<p>I did my undergrad in CS and math. I’m now pursuing 3 MS degrees. One in CS which is easy for me since I did it undergrad. Another is systems which doesn’t really have much of an undergrad curriculum; strength in math is all that is required.</p>
<p>My other MS is in EE. Obviously this is a different ball park. Before starting I took the regular course on signals and systems as a starting point. (Since my undergrad and grad schools are the same, they were lax about forcing me to take extra intro courses). In terms of course work, I have to work very hard. I’m taking a graduate class on quantitative image processing, which uses the Fourier transform regularly (and has DSP as a prereq which I didn’t take). I have to work hard at the class; I have a Schaums outline guide on DSP to look up and practice topics that I am supposed to know. I also carefully select which courses I take (ie I stay away from power courses, electrodynamics, etc.). I’m sort of focusing on communications, with courses like Information Theory, coding theory, detection and estimation theory, signaling, and routing. So far, I have a 4.0 in my EE courses.</p>
<p>Come job time,I don’t have close to the needed background to get an EE job. I have focused on a specific area which I could work in, but I would consider myself many times weaker than someone with a BS in EE. Graduate courses focus on specific areas, while undergraduate are more fundamental. I’ve taken lots of communications classes, but still haven’t taken the undergrad one where you learn how to change signals to bits through transforms, how to send them, etc. I understand the concepts but not the practice.</p>
<p>Hence for me my MS in EE is more to set me apart from all the others with an MS in CS. I wouldn’t consider myself able to have an EE job without spending a year focusing on the undergrad courses that are really essential.</p>
<p>I would imagine for something like mech e, or cheme there would be a different story, requiring more undergrad courses to catch up.</p>
<p>(Sorry for any typos, getting used to the new CC app)</p>