Grad School

Serendipity

Uh-oh, that's not good. Because on of my dreams in life was to become an engineer for an audio company like Polk, or design home theater products like projectors, TV's, etc.

So at this point I don't even know if grad school is a good idea or not.

jdhdiggs

Early B. wrote: »

I dunno, but we know for a fact that lots of US manufacturing jobs have gone overseas, including Polk and virtually every other American-based audio company. So if goods aren't being manufactured in America, there's a reduced need for engineers.

Here's a Business Week article from 2006:

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/nov2006/sb20061107_874214.htm

What? I mean, I guess if you're talking about the engineers that put together the machines on the shop floor, then that makes sense, otherwise it really doesn't. The global market place only means that there are more competitive pressures on engineering which might lead to less pay, but the demand will always be there. Any one can put a bolt on a screw, but not neccessarily design the car...

Engineering jobs will follow talent and not labor $$$, just like most higly specialized disciplines.

Serendipity

I think there will always be a demand for engineers.

unc2701

Research within your field and specifically what you want to do whether a grad degree makes sense.

For me, almost no one hires people without a grad degree, so it made a huge difference, but every field is gonna be different.

The level (masters/PhD) matters a lot, too. In my case, a doctorate doesn't do me any good since I do applied work w/ no theory and the jobs almost always say masters w/ XX years experience OR Doctorate with XX minus 2 years experience.

PhantomOG

unc2701 wrote: »

For me, almost no one hires people without a grad degree, so it made a huge difference, but every field is gonna be different.

Very true. I'm very lucky to be doing what I'm doing because they don't hire here without at least a master's degree. I don't have one but managed to slide in since I already worked for the company. But it was not easy and I wish I had just gone to grad school instead.

Serendipity

PhantomOG wrote: »

Very true. I'm very lucky to be doing what I'm doing because they don't hire here without at least a master's degree. I don't have one but managed to slide in since I already worked for the company. But it was not easy and I wish I had just gone to grad school instead.

Hmm, this makes me wonder, is it that much better if you had just gone to grad school?

markmarc

I did my Masters online while teaching full-time. I would tell you to get out and work a few years before starting a program. It's important to have some real world experience and perspective.

Serendipity

markmarc wrote: »

I did my Masters online while teaching full-time. I would tell you to get out and work a few years before starting a program. It's important to have some real world experience and perspective.

How did that go, teaching and doing your masters together?

markmarc

The whole program was online, one course at a time over X amount of weeks. I had about 2-3 hours of work a night. I saved a tremendous amount of travel time as the closest university program was an hour each way. For me, it was a perfect setup. It wasn't easy, but having taught for a bunch of years, I had my teaching units prepared and ready.

Serendipity

2-3 hours of work a night?

Man right now I've got 6-7 hours of work a night!!

cubdog

If you go to grad school you will never regret it. If you don't, you very well may. I "dropped out" midway through my thesis. I should have taken a course in common sense.

cubdog

Serendipity

Well, somebody please tell me that it's worth it

Serendipity

cubdog wrote: »

If you go to grad school you will never regret it. If you don't, you very well may. I "dropped out" midway through my thesis. I should have taken a course in common sense.

cubdog

Yeah, I guess so. My biggest regret in life was when I got admitted into the University of California, and I didn't go.

I guess in 3 years I'm going to grad school!

janmike

Grad school will probably open management positions should that peak your interest. After 2 degrees I decided that an MBA would probably not be beneficial financially and most likely redundant as I already have a Business Degree. Management was not a big thing for me and as for the financial part – I make more money that 95% of the MBA’s in our company. Good luck.

Shizelbs

cubdog wrote: »

If you go to grad school you will never regret it. If you don't, you very well may.

I, at times, regret not going to grad school a second time around.

I've never heard anyone thats gone through grad school say they regretted it.

Serendipity

janmike wrote: »

Grad school will probably open management positions should that peak your interest. After 2 degrees I decided that an MBA would probably not be beneficial financially and most likely redundant as I already have a Business Degree. Management was not a big thing for me and as for the financial part – I make more money that 95% of the MBA’s in our company. Good luck.

Agreed.

Serendipity

Shizelbs wrote: »

I, at times, regret not going to grad school a second time around.

I've never heard anyone thats gone through grad school say they regretted it.

Well, Dad says I should do it. I'm just not sure if I should stick with engineering or do something business related (like a few of you here suggested)... What about electrical engineering and a MBA?

Serendipity

So - recently I've been talking to a few people who have gone down this road...it seems like grad school in Engineering Management + MBA is the way to go.

So thanks for all your advice guys!

P.S. How many Electrical Engineers do we have on this forum? PM me, I'd like to know a few things!!

