MS in Cs( Stanford, MIT, CMU etc.) Vs L1 Transfer (Amazon, Google )
Hi I am earning good enough salary as a software developer in India Tc : 18 lpa Yoe: 2 years. I want to know wether it is worth to do MS from Stanford, CMU etc. Or better to get into Amazon / Google and then take a transfer to Seattle/ MTV. Given : I am not from a rich family , will have to take loan for MS.
If you want to specialize in ML and go for that at amazon/google then it might make sense.
Currently I am working at a foodtech company in India and we are solving a lot of challenging problems using ML . I can easily ask for that kind of work and get involved with ML/AI , impacting millions of people without any specialization in ML. Given that , does it still makes sense to go for MS for specializing in Ml/deep learning ?
Yep, it absolutely does. The major difference I have seen as a manager is that people trained in theory are more innovative in practice. There is a cost benefit analysis too tho, getting a degree means opportunity cost of a job. All said and done, you’re only as good as the eyeballs you get. Every recruiter has a few seconds to look at you, that’s where a degree helps. If you can build a good referral network without that, that works too.
Stanford grad here. If you can get in. Do it. At a tier 2 school take the job. Sounds elitist. It is. But having graduated 20 years ago, that degree has gotten me more jobs and interviews than I can count. These days a FAANG is what’s in fashion. It won’t always be that way. Having that credential will always be meaningful. Plus it’s more fun.
Coding bootcamp grads who never went to a real college are getting FANG interviews these days. Did you get these interviews because of your degree or despite it?
@L7 , I am confused due to the same reason, as more and more information is available on the internet , google, apple like companies are hiring based on skills instead of fancy degrees. So it makes no sense to get these fancy degrees unless you want to join google brain / deepmind etc.
As I have always learnt everything on my own , I find it weird that I need to do a full time course to understand some technical concepts. I believe that you learn more when you work on actual projects at work when your code goes in production.
I see many PhDs from top tier university work at same job level as a 21 year old undergrad...so, if you really want to do some break through innovation and build new algo, do cutting edge research , be a faculty go for a top tier university research Lab and you see most of the products were born in such research labs.. but if your goal is to be an SDE don’t waste time in ms/phd .. on the job experience more important for those roles (IMHO)
Which products were born in research labs exactly?
I should say “technology” rather than “product” ..take a look at the technology developments in stanford research lab https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRI_International which has contributed to development of numerous products ...there are many other top tier university research labs with very good contributions to technology development track record .... some other examples are development of nuclear reactor at univ of chicago by enrico fermi, even lot of innovation/technology behind bose speakers happened in MIT Labs by Amar Bose
Where did you do your bachelors from, and how comprehensive was that degree? If you are from a REC or IIT, might just be good enough. Intuitively, MS is a solid investment for the long term- dont worry abt the loan. You starting salary’s first few months you can pay off everything !! Ps- how do u know u get those schools is another consideration
Well no, I am from IIT but struggled to get interview calls whenever I switch jobs in US. HRs here doesn't seem to know what IIT is. May be some of them do but not many.
L1A or L1B?
Industry experience >> academics
School is a trap
This may be cliche but Stanford MIT has more value than FAANG. Plus, IIT + Stanford will be like your key forever in life. FAANG may start layoffs when recession happens, or you may get it but after certain level they may be hesitant to promote you. On other hand, in a longer run of life Stanford >> FAANG. If you go to start a startup, a Stanford and IIT alumni network itself will be enough to at least get initial funding! Think about it, FAANG are famous now, Carnegie Steel was famous back then but Stanford was always relevant unlike company's cycles.
Most Stanford grads are working shoulder to shoulder with people who got no name bachelor's. I might agree with you for an MBA, but once you have a few years of experience where you got your CS degree is irrelevant.
As I said, it's a long game. Now the market and economy is good. Once economy goes down the best will survive. And yes, I am outright stating the folks that got into Stanford are smart than no name Bachelor's people. But yes at OP level, it might make more sense to do an MBA but that's a separate topic, not everyone wants to do management and looking at OP I feel he wants to do more technical stuff. Also, startups have a soft corner for Stanford grads (FAANG is enough too but I think you would agree with me that Stanford >> FAANG).
If you're able to get the same jobs an MS CS would get you without one, why would you get one?
Yeah , that is the source of confusion. I feel like one should do MS if they have a serious reason like getting involved in academia and researching on some futuristic tech like quantum computing , bci devices etc. Doing it just for a job at Google/ Amazon doesn't make sense to me as I can already get that Job in india.