You can check out the podcast Here.
In this podcast, Tanay discusses the broad pros and cons of whether a masters degree is really required to become a good programmer. Everyone, especially engineers, faces the dilemma of whether investing so much money into a master’s degree and changing continents is really worth it? Let’s dive into some of the aspects that are explored in the podcast, which you should consider when deciding:
Why you should do it?
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Become an expert: If you decide to pursue a master’s degree, it will enable you to cement your foundations in computer science and attain deep theoretical knowledge in software development as well as your other favourite subjects.
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Quality: The quality of education as well as assignments/ coursework anywhere abroad is really good. If you make it to a top university the quality of learning will be unparalleled. The whole experience of moving abroad, meeting new people, living by yourself is great if you make it. If you decide to do it after working for a long time, like Tanay, it will be your own version of mai hoon na!
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Hustle: Graduating from a master’s abroad is tough. It will make you work 12-14 hours a day and you will barely have any time for travel. It changes you and makes you hustle like crazy. Having such intelligent and hardworking peers will cause you to work hard and become another version of yourself. Your professors will be very great and challenge you every day.
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Answerability: All of this will definitely transform you into a butterfly from a caterpillar. A great story is narrated in the podcast which explores the idea: If you sign up for gym without a trainer you will have no one to answer to, but a trainer will push you hard and get you results which you might not get by yourself.
Why you should not do it?
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Cost: There is no denying that studying abroad is very expensive. The better the university you get into, the more will be the fees. International students also have to face the exchange rates and the absence of financial aid from the university.
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Return on Investment: If you take a big loan then chances are you’ll pay it back for a long time. You will spend this much amount of money in 2 years which is not that long a time and you will pay the loan back for minimum 3 to 5 years.
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Career jump?: A lot of people don’t do masters and are at the same level in their careers in many companies. Some just have a Bachelor’s degree, some have a Master’s and some might even have 3-4 degrees but working at the same level, so you won’t really be left behind if you decide not to do it.
But all of these points above for not doing a master’s have many nuances. Not a lot of people have the habit of pushing themselves hard. If that’s the case with someone then they should go for masters. Not a lot of people are motivated enough to suppose write 100 blogs on computer science topics. If you do that and work on side projects then you’ll be as good as those doing master’s, however everyone knows how tempting it is to slack on side projects. Typically, ML/AI job roles require that you have a master’s or even doctoral degrees from good colleges, especially if you want a role at a high value company as the role requires high expertise. Also, if you have an international master’s degree job prospects in India get better due to colonial mindset of society, same thing without a master’s will require extreme hard work and luck. Even a state university master’s from abroad is better than working super hard in certain companies where your work is like pushing a wall, no matter how hard you push the wall will never move. A great thing in the podcast that I loved, which Tanay advised is: at the end of the day it depends on what kind of person you are. Take his perspectives and see what works for you. Will you choose paying 70L for 2 years or working super hard with accountability.
