[Greenkirby21]

HI guys/girls,
looking for any words of wisdom from anyone! I am finishing my undergrad degree this semester(fall 2012) in Computer Science and minoring in Nanotechnology. I already got accepted into graduate studies(starting spring 2013) for Computer Science and completed 2 masters courses as an undergrad.

Masters in CS is 36 hours, so I have to complete 30 hours more as a grad student.

However, I am really unsure how to go about this graduate deal, seeing how it is different from undergrad.

1. Go Crazy. I normally do 17 or 18 hours as an undergrad, so does that mean I could do 15 hours in graduate and finish in 1 year? Not sure if this is possible because classes have pre recs and other things. I really want to get the summer off to get an internship at Apple, Google, or Microsoft.

2. Do something like 9 hours spring, 9 hours summer, and 9 hours fall. This could allow me to get a part time job at a company that is local in Texas like raytheon, texas instruments, etc.

3. There is a program at my university where they pay for my masters, but then once completed I have to work for the US government for 2 years in cyber security.

4. What my dad did was his company paid for his masters as they saw it as an investment. It was similar to option #2. The problem is that I have gone through and talked to some companies, and many of them want full time employees. One company kinda laughed at me when I said I wanted to work and do my masters at the same time. They said their employees have to work M-F 9-6 and it would be impossible for me to do both.

So, a bit confused right now as to what my plan should be. First I just gotta finish this upcoming semester and graduate :roll eyes:

Edit: I am 21. It may seem like a rush, but to be honest school is a bit boring. Of course, it is super important and I get good grades, but I find myself to be a creative person and just want to work on cool things. Creating things like google glasses, iPhone, etc is what I want to do in my future.

[jasonX]

Option #3 by far.

To come out of school with a job, that will give you clearance (Talking 30k+ for the clearance alone) and not have any debt? It's a no brainer. You could take that clearance with you if you do end up leaving, and there are countless employers which require clearance, but don't want to pay for it.

Furthermore do that math. Any employer you would potentially work for upon graduation would have to pay you 10-15k+ more per year to equal the perk of not paying those loans yourself, this is just guesstimating tuition costs of 20-30k.

[CamelBiscuit]

Originally Posted by jasonX

Option #3 by far.

To come out of school with a job, that will give you clearance (Talking 30k+ for the clearance alone) and not have any debt? It's a no brainer. You could take that clearance with you if you do end up leaving, and there are countless employers which require clearance, but don't want to pay for it.

Furthermore do that math. Any employer you would potentially work for upon graduation would have to pay you 10-15k+ more per year to equal the perk of not paying those loans yourself, this is just guesstimating tuition costs of 20-30k.

Yes. You are going to need a security clearance (that's if you get one) and companies love when you apply after and already have one.