Brian McCoy

I thought it was just the opposite - I took 4~5 years off from school and went back (full-time, thanks for the inheritance Grandma!) I found that I was MUCH more motivated to get all I could from the experience. I went from being a lousy student who could barely keep passing grades to being on top of the Deans list.

*shrugs* different strokes for different folks

scular

GET A CO-OP! If you still have time and are undecided get a co-op, the company will pay nicely while you take a semester break from school. It should allow you to make a better decision, because you will have been actually doning work that you would being if you graduated already. Also it is a good time to make contacts in industry that will be able to assist your decision even more. Make sense?

PrerYDoG

You've heard the advice I'm going to give you, but since I'm at where you're at (not quite all the way), I figured I'd chime in.

I left my undergrad program about 4 years ago..well, maybe 5 to move back home because I hated college. I started working for a GREAT company (please buy our stock!) in the IT Department. Once I got my foot in the door I was able to show them what I knew, which got my elevated to where I'm at now. While doing all this, I decided I wanted to finish school, and the company is now picking up the tab. With any luck, I'll finish my undergrad at JMU next December, and without luck (JMU sucks with helping students) it'll be the May after that. Once that's complete, I'll be starting my Masters, and my company is picking up the tab for that too.

When I graduate with my BS, I'll have a BS + 5 years working experience. When I graduate with a MBA with my BS, I'll have about 8 - 9 years of experience, and be 27y.o.. That looks good. REALLY good. Even in a crappy job market. I say take the job, go to school part time.

My problem is, I'm going to school full time with the job (though some semesters I only make it part time), and I'll tell you, it is ROUGH. Classes are MUCH easier when you're working. You're more focused, motivated, ready to do the work, you bring real world experience to the class room, professors love it. On the flip side, I'm either in school or at work for at least 12 hours a day. Then I have group meetings, homework, projects, work that I take home, business trips, work functions, school functions, dealing with administration, and because you're in the working world making money, life in general: cars, taxes, rent, bills etc...

You get the point. It takes dedication and hard work, in the end, I see it as being worth it.

Clem

Another MIT grad here. I got a BS in Computer Science in 95, and at the time faced a very similar situation. Job market was good, but I didn't know what I wanted to get involved in. MIT had successfully turned me off of anything terribly R&D specific. I opted to stay an extra year and finish a master's degree. (They began offering a 1 year program to their own undergrads as they were phasing out the 2 year program) I can honestly say that my 5th year was unquestionably the best time I spent there. Graduate classes were much more relaxed and interesting. I was working in a lab as well, and enjoyed having longer-term projects rather than just weekly problem sets. I found the graduate life to be a welcome change from the undergraduate grind. Once my year was up, though, I still didn't have a clearer picture of what I wanted to do, but I did have a higher degree.

I think if you're unclear about what you want to do, staying in school will not necessarily help you focus. Although a graduate EE program will most likely let you know if that career path is for you.
On the other hand, taking the job is also the only way to see what a professional engineering career involves and if it's for you. Plus, you'll hopefully have the opportunity to continue your education while working (as many have said) and you can always stop and go back to school full-time.

Given all that, I don't think you can make a bad decision. Either way, you'll learn something about yourself and your interests. You'll steer yourself to the right path. I have a lot of friends from school that are doing things completely unrelated to their undergrad studies. Some went to work, some went to grad school, some went to work and then back to school, etc.

Good luck,
Jim


PS - As far as TAs go, that shouldn't be too much of a concern. All major programs should make that available.

Type_LT

Thanks for the replies I really appreciate it! It's great to hear everyone experiences with this. The school I go to now is completely co-op, has been since 1919. It's a 5 year program with 2.5yr work and 2.5yr school. I've been with the same company (Hamilton Sundstrand) for those 2.5 years and have enjoyed my time here. So I haven't really had a "long" work term your know, for a year or more, it's been limited to 3 month intervals between school/work. Looking on the internet it looks like someone with an MA in engineering on average gets 6k more than a BA, not much. I would certainly like to see a degree from MIT or Purdue on the wall, however I realize that it really comes down to the person once you hit the workplace.

I now know that my place of work will pay for more schooling however I'm torn at the idea of focusing on both. I would rather focus on school and get it over.

I know places like MIT are quite expensive, how reasonable would it be to think a TA or RA would be enough to put me through without loans?

Thanks again guys for the input, I owe you all one!

SidViscous

Going to Northeastern are ya.

Manning

I'd say if you have a good job lined up then take it. It is really hard to go back to school (I've been saying I will for 10 years), but if you have something lined up and you can get them to help with school...

Skip

LT, that salary gap may be more than you think - given the average pay increse per year of 6% (EE ind std), starting salary ~60k, you'd be at nearly the same after 2yrs (as the MA) - find a work-study and you're way ahead of that 6k figure (work studies get raises too). And, FWIW, every Master's program I'm aware of requires a great deal of practical hours - there's no such thing as "just a student" in Grad school.

FYI, I'm an underachiever - so, anything I say is slighted by laziness

S

Doug Donsbach

The prospects for challenging work in the EE field just suck at this time. 5 years ago, I would say go to work, skip the MS or PhD. Today, you aren't missing anything out here. Regardless of the economic indicators, the economy sucks and it isn't going to get any better before you could complete your MS.