Hi all. I am a foreign undergraduate planning to apply for graduate school in US. Rumor has it that it is useless to apply for PHD in CS or SE. Is it true? And I am particularly interested in game development. Which major should I reply for? (I am now a software engineering major) Thanks in advance

A masters might be worthwhile but probably not the phd. Google seems to be interested in people with graduate degrees, but other than that I don't see a lot of job listings that are looking for them. I think even a masters could be dangerous (by dangerous here I mean bad) if you don't have any real-world experience. Finishing your undergrad degree, getting a few years of work experience, and then getting the masters or phd could be a pretty deadly (by deadly here I mean good :) combo though.

[Edited by - My_Mind_Is_Going on September 20, 2007 12:23:27 PM]

I generally consider anyone with a PhD but no experience to probably be too academic to fit into a games studio. That's possibly unfair on some, but recruitement is not always a fair process.

Thanks for the reply

How about other IT areas? Does degree matter? Or working experience is more important?

Thanks

Quote: Original post by hAmmeRoL
Thanks for the reply

How about other IT areas? Does degree matter? Or working experience is more important?

Thanks

Working experience is far more important than a degree. The conundrum comes in when you consider the fact that a lot of jobs require for you to get your degree before they'll hire you! Once you've got experience under your belt, a degree becomes not much more than a piece of paper that hangs on your wall.

A master's program will teach you things you won't see in a bachelor's program and which is hard to achieve through experience. Being forced to learn things that are not your first interest really widens your horizon and makes you think in a different way.

A PhD lets you focus on one experimental subject. So unless it's some breakthrough technology that everybody wants to use, it's not going to help you much in your further career. I even know places where they think a PhD is for people too immature to start a real job (which I find true for a certain percentage of them). Unlike a master's degree, it won't teach you things you can't learn on your own.

But this is just my view. I have a master's degree and don't regret it at all personally and professionally. I've been in the position to start a PhD program but after much weighing I realized that I could do nearly the same research in a company and actually use the results in a couple products.

I'm not saying PhD's are useless in general. You can get the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology and get all the credit for it. In a company you might become just a number... So you have to determine for yourself where you want to go.

Quote: Original post by hAmmeRoL
Rumor has it that it is useless to apply for PHD in CS or SE. Is it true?

Rumor has a lot of other things too.
It is not "useless" to have a Ph.D., IMO. I would love to have one.
But perhaps "uselessness" is relative - IOW, it depends on what use you have in mind.

The difference between a PhD and a masters is the difference between doing research to develop new knowledge and find new ways to apply existing knowledge. If the academic environment, research, and teaching is your goal then a PhD is unavoidable. If academia is not your cup of tea and you'd rather look for existing methods in other CS fields to apply to game development, then a master's degree is more suitable for you.

> How about other IT areas? Does degree matter?
> Or working experience is more important?

Six months after graduation, people won't remember what major and minor you got. After 2 years, people won't remember what college you went to. After 5 years, people won't remember what degree(s) you have. After 10 years, nobody will care anymore...

> I think even a masters could be dangerous (by dangerous
> here I mean bad) if you don't have any real-world experience.

I don't see why. People with masters will not begin higher up in the ladder; they will just be expected to climb it faster.

-cb

Thanks. Very informative.
So if I just want to get to a well known IT company and climb the ladder fast, my best choice would be a master degree, right?

Quote: Original post by hAmmeRoL
Thanks. Very informative.
So if I just want to get to a well known IT company and climb the ladder fast, my best choice would be a master degree, right?

Most Universities will want you to take a Master first before embarking on a PhD anyway; go do that, and work out if you want to continue studying afterwards. PhD's are useful if you intend to spend time doing core Research, as opposed to Development.

Allan