Derek, if I weren't so busy enjoying graduate school I'd look into those
two schools and give you an opinion. But I will echo what others have
said: the school doesn't matter so much as the professor(s) and the
research opportunities. As long as the school has the resources to
support you (computers, classes that are interesting for your classwork,
TA/RA/Fellowship if you need it), it doesn't matter what school you went
to. Yes, there might be some bias for you if you went to MIT, but even
MIT candidates will be held up to scrutiny in the interview process.
You'll have a chance to shine somewhere, so don't worry too much about
the PHBs.
To the rest of you, get a life. So graduate school isn't right for you.
Get over yourself. Yes, graduate school is not necessary for a comfy
living in IT. Yes, many people enjoy being code monkeys or entrepeneurs.
Guess what, some people like to think. I mean *really* think. We're the
ones that go to grad school. It's not for everyone. Neither is IT.
Neither is culinary arts. Neither is welding. All anyone can hope for is
to enjoy what he does and get paid well enough to live on it. (If you
enjoy getting paid big bucks no matter what you are actually doing
during the day, that's ok too.)
Grad school is a lot of fun. It's nothing like undergraduate work.
(Well, a masters degree is perhaps closer to undergraduate than it is to
PhD work) It opens doors. Doors many of you may not even be interested
in walking through. It isn't the short path to money, that's for sure.
But I get paid to go to graduate school. Before I got my fellowship, I
made enough money to live on (and my wife and two kids) doing linux
sysadmin and voip consulting on the side. I still have to turn down
consulting work so I can focus on school. YOU WILL NOT STARVE if you
choose to go to graduate school. You won't live the high life, at least
not for awhile, but you may enjoy it more. Or you may hate it, in which
case you should not go to graduate school.
Now, Derek asked not whether he should go to graduate school but for
opinions on two schools. Have a little courtesy next time and answer his
question instead of questioning his sanity.
I suppose that goes for questions about PHP and Java just as well...
--
Hans Fugal ; http://hans.fugal.net
There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the
right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
-- Johann Sebastian Bach
/*
PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net
Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug
Don't fear the penguin.
*/