Bamadude

I thought about this while I was in college however it was Mechanical Engineering with an MBA. At this point in my career I'm glad I opted not to get the MBA because it doesn't match my career goals anymore since I've been in the field for a few years. When I was in college I was more inclined to think about better pay and graduate school was tempting in that regard. After graduating I went down the project management road for a while and moved up the ladder, but found I really hated managing time lines, budgets and contractors. Also have no interest in big business. I've found I thrive on design, prototyping, testing and interacting with technology. Creativity is what drives me. Lately I've thought about going back for a masters in Biomedical Engineering since it combines the stability of the medical field with technology that physically helps people instead of just making a buck for someone else. I said all that to say you never know how your career interest can change with a few years experience. I found out I hated some of the things I thought I liked, and also how important it is to enjoy what I do regardless of the money. So good luck with your decision, and let us know what you decide. Regards, Daniel

Serendipity

I would just like to let you guys know -

I'm not in this for the money. I want to be an engineer because I love this stuff! I love to tinker around with stuff and I want to either do something with robotics or design HT gear.

shack

appadv wrote:

I would just like to let you guys know -

I'm not in this for the money. I want to be an engineer because I love this stuff! I love to tinker around with stuff and I want to either do something with robotics or design HT gear.

Then you have no reason to get a Engineering Management + MBA. That is for the business end of the profession. If you want to start building stuff...get out there and do it. If later you want to get into mgmt. you still have the option of the MBA if you find you need it. If not then you haven't wasted the time and money on a degree that you will not use.

jdhdiggs

appadv wrote: »

I would just like to let you guys know -

I'm not in this for the money. I want to be an engineer because I love this stuff! I love to tinker around with stuff and I want to either do something with robotics or design HT gear.

I'd double Shack's point-if you want to design stuff, don't take business courses. If you want to get into robotics you will need at least a masters to do any "real" design, otherwise you'd be working on a part for someone else's design.

For music/HT, you would want to look into accoustic enginnering or something like that. I don't know how competitive that field is so I don't know what kind of requirements there are.

Serendipity

What would be best if I wanted to design multi-room audio systems? Or develop HT/home automation gear like Crestron, Elan, AMX, etc. Or even stuff like projectors, TV's, wireless technology, and AVR's?

Bamadude

I agree with not getting the MBA if you're interested in actually doing design work. I don't see the benefit.

Depending on a number of variables like whom you hire on with, size of the company and product line I don't think you necessarily need a masters to get your foot in the door or to contribute with complex designs. I hired on with Corning out of school and within a year or so was designing automated fiber handling equipment and passed up some others with advanced degrees. I think a lot of this was due to that fact that I did co-op work during college that involved a good bit of design work. I'll tell you that co-op work can be just as attractive as a masters or more so in many situations. Did the folks with masters hire in making a little more?... yes, but not for long.

A lot of this also depends on a number of personal factors like talent, motivation and how well you interact with the people and technology you're involved with. Like several others mentioned earlier that they're making more than their co-workers with advanced degrees, but I'm sure there's plenty on the flip side as well so it can go either way. Those personal factors like ambition and talent will make up the bulk of your success with education being just one of the factors. You're doing the right thing asking for opinions. Mine would be to investigate co-op opportunities specifically in the audio world. It helped motivate me and my grades went up drastically because of how exciting the real world experience was. A breather from the books and some decent money was very cool too. Daniel

Serendipity

Thanks,

I would be interested in however working on projects (that's where the management part comes in ) with reagrds to designing HT gear.

I've always wanted to work at a place like Crestron either designing the gear or managing projects regarding the development of new technologies.

Serendipity

Was looking back at this thread -

If one wanted to work at a speaker company designing new products - Polk, for example - what kind of degree would be necessary? And if I wanted to get into the custom install business (Crestron, AMX, Russound, etc.) would grad school be of ANY help?

BTW, I can't seem to find a school that offers "Acoustic Engineering" or "Sound Engineering" around here....

reeltrouble1

The reason you need a Master's is because the little effer's coming up behind you are to get one and you will not be able to compete for jobs with them in 10-15 years...........remember I told you so.

RT1

pmckeealaska

To get a good job in my field (Wildlife Biology) a graduate degree was an absolute requirement. Almost noone in my area of interest can get a permanent position without an advanced degree. Whether or not this situation is B.S. is irrelevant.

obieone

appadv wrote: »

Was looking back at this thread -

If one wanted to work at a speaker company designing new products - Polk, for example - what kind of degree would be necessary? And if I wanted to get into the custom install business (Crestron, AMX, Russound, etc.) would grad school be of ANY help?

BTW, I can't seem to find a school that offers "Acoustic Engineering" or "Sound Engineering" around here....

Question: Doesn't 'acoustic' fall under the ME discipline?(vs. EE)

Serendipity

obieone wrote: »

Question: Doesn't 'acoustic' fall under the ME discipline?(vs. EE)

I don't know.

I'm an EE major right now, would ME be better suited for speaker design?