Will be there demand of computer science degree like after 15 years?

Should I do a master degree in Computer Science right after I graduate or work a couple of years first?

• I'm getting my degree in a couple of months, and I may have the opportunity to get a master degree in CS right after I finish. This means that I would be getting the MS in ~2 years. Right now I'm 22 years old (just to consider), and I have ~1 year of working experience. I definitely want to get an MS but I'm not sure what is wiser. Considering your experience, what would you recommend? Thank you!

• Answer:

  As in deciding whether to pursue any graduate degree, it's useful to compare the benefits against the costs (including opportunity costs). Here are a few reasons to get the master's in CS: You want to keep learning in a structured classroom setting. I can imagine this motivation deriving from either personal interest in a variety of disciplines that would be hard to pick up outside of school, or practical consideration for rigorous academic training that would be beneficial on the job (see ). If you are considering a PhD, doing a master's program is good way to assess if a PhD is right for you and if so, to prepare yourself for that path. You can learn about potential research areas, identify potential advisers, and hopefully start doing research. Doing well in classes and in research also means you'll have professors to write your recommendation letters for PhD applications. If you did not do an undergraduate degree in CS, but wish to work in the tech (software) industry, getting the master's is a strong signal to market. Having a master's degree usually means an increase in your base salary. If you are interested in entrepreneurship, attending a top-tier master's program, especially one at an entrepreneurial institution like MIT or Stanford, will allow you to meet potential co-founders and explore startup ideas. If you have no idea what you want to do with your life, getting a master's is a great way to put off your life decisions. In terms of the financial cost, tuition can be very pricey, but there are sometimes mitigating factors: If you are currently an undergraduate and your school has a 5th year master's program, such as the coterminal degree at Stanford or the MEng degree at MIT, you can start and finish early. If there are opportunities for TAships or RAships, you can get tuition fully or partially waived. You can apply to fellowships or scholarships to defray the cost of tuition. (Not recommended!) You can apply to a (funded) PhD program, start it, and leave after you finish the master's. Obviously, opportunity cost will depend heavily on your individual situation. Here are a few that might be more common: If you are already working, you want to assess what the impact of taking time off to do a master's is, or the effect of part-timing a master's on your full-time work. It may slow down your career for a non-trivial amount of time. If you have a highly time-dependent job opportunity, probably some startup gig, then you might want to think about delaying the master's. On the other hand, if you have job opportunities with large, and therefore fairly static, companies, it probably doesn't matter if you start two years later. As referenced above, if you are in an undergraduate program with the opportunity to do a 5th year master's, you're probably trading off some free time with your friends and maybe the bandwidth to take on extracurricular commitments. Which is to say, the opportunity cost is not quite so high.