<p>As the question states, anyone get a Masters in Engineering because you just wanted to learn more? </p>
<p>Did you continue your education right after your BS because you didn’t want to get swallowed up in a full time job? </p>
<p>Or was it for the once in a lifetime experience to be a grad student?</p>
<p>Typically, people post threads on this forum stating their intentions for getting a Masters is because of a higher salary, make themselves more marketable, etc. My intentions is because I want to keep learning while I’m still young and able to explore the world while I’m not tied down by a mortgage and a full time job.</p>
<p>My mentor at my internship says getting a Masters is a waste because of opportunity costs and you run the high risk of being overqualified, but the self enlightenment and passion are worth every penny IMO. I was just curious as to who else felt the same…</p>
<p>The first year or two of grad school isn’t the part that most people remember happily. That’s like saying your favorite part of undergrad was finals week.</p>
<p>Oh goodness, quals were the absolute lowest point in my life. Given, the OP is talking about a master’s degree so he won’t have to do that. Seriously though, they drove me insane.</p>
<p>Problem is, when you skip the masters and have a kid and a mortgage and realize you’ll never be able to live in a decent house or take a decent vacation because you didn’t take that extra year or two when you were young to get that masters, you’ll understand why everybody told you to go for your masters before you start your real life.</p>
<p>Personally, I went for a masters degree to qualify for higher-paying positions without needing to put in as many years of experience. In the government contracting industry, you get higher billing rates just for having a masters degree. Once I knew that, I pretty much constructed a “not so challenging” degree program and looked for programs with the following attributes:</p>
<ul>
<li>30 credits (not 33 or 36)</li>
<li>non thesis</li>
<li>interdisciplinary </li>
<li>had the word “engineering” in the degree title (since my B.S. is in Math)</li>
</ul>
<p>My 10 courses consisted of the following:</p>
<p>Probability & Statistics (for the math requirement)
Technical Writing (for the technical communication requirement)
Optimization for Engineering (for the computer applications requirement)
Project Management I (for the engineering management requirement)
Systems Engineering Management (for the engineering management emphasis)
Cost & Value Analysis (for the engineering management emphasis)
Quality Management (for the engineering management emphasis)
Stochastic Processes (technical elective)
Linear Algebra (technical elective)
Data Warehousing & Data Mining (technical elective)</p>
<p>I lucked out since I was a math major (undergrad) and was able to include 4 math-heavy courses in my program. Also, by trade, I am a database architect/DBA so that data warehouse course was a “gimmie”, so half of my program could be done by me basically sleepwalking. Since it was non-thesis, I knew I was done once I handed in the last project of my 10th course. No comprehensive exams, no thesis/scholarly papers…nothing that could have the faculty delay me…and me beating up some faculty member, lol.</p>
<p>Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need school to learn more. On the contrary, self-learning is much better because you can do it on your own terms and there is no grade tied to your studies.
Degrees are proof more than they are a means to learn.</p>
<p>I have a coworker that does master’s programs as a hobby. No kidding. He started out doing a engineering master’s part time while working. Once he finished, the realization came that he simply enjoyed learning. So he kept enrolling at local schools taking night classes. So far, I think he has earned additional degrees in economics, math, history, and maybe an MBA. The beauty of his situation is that the company pays the tuition. </p>
<p>So, yes, people do get masters just for the sheer fun of it.</p>