# Comp. Sc. / I.T. Industry & Academic Q's

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-sc-i-t-industry-academic-qs/98223>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 14, 2002, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-sc-i-t-industry-academic-qs/98223 "2002-03-14T05:49:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-sc-i-t-industry-academic-qs/98223/21 "2002-03-17T13:14:36Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \*  
> \*\*AFAIK, master degrees don’t cover more material, or more advanced material, than their undergrauate counterparts. Sure, there are many advanced graduate courses, but those are designed for doctoral students. \*\*

I have no idea how you can come to this conclusion, unless you are in English or Journalism. Engineering Master’s degrees always cover a full course of advanced courses covering different topics or much more in-depth topics than the BS does. Can you explain what you mean?

I mean - I did have both an Enlglish and a Journalism MS look at me with surprise and horror when I told them of the courses I had to take. Apparantly, they said that all they had to do get their Masters degrees was to **re-take most of their BS courses!** :eek: If that was _really_ true…talk about an absolutely worthless graduate degree. :eek:

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**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-sc-i-t-industry-academic-qs/98223/22 "2002-03-18T14:42:28Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Illuvatar_  
> algernon, you specialized in A.I. did it help you? Did you use it alot or did you do it cause it was fun or the fad at the time? Do you still use your knowledge there? Cause that will effect what units I should choose for my electives.

Let’s say that it didn’t hurt me. I never used any of the AI techniques directly, but the problem solving skills it honed were put to use many times over. I specialized in AI just because it was interesting to me. Which leads directly to the following advice…

> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Cerowyn_  
> My advice would be to find something that you are interested in and can get good at. That will ultimately be the biggest determiner of how much you end up earning. If you’re good enough at what you do, you should have no trouble finding someone who values that skill enough to make it profitable for you.

I cannot improve on **Cerowyn’s** advice.

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**Author:** ![Illuvatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b38774/32.png) [@Illuvatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuvatar)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-sc-i-t-industry-academic-qs/98223/23 "2002-03-22T14:07:19Z")

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Alright… thankyou everyone for your time and info.

I have one last thought before I let this thread slide into the mists of time.

I have until next week to switch to a private university otherwise I have to pay public uni fees for first semester.

Who has heard of Bond University? This is our most prestigous university, 3 semesters a year, 1-10 student-academic staff ratio. The fee’s are about 3 times more but the degree is only 2 years, and apparently (that’s what I would like you guys to prove) the university graduates get the best jobs overseas real easy.

Thanks everyone again. This will be my last post in this thread.

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