything define you. The world is increasingly - and blessedly - multicultural. Go Waste, young man!
posted by VikingSword at 2:59 PM on February 25, 2010
posted by VikingSword at 2:59 PM on February 25, 2010
chiming in with vestigal philosophy degree. It's done nothing for me, other than to get impressed looks from people who ask. Paris could be great. Going to Asia in my senior year changed my life (seeing as, after graduating, I came here and haven't left). If you do go, make a serious effort to learn the language while you're there. The year that I lived in China, I didn't, and I feel pretty dumb about that.
On the other hand, if you don't go to Paris, you've got a year left, right? Could you tack on a minor, or even (if you talk to people in the department), a second major that might give you a bit more oomph? You could conceivably get some CS under your belt, or something, perhaps, that might complement your philosophy degree as a foot in the door of a professional career. Law, as mentioned above?
posted by Ghidorah at 5:21 PM on February 25, 2010
On the other hand, if you don't go to Paris, you've got a year left, right? Could you tack on a minor, or even (if you talk to people in the department), a second major that might give you a bit more oomph? You could conceivably get some CS under your belt, or something, perhaps, that might complement your philosophy degree as a foot in the door of a professional career. Law, as mentioned above?
posted by Ghidorah at 5:21 PM on February 25, 2010
Go to Paris. To miss an opportunity like that at your age would be such a waste. Spending a few years travelling and working abroad after graduation was the best thing I did with my life.
Also, my best friend has a philosophy degree and is now a successful bank manager. Go figure.
posted by fso at 7:04 PM on February 25, 2010
Also, my best friend has a philosophy degree and is now a successful bank manager. Go figure.
posted by fso at 7:04 PM on February 25, 2010
Actually philosophy degrees are really good for going into law school. But I pretty much agree with the folks above. You should go to Paris. It does sound like you think you need permission.
You will learn things that have nothing to do with your future earning potential, but then again - you never know. You might actually. This world is changing rapidly and we don't know what jobs will exist in ten years. Being able to think and being interesting is going to help you more than having a master's degree that you don't care much about.
Also, I would say that the connection between CS and Journalism is increasingly becoming important as paper journalism goes away. But more than learning the details behind CS is learning the programming skills and being able to make the connections between data and good stories.
Go have fun!
posted by mulkey at 7:25 PM on February 25, 2010
You will learn things that have nothing to do with your future earning potential, but then again - you never know. You might actually. This world is changing rapidly and we don't know what jobs will exist in ten years. Being able to think and being interesting is going to help you more than having a master's degree that you don't care much about.
Also, I would say that the connection between CS and Journalism is increasingly becoming important as paper journalism goes away. But more than learning the details behind CS is learning the programming skills and being able to make the connections between data and good stories.
Go have fun!
posted by mulkey at 7:25 PM on February 25, 2010
A philosophy/liberal arts degree isn't in itself a bad thing, but you'll find yourself needing to "sell yourself" a bit, e.g., "Sure I can explain the difference between Continental and Analytic traditions, but you'll also notice I interned for a while with Company X doing some writing and editing for them."
I was an English major and the hustle was (is, for that matter) tying your academic pedigree in a "soft" field to some actual real-world experience. And connections always help.
Spending a year in Paris sounds like pretty much the definition of an awesome thing to have on your resume, not to mention the fact that you'll have a blast. And obviously, don't be lazy and learn as much French as possible.
As for MA's in the humanities (I have one in English), that's kind of a funny one I haven't figured out. I've met potential employers who couldn't care less, and I've met ones who thought I was some kind of brainiac just for having an MA from a nationally recognized school, even before I told them I got it for studying relatively obscure post WWII American poets. So go figure. An MA will never hurt you. But in a lot of contexts it won't help either.
posted by bardic at 12:58 AM on February 26, 2010
I was an English major and the hustle was (is, for that matter) tying your academic pedigree in a "soft" field to some actual real-world experience. And connections always help.
Spending a year in Paris sounds like pretty much the definition of an awesome thing to have on your resume, not to mention the fact that you'll have a blast. And obviously, don't be lazy and learn as much French as possible.
As for MA's in the humanities (I have one in English), that's kind of a funny one I haven't figured out. I've met potential employers who couldn't care less, and I've met ones who thought I was some kind of brainiac just for having an MA from a nationally recognized school, even before I told them I got it for studying relatively obscure post WWII American poets. So go figure. An MA will never hurt you. But in a lot of contexts it won't help either.
posted by bardic at 12:58 AM on February 26, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
There is more to life than preparing for life. A better way to frame the year abroad option is to focus on cultivating your emotional iq. Balance is hugely important, and phenomenal experiences (like traveling abroad) go a long way towards balancing people. It's really a "work to live, or live to work" type question, and from where I sit it is always better to work to live.
posted by pwally at 11:31 AM on February 25, 2010 [3 favorites]