Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
(OP)
Would you leave your career, and go back to school for a MS or PhD at an elite institution?
A colleague and friend in HR, in our company, applied to grad schools just for fun/curiosity this past year. She was admitted to some truly elite schools (Yale, Stanford, Harvard) in humanities. Her undergrad stats were decent but not amazing, so likely the long record of work experience and strong recommendation letters carried her through. As for us in the company, we were both happy and amused. She also got full funding/scholarship for being a single mother.
Her success sparked a debate for the engineers. Say you were accepted to an elite school for a PhD and fully funded thru a scholarship or company. Would you put your career on a hiatus to attend a truly elite engineering program (MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Caltech, Cambridge, Princeton, Imperial) for an MS/PhD?
For me it would be tough to turn down the opportunity but I don't think I would take the leap.
A colleague and friend in HR, in our company, applied to grad schools just for fun/curiosity this past year. She was admitted to some truly elite schools (Yale, Stanford, Harvard) in humanities. Her undergrad stats were decent but not amazing, so likely the long record of work experience and strong recommendation letters carried her through. As for us in the company, we were both happy and amused. She also got full funding/scholarship for being a single mother.
Her success sparked a debate for the engineers. Say you were accepted to an elite school for a PhD and fully funded thru a scholarship or company. Would you put your career on a hiatus to attend a truly elite engineering program (MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Caltech, Cambridge, Princeton, Imperial) for an MS/PhD?
For me it would be tough to turn down the opportunity but I don't think I would take the leap.





RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
For example If I work on machine monitoring and analysis and I would need some sharp maths which I can hardly get by doing some self studying then I might go for an MSc course (in this case, say some signal processing techniques etc for example sake).
So all in all I would need to find the sponsorship/scolarship + a university acceptance + some sort of "guarantee" to find a job in the same area for which I graduated for (which is tough in the current economy...) + not being constrained by other obligations (e.g. family support) I think for that to happen the planets and the moon need to be perfectly aligned....
"If you want to acquire a knowledge or skill, read a book and practice the skill".
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
However, that's because it doesn't align with my career or life goals or the reality of my current situation as hokie brings up.
My answer might be different in X years time.
Plus of course, from having worked with lots of Phd's over the last few years I'm not completely sold that having a Phd fundamentally makes you a better Engineer.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
Please remember: we're not all guys!
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
All the best in your decision.
Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
I saw a MS as necessary to become an effective power engineer but chose to slowly complete it while working full time and it has paid dividends in the form of applying class room material/theory to actual project work. This was an enormous difference between my undergrad & masters where in one I was learning material without knowing if I would ever apply but the other I was learning the theory behind the applications I was working to engineer. This only made me dive even deeper into the material than the curriculum & project would have required if done separately.
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
It was an unusual course - more a sort of broadening into lots of different fields of engineering rather than a specialisation and it's given me the confidence to get quite deeply into all sorts of things ever since. It was hard work at the time, but well worth the effort.
In terms of short term career advancement, it was very useful. Whether I exploited the advantage to the full in the long term is questionable - I think I could probably have done "better" if I'd not spent so much time doing what I liked better - and I don't think I regret that at all.
A.
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
A PhD at the end of my career, if it were fully funded? Meh. Think I'm fully and finally done with courses for credit. I'd prefer to teach one than to take any more!
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
Other days, I don't see the point in further studying and rather have job that allows me to be out of the office once in while (which I'll hopefully soon have).
Either way, right now I'm the sole provider for my family, until that changes the question is moot.
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?
Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
RE: Would you put your career on hiatus, to attend a truly elite engineering university (MS or PhD)?