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How useful is a masters in computer science?

F

fpar

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 11, 2008
109
0
I live in the uk and am considering taking computer science at university but al my teacher recommend doing a straight science like chemistry or biology instead because of career prospects. I am still unsure what i want to do after university and an looking for some ore advice on if i should take computer science.

Thanks
 
Do what you enjoy and are good at, I did physics for all the wrong reasons and dropped out to re-enter for compsci next year.
 
the reason i ask is that i am interested in comp sci but also enjoy chemistry, i would prefer computer science but not if the career prospects are worse.
 
Thats what i read but at the same time i also found out the computer science grads had the highest unemployment levels at almost 10 percent.
 
Such statistics are skewed by the number of pikey kids who take it so they can "make playstation games" then fumble through the degree at a pikey university and scrape a pass. If you actually have a clue you'll walk straight into a job.
 
Mord said:
Such statistics are skewed by the number of pikey kids who take it so they can "make playstation games" then fumble through the degree at a pikey university and scrape a pass. If you actually have a clue you'll walk straight into a job.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with that. Make sure it's a real Computer Science degree, not a point-and-click with no theory course. If they are using Windows take a long, hard look and ask if they are tying you into a particular toolset rather than teaching you generic, reusable skills. A good course should teach the theory behind computing (maths heavy). It should teach general skills, not particular languages. Ideally it should teach problem solving, not block building...
 
Thanks for the advice, im pretty sure i will be applying to computer science.
 
fpar said:
Thanks for the advice, im pretty sure i will be applying to computer science.
Click to expand...

Which Uni are you looking at? Some of the best courses I have seen are from the following:

Sheffield (NOT HARLEM!)
Imperial College London
Bristol
Oxbridge (obviously although they seem to be more maths based)
Warwick
Manchester
Swansea (looks okay - seems to take people with little maths background)
 
Cromulent said:
Which Uni are you looking at? Some of the best courses I have seen are from the following:

Sheffield (NOT HARLEM!)
Imperial College London
Bristol
Oxbridge (obviously although they seem to be more maths based)
Warwick
Manchester
Swansea (looks okay - seems to take people with little maths background)
Click to expand...

I'm biased as I went there but I'd add Edinburgh (the University of, not either of the other two). Very solid course offering both theory and practical sides with some interesting side courses available. Also lots of joint degrees so as you can branch out a little. I did a joint degree in AI/CS...
 
I have a masters in computer science here in the USA, and I hate it. The government won't send me welfare checks because I'm too successful or something. I didn't even get in on that stimulus we had last summer because I made "too much." How lame is that? I'm going back to flipping burgers.

All jokes aside, I think it gives me a leg up on people with a BS degree. I worked as a software engineer while I went to school, and I find that most job listings want x to y years of experience with a BSCS or (x-2) to (y-2) years of experience with an MSCS. Since it only took me a year to go through the masters program (double time, while working!) I think it paid off.

Ultimately, however, it depends on what you want to do as a career. Do you have your bachelors yet? It should be easy to double major in CS and chemistry if chemistry is what you love. That gives you time to think about which one you'd like to specialize in. Of course, you could always get two MS degrees. :)

Why not just combine the two and work towards a career in bioinformatics? You'd need some biology, too, but then you can use your computer skills to help develop cures for things.
 
Im still looking at different comp sci courses. What do you think of a sandwich course? I am not sure is the extra year is worth it. At this stage i don't know what sort of career to go into, but i am sure i want to work in the it industry. I would much rather do comp sci to chemistry but was only thinking about chemistry as i heard that it had a much higher earning potential. Thanks
 
Mord said:
Such statistics are skewed by the number of pikey kids who take it so they can "make playstation games" then fumble through the degree at a pikey university and scrape a pass. If you actually have a clue you'll walk straight into a job.
Click to expand...

agree 100%, there were/are too many kids who think that they can play xbox games all day and then get a degree and start making them. I had a ton of kids i went to school with who thought that.
 
fpar said:
Im still looking at different comp sci courses. What do you think of a sandwich course? I am not sure is the extra year is worth it. At this stage i don't know what sort of career to go into, but i am sure i want to work in the it industry. I would much rather do comp sci to chemistry but was only thinking about chemistry as i heard that it had a much higher earning potential. Thanks
Click to expand...

Look for statistics. Not sure where you are hearing that. Chemical engineers can make a lot of money, but so do comp sci folks. :D
 
Earning potential isn't just about what degree you get. It's about how good you are and how much you love your job.

If you get a degree in something that you're not really interested in, you're probably not going to make as much. People who aren't really interested in what they do usually don't do as good of a job as people who are really interested in it. Going into something that doesn't really interest you is a great way to burn yourself out. Your happiness is more important than earning potential.

You'll find your way as you go along. Pay attention to yourself -- what do you like to do? What are you really good at? What gets you excited? This will help you figure out what you should do next. Don't pay attention to the statistics, pay attention to what makes you happy.

Personally, I've got a BS in maths, a BS in CS, and a MS in human-computer interaction. I've got a job that I completely adore. I get paid very well for doing it. I'm sure that there are professions out there that would pay me more, but I'm good at what I do and I think that I've got the coolest job in the world. :D That's what's important.
 
I did computer science at Manchester and really enjoyed it. I also applied to Edinburgh so I would second that as a good university too. Everyone I know from my course is either doing a masters or has a good job now, so I wouldn't let that worry you.

One thing to remember, and this isn't apparent to a lot of people, is that computer science is not really about using computers. There is a lot of maths, physics and other sciences in there with a slant towards how they are used for making computers. You won't be learning to make a spreadsheet and probably less than half will be about programming.

As for the masters, if you are worrying about career prospects I would suggest you try and get a years experience in a real job rather than an MSc. Whether this is from a sandwich course or from getting a job straight after uni is up to you. I went for the second approach (you get paid more!).
 
I agree with some of the other posters on here

do both. There are plenty of opportunities for chemistry folks who can do CS(and the other way around!)

And even if you don't go into that field per se, having both majors will certainly turn some heads come recruiting time!

However, not sure how common doubling up is in the UK....
 
As i mentioned i am not sure i want to study computer science, i have made a rough decision as to which universities i wish to apply to.
UCL
Sheffield
Southampton
Lancaster
Glasgow

Im hoping for some feedback on these unis, the guardian league table ranks them highly but I feel the community would know better.
 
Can I ask here about masters in computer science?

I have an undergraduate degree in economics and am looking for a computer science masters 'conversion' course. How much knowledge is required to get onto these courses?

Which courses would you recommend?
Also can you recommend reading / prep to allow me to know what I’m letting myself in for!?

Any advice suggestions really welcome.
 
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