It is going to be a year since I hit grad school. Before that for 3 long years, I was bitten by the software industry bug. With my masters at a half way thru', I took time to look back at these years (3 yrs of s/w industry after undergrad and 1 year in grad school in CMU) and to look ahead what could be in store. Thought would share a few of these thoughts which could be applicable to many others out there.
It all starts during your last year in undergrad. A feeling like, let me work for a year or two, know what I am interested in and then think about what I shud do. In some sense this feeling can turn out to be a doomsday feeling or a wise one. Then, finally when you join ur work place, u begin to realise the reality - rather slowly. The initial days are always sugar coated. They make you feel elated, make you feel you make your own living and wat more with a more-than-enough amount of money being deposited into your bank account at the end of each month. After 6 months or so into the industry you realise what the hell are you doing. You look at the learning curve and pity the drastic decrease in slope. You look at whether you figured out what you want to do next and you get an answer which is a deep NO.
At the same time, your classmates who had set out their path on grad school send out their experiences (and learnings) via emails and this is when you realise something has got to be done. But, in the industry those first 6 months mark the end of honeymoon period. So it is just when you want to do something about your future, you get responsibilities and work in office. These responsibilities and work give you an illusion of learning but you will soon realise that they dont fit in the big scheme of things - like why you took a break before grad school. From then on, it is always an internal fight about the quality of time you spend. You badly want to take a few steps in the direction of ur future but you are always pulled back by the illusions that the software industry creates. Life starts to revolve around coding, bugs and night outs in office and trying to keep yourself motivated amidst these becomes an uphill task.
Few of them who find it difficult to be constantly self-motivated, do it by taking a few coaching classes that train them towards their dreams. Irrespective of how you tackle it, you find that you are always fighting against time. And when the exams are around, you figure out that you are under-prepared and need more time. But as luck would have it, it is when ur office pressure mounts. So many (including me) take a week or 2 break from office in the name of blah blah blah.. ( read as sickness/ meeting parents etc..) Then once the exams are done, when you actually get into the process of applying to the schools, you realise it is much more work and demands much more time than it requires now. These are the times when your time management skills get tested. And in extreme cases like mine, you quit office, complete your applying process and join back another firm and the turmoil continues.
And finally, when you get admits and decide on a school to go, you realise you had spent a long time (3 long years in my case) to do something that you could have done in the final year of your undergrad. And this rubs into you when you meet your to-be-classmates then. Every1 you meet is just out of their college or just with a year of experience. That is when you get a feeling that you probably missed the right boat. Agreed, these years of work ex give you more insights to reality. But the biggest question is, is it worth the 3 years? What good is this 3 years going to be?
May be, if one were to just do a Masters and get back to industry, there may be marginal difference in pay scales. But it would be way less than some1 who started out as a fresher in the industry in US and is now having 3 years of experience. Or may be, one may want to do a PhD. Then what sense does 3 years of industry experience help in. Probably, it makes you relate to things in reality a wee bit more. But again it is clearly not a case of 3 years worth.
So, what sense does it make to wait for a few years and then apply to grad school? In the hind sight, the benefits of applying fresh out of college weigh far more than that of applying with work ex. The only good that I can think of is, with work ex you would have tasted a bit of reality and probably the savings out of ur work ex can help you a bit in ur grad school if you dont have proper funding etc. On the other hand, you need to face a lot of difficulties in trying to apply to grad school once you started work. Motivation and time management amidst office pressure is the key. (And if you are from a typical Indian family society pressures also can mount. The more the number of years you spend before you start grad school the lesser will your parents approve you of doing a PhD. - Yes I am alluding to the right age of marriage in India)
I really wish, I had this wealth of knowledge when I was in my final year of college. Really dunno if I would have taken a different path but still this knowledge would have put things into perspective.
And yeah, I am almost in the similar situation now - in my last year of Masters and dreading when should I pursue my PhD. immediately or after some work ex? Whatever path I take, but just wish I dont have to write a blog like this one a few years down the line.
It all starts during your last year in undergrad. A feeling like, let me work for a year or two, know what I am interested in and then think about what I shud do. In some sense this feeling can turn out to be a doomsday feeling or a wise one. Then, finally when you join ur work place, u begin to realise the reality - rather slowly. The initial days are always sugar coated. They make you feel elated, make you feel you make your own living and wat more with a more-than-enough amount of money being deposited into your bank account at the end of each month. After 6 months or so into the industry you realise what the hell are you doing. You look at the learning curve and pity the drastic decrease in slope. You look at whether you figured out what you want to do next and you get an answer which is a deep NO.
At the same time, your classmates who had set out their path on grad school send out their experiences (and learnings) via emails and this is when you realise something has got to be done. But, in the industry those first 6 months mark the end of honeymoon period. So it is just when you want to do something about your future, you get responsibilities and work in office. These responsibilities and work give you an illusion of learning but you will soon realise that they dont fit in the big scheme of things - like why you took a break before grad school. From then on, it is always an internal fight about the quality of time you spend. You badly want to take a few steps in the direction of ur future but you are always pulled back by the illusions that the software industry creates. Life starts to revolve around coding, bugs and night outs in office and trying to keep yourself motivated amidst these becomes an uphill task.
Few of them who find it difficult to be constantly self-motivated, do it by taking a few coaching classes that train them towards their dreams. Irrespective of how you tackle it, you find that you are always fighting against time. And when the exams are around, you figure out that you are under-prepared and need more time. But as luck would have it, it is when ur office pressure mounts. So many (including me) take a week or 2 break from office in the name of blah blah blah.. ( read as sickness/ meeting parents etc..) Then once the exams are done, when you actually get into the process of applying to the schools, you realise it is much more work and demands much more time than it requires now. These are the times when your time management skills get tested. And in extreme cases like mine, you quit office, complete your applying process and join back another firm and the turmoil continues.
And finally, when you get admits and decide on a school to go, you realise you had spent a long time (3 long years in my case) to do something that you could have done in the final year of your undergrad. And this rubs into you when you meet your to-be-classmates then. Every1 you meet is just out of their college or just with a year of experience. That is when you get a feeling that you probably missed the right boat. Agreed, these years of work ex give you more insights to reality. But the biggest question is, is it worth the 3 years? What good is this 3 years going to be?
May be, if one were to just do a Masters and get back to industry, there may be marginal difference in pay scales. But it would be way less than some1 who started out as a fresher in the industry in US and is now having 3 years of experience. Or may be, one may want to do a PhD. Then what sense does 3 years of industry experience help in. Probably, it makes you relate to things in reality a wee bit more. But again it is clearly not a case of 3 years worth.
So, what sense does it make to wait for a few years and then apply to grad school? In the hind sight, the benefits of applying fresh out of college weigh far more than that of applying with work ex. The only good that I can think of is, with work ex you would have tasted a bit of reality and probably the savings out of ur work ex can help you a bit in ur grad school if you dont have proper funding etc. On the other hand, you need to face a lot of difficulties in trying to apply to grad school once you started work. Motivation and time management amidst office pressure is the key. (And if you are from a typical Indian family society pressures also can mount. The more the number of years you spend before you start grad school the lesser will your parents approve you of doing a PhD. - Yes I am alluding to the right age of marriage in India)
I really wish, I had this wealth of knowledge when I was in my final year of college. Really dunno if I would have taken a different path but still this knowledge would have put things into perspective.
And yeah, I am almost in the similar situation now - in my last year of Masters and dreading when should I pursue my PhD. immediately or after some work ex? Whatever path I take, but just wish I dont have to write a blog like this one a few years down the line.
