Grad Schoool Questions on CS Major

J

JC0724

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 11, 2008
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105
Computer Science Masters
So I would like some advice as well as some input. Anything you guys can give me, I would greatly appreciate it.

I got my undergrad in Electrical Engineering back in 2005. My favorite classes in college were electronics, logic design, digital systems and every software/programming class I took. I didn't take many programming classes. Maybe 3 at most.

I have been working the past 6 years. 3 years in electrical analysis and design, 2.5 years in software engineering which I really liked. I used mostly in house software to write my code which wasn't to complicated(conditional statements, functions, single dimension arrays, loops) stuff like that. I have decided I really want to go back for my masters.

2 reasons

1. Which is the biggest reason. I enjoy school and learning and 2. Cause my company will pay for it.

I am pretty sure I want to go into computer science but I am considering computer systems/engineering as well.

I need to slim down my areas of interest for grad school.

I am really interested in

Game development/AI
User Interfaces and Graphics
Logic Design/Digital System using HDL(VHDL or Verilog)
Robotics
Software Security Systems

Just want your input/thoughts on these questions

So my questions are

1. How would you rank these in terms of difficult?

2. Which ones are in higher demand in the job market today?

3. Which ones usually have the higher paying salary?

4. Which ones are harder to get jobs for? Ex. I heard getting into game development is tough?

5. Last questions is which ones is more adaptable to my other interests?

Ex. I know I can work AI in game development but I am sure I can do the same in robotics.
 
Will you be working fulltime and schooling fulltime?

If so you are in for more of a load than you expect, even with minimal fulltime class hours.
 
no just school full time, not working. I can take leave from my job. So just focus on school
 
Why is this in General Hardware?

You'll make your most amount of money in security and VHDL engineering. Robotics is really just at a research level unless you land a cosey military contracting job (better have a squeaky clean record). You'll make the least with UI. But if you are good at graphics and AI, you can make a decent living. General game development will make you the second least.

Different areas are demanding different talent. You won't run out of work in security and engineering. Robotics will be tougher to get into. UI programmers are usually contracted. AI and graphics programmers will be in demand. General game development programmers, umm... lots of competition.

The most difficult job on that list has to be security, robotics, and VHDL. None of them are easy. They'll be easier if you love the subject matter.

If you come out with great grades and a good portfolio of sample work / side projects, you can easily get hired into most of those. UI not so much.

Take on side projects, experiment learning a little of each. You'll eventually sway willingly or by need to one area. The important part is to do well in your classes and also make the effort to put in work outside of them that is demonstrable.
 
I don't know if you have heard about the free Stanford AI class. All of the lectures are free to view and they might give you some ideas or spark some interest. So far the class has not covered much but it is supposed to get into robotics and game AI. I am taking it to get ideas for a masters myself, I have always liked taking a class or two to get an idea if I would like it long term. Best part is that this class is free. Cant sign up for the "advanced" track but you can still see the material and get a ideas.
 
Do you have the requisite mathematical background to be able to handle AI and algorithms? Game AI tends to be rather simplistic due to performance restrictions, but a lot of the heavy duty academic AI uses a lot of linear algebra, probability, algorithms and discrete math. I wouldn't recommend trying to go deep into AI research without mastery in at least those subjects.

In general, I'd say AI can be applicable to just about anywhere, but it also depends on what your definition of AI is. I know plenty of people who think of any kind of search as AI, and thus, any optimization problem is considered by them as AI. You can just think of it as inspecting your search space to minimize/maximize some cost function.
 
MeTaSpARKs said:
Why is this in General Hardware?

You'll make your most amount of money in security and VHDL engineering. Robotics is really just at a research level unless you land a cosey military contracting job (better have a squeaky clean record). You'll make the least with UI. But if you are good at graphics and AI, you can make a decent living. General game development will make you the second least.

Different areas are demanding different talent. You won't run out of work in security and engineering. Robotics will be tougher to get into. UI programmers are usually contracted. AI and graphics programmers will be in demand. General game development programmers, umm... lots of competition.

The most difficult job on that list has to be security, robotics, and VHDL. None of them are easy. They'll be easier if you love the subject matter.

If you come out with great grades and a good portfolio of sample work / side projects, you can easily get hired into most of those. UI not so much.

Take on side projects, experiment learning a little of each. You'll eventually sway willingly or by need to one area. The important part is to do well in your classes and also make the effort to put in work outside of them that is demonstrable.
Click to expand...

What type of jobs can you get doing VHDL? For some reason I can only come up with Intel and AMD.

Is it hard to find a job in Security like it is for Game development?
 
xSnowmaNx said:
Do you have the requisite mathematical background to be able to handle AI and algorithms? Game AI tends to be rather simplistic due to performance restrictions, but a lot of the heavy duty academic AI uses a lot of linear algebra, probability, algorithms and discrete math. I wouldn't recommend trying to go deep into AI research without mastery in at least those subjects.

In general, I'd say AI can be applicable to just about anywhere, but it also depends on what your definition of AI is. I know plenty of people who think of any kind of search as AI, and thus, any optimization problem is considered by them as AI. You can just think of it as inspecting your search space to minimize/maximize some cost function.
Click to expand...

I mean I just know the math I took in college for my EE major. Cal I, II, and III. Differential Equations I and II and Linear Algebra. I also took probability(but didn't do well in that class). I did well in all of these math classes and pick up on it pretty quickly. I am not sure overall if that will be good enough.
 
I get the impression that you mainly want the degree to become more employable and if that is the case then you will be in for a surprise because unless you want a 30k/yr entry level job those who have hands on experience will be far ahead of you having a Master's.

Look at it this way, traditional geeks went to highschool and then college, got their Master's and now have education and 10 years of programming experience on you. Of course you'll be able to find a job, no doubt about that, the only doubt is whether it will be one which pays as much as your current one.

Though since you said that your current job will pay for full time grad school I'll go ahead and assume that you are in the military since I doubt that a private company would pay for your Master's in Game Development.

My advice is to get a Master's that corresponds to your current field. Getting a Master's in Electrical or Computer Engineering rather than Computer Science will allow you to count your current work experience toward a new job while getting into Computer Science will basically be a career change.

Unless you hate what you are currently doing and the employment opportunities in your field I would advise against changing careers because you'll start over a the bottom in many (if not most) cases.
 
Don't get a Masters degree in a field so closely related to your undergrad unless you already have some plans for it lined up. If you want to expand your marketability and open new doors in your academic and professional careers, think outside the box. What can your existing experience and degree synergize with to help you stand out? I often recommend design/human-computer interaction, business/economics, and complex systems/physics/mathematics depending on where you see yourself 10 years from now. If you just want to increase your knowledge/marketability in your current field, a Masters might be a poor investment. Becoming overqualified could also be something to watch out for, though by the time you actually have your degree, job market conditions could be more favorable (but don't count on it).
 
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