I've been thinking of getting my masters degree and now I'm actually considering
- quitting my current full time job
- start the masters in almost full time
- work part time as a barista

Am I insane or could this be an actual option

Then a PhD, so you can finally have that “Dr” prefix!

However, it might be a long journey. You have to be really really sure, especially if you are in a good financial position right now.

It’s definitely an option. You’re the only one that can say if it’s right for you or not. If this brings you a step closer to what you want to achieve then why not.

Do it while you're still young. Masters is fun anyway

What would you do after finishing Master's? Would it help change anything you have now for good?

Insane.

I'm starting the final year of my my bachelor's and no way in hell am I stepping into the purposeless goop that is academic computer science ever again. I paid £18050 so far for the opportunity to read slides alone in a small room, and a few thousand pounds extra for uni-provided accommodation. Because we were paying them for staying in town they didn't state at any point during the pandemic that next semester would be fully remote, pushing all the financial risk of the pandemic onto us.

The teachers were all using shitty microphones because apparently the modest livelihood every one of us paid for the course couldn't pay for a mass purchase of refurb studio mics, and the lectures mainly consisted of reading the slides, which were universally inferior to free open online material, at least 5 years old and published by another university with an attribution or noncommercial licence (no one was ever attributed). In the end we only looked at the slides before the exam to make sure what we taught ourselves included everything the lecturer hoped to teach.

Social life *may* rise from the ashes this year but I'm skeptical because everyone's working on their FYP.

I guess if you already know the uni or have countless personal trusted sources to tell you that it's cool then it may make sense, but Academia lost a good part of its niche in the past decades and I think it'll take another few for them to find something to do other than selling freely accessible knowledge in an inefficient mass-course fashion to young adults for the price of a car each year.

@Hazarth :)

It all depends on why you are doing it.

If you are doing it to learn you'll get farther by buying Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming and working through that.

If you are doing it because you think it will make you more employable, years of experience is looked at more than credentials.

Also the only reason to get a PhD is if you like setting money on fire, and like spending years kissing wrinkled pruny professor butt.

In fact the only reason to get a masters is if you work for a large company that has rigid rules around promotion and hiring, and then only do it if you are going to earn more with the promotion than you'd spend on tuition.

I speak all this as having been someone who got a masters degree, ended up spending around $12,000 for it , and then after I finished got a promotion that came with a $20,000 raise so it was barely worth it in my case.

But really I wouldn't generally recommend it unless you have a really good reason.

@Cyanide I don't think I'm interested in that Dr.-Ing.

I might consider it if they paid semi-well and the topic was interesting...

@asgs probably just go back to work. It would likely get me a higher salary and career prospects, but I mostly wanna do it for personal interest.

@lbfalvy I mean I knew the UK sucked but that's extra shitty. I barely paid a thing during my bachelors.

In fact, I got paid.

@adhdeveloper I mostly wanna do it for learning/personal interest, which is why I don't like the idea of keeping my reuglar job and reducing hours while getting it.

I do work in a medium to big company, and here in Germany we're strongly unionized. A masters would be a good argument for pay rises.

As for tuition, it's a laughable price here compared to the brits or yanks.

@LotsOfCaffeine Honestly, compared to Hungary, England is a bliss. I just wish the Uni weren't such dicks and they actually offered something in exchange for my money. Ah well, I guess I'll just join the post-covid class action lawsuit if one comes around.

@lbfalvy yeah covid restrictions had horrible consequences on education all around

I didn't see much of it, though I had a few remote classes still.

Some were good, some weren't.