Considering grad school
Considering grad school
(OP)
For the people who have graduate degrees, I would like to know if you feel like it has helped you in your design work or was it a just a little boost in position/respect for you in your company?
For a working engineer, is it worth going for the phd or just sticking with masters?
For a working engineer, is it worth going for the phd or just sticking with masters?






RE: Considering grad school
RE: Considering grad school
RE: Considering grad school
I do not know where Zulak is located, but as far as employers not wanting to pay more for masters and pHD students, that may be the case where he's at. In my experience, looking for a job in the structural field without a master's degree or any structural experience was pretty much pointless.
The only possible explanation (if it is even true) that graduate degrees may be few and far between in industry is that the people who are in positions of authority have been there so long that when they received their degree, the amount of coursework was greater than what is required now. Also, the level of mentoring now is not what it used to be, therefore it did make more sense to forgo graduate school and just go to work. Unfortuately, many employers now expect a fresh graduate to jump straight from school and know everything without any direction.
I'm sure someone out there will be happy to let me know that I'm wrong. Go back to school, you won't regret it.
RE: Considering grad school
do you guys know what's the optimum ratio draftspeople/engineer in the building industry?
thanks a lot
RE: Considering grad school
RE: Considering grad school
Most BS degrees are in general Civil and you get some opportunity, but not much, in most curriculum layouts to get a little extra structural learning in. Halfway through the graduate program I truly felt lots of light bulbs going off in my head. I suddenly REALLY understood all the different analysis methods, concepts, etc.
You won't necessarily get a huge financial compensation for the degree but you will get many more opportunities. I know a lot of engineering managers, myself included, that have preferred MS graduates. I've hired some BS graduates, but only the best, and they work out great. But I know that I would not be as well versed without my MS
RE: Considering grad school
Also, while some disparities exist amoung the public, consulting, and private sectors, you will be paid well and will be considerablly more marketable.
RE: Considering grad school
Both the curricula and the profession have been "watered down", not surprisingly for the same reasons, but from different perspectives. In academia, there was a push to create and further the ASCE philosophy, as well as deal with budget constraints that limited the coursework at the BS level. Further, there was a "dumbing down" of engineering coursework to comply with other University curricula norms (Why should engineering require more credit hours for a BS than an elementary teacher?...was the unknowing question asked by many administrators who controlled the budgets and thus the direction of many programs! As practicing engineers, we all know the answer to that, but it was obvious that they did not!)
In "industry" the enhanced marketing of credentials has become so important to winning projects that having a Master's degree (surprisingly, in almost any subject, as long as you have the BS in the appropriate one)has become very important. Insight is perhaps the most important product of graduate work. The coursework is not tremendously more rigorous, just different in its focus and perspective.
In short, any knowledge gained is beneficial and completion of graduate coursework is, fortunately or unfortunately, the verification of this gained knowledge.
Go for it!
RE: Considering grad school
Ron,
I agree with everything you said except one thing. Personally, I found the coursework in grad school to be MUCH more rigorous than undergrad. Several times I walked out of lectures feeling like my brain had been melted. Only after hours of studying on my own did I really understand what the prof was talking about.
RE: Considering grad school
Definitely pursue a Masters degree. Personally I don't feel a PhD is any more valuable than a Masters, but a Masters is definitely more valuable than just a Bachelors when pursuing employment. Also, some employers like to tell clients and potential clients their staff has "graduate" degrees.
RE: Considering grad school
Same goes for graduate study, I guess, except that by the time you get to that level, the learning is more focused on (hopefully) what you love doing. I studied harder, but didn't find the topics at the level of brain-melt that you refer to, Taro.
One thing that I did notice, however, was a lot of burn-out with students who went directly from B.S. to graduate school. I had left school and worked a couple of years so I was raring to go.
RE: Considering grad school
One other thing - I feel that engineers out of college do not know enough about building codes and finding out wind and seismic loadings and such. From what I understand, a masters degree would not help in this area one bit.