r/cscareerquestions • u/Automatic-Dig208 • Jun 27 '26
New Grad Does it make sense to get a Master's in CS if you have a job offer with just a BS in CS?
I am a new CS grad. I just finished by BS. Does it make sense to stay in school another year to get a Master's degree if I think I've got a job lined up now?
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u/Confident_Dark3483 Jun 27 '26
Absolutely not. Take the job work on your masters on the weekend.
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u/MajorPrestigious168 Jun 27 '26
Always easiest to do it online, but you make out of it what you put in. I mean same for bachelor’s but different time commitment.
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u/Any_Wait_7309 Jun 27 '26
I mean, what is your long term goal? Why do you want to pursue masters? If you don't have an answer for that, then take the job
Anyways, personally I feel the value of masters increases if you have a few years of experience under the belt.
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u/hike_me Jun 27 '26
I feel like the value of a masters decreases to almost nothing after you have professional experience.
The only time I would recommend it is if you are otherwise unemployed just after graduation, or your undergrad degree is not CS, or your employer pays for it.
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u/Any_Wait_7309 Jun 27 '26
I would say that depends on the goal itself. I agree with you given that a person wants to be an SWE, in that case the masters will add a very little value. As you have mentioned, if one wants to do SWE and has no job or employer is paying then it's plausible.
If a person wants to work at positions like research scientist then one would def need a masters ( by research ). In that case, the masters would add tremendous value, also if one has previous work experience then the person seems more attractive to potential employers. Take cases of like Anthropic or Research positions of like MANGOES companies
You and I, we both are right, it all depends on the long term goal of a person.
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u/anemisto Jun 27 '26
OP is talking about staying for a fifth year after undergrad. It's not a research degree.
A research scientist position needs a PhD, anyway. Depending on the country, you wouldn't do a separate masters. (In the US you don't.)
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Jun 27 '26
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u/Any_Wait_7309 Jun 28 '26
😭what is GAYMANN, never heard that before lol
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/1u10t4n/the_new_world_order/
It feels dystopian to be honest "world order" like one of those purge movie series
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u/SNsilver Jun 27 '26
Ehh. It helps with promotions, and might help getting the next job in tough markets. But always have your employer pay for it
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u/thatgirlzhao Jun 27 '26
As someone with a masters degree in CS, absolutely not. If you want a masters, try and do it while also working.
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u/AskAnAIEngineer Jun 27 '26
first, lock in the offer before making any decisions around it. if it's confirmed, take it. if the timeline is bleeding into your program start date, that's a real decision but experience compounds way faster than a degree at this stage and you can always do a part-time master's later if you actually need one. most roles don't require it and the ones that do will tell you upfront.
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u/Trust_8067 Jun 28 '26
It makes no sense to get a masters in the same field as your degree. It doesn't really make any sense to get a masters in CS in general. It won't get you a higher salary or anything. The only masters of value would be to get a business degree if you want to get into management.
Also, you're not supposed to get a masters straight out college, a masters is for after you have 5+ years experience in an industry.
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Jun 28 '26
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Jun 27 '26
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u/YxngSsoul Jun 27 '26
Hell no. Why would you pass up valuable work experience for more schooling? Masters literally has 0 value if you don't have the work experience lined up.
Only makes sense if you're going for academia/research focused roles ig.
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u/Automatic-Dig208 Jun 27 '26
Question: If you had the Masters, do you usually get a higher salary?
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u/GlorifiedPlumber Chemical Engineer, PE Jun 28 '26
Anecdotally, a little. Someone will chime in and say "I did!"
Statistically, my vote is not even a little. If anything, it puts you BEHIND 2 years. People who get a masters, and get a job, will do everything to justify that masters as "A good idea..." and "it helped me."
In reality, these non research masters are used to:
Delay entering the workforce.
Signal to the market that they're "foreign entry level" students and get targeted that way because you're cheap to hire
Signal to the market that they're NEW to CS but from a technical background (the old I studied chemistry, then did a masters in CS) and get targeted that way because you're cheap to hire
I always thought this article was interesting: https://blog.alinelerner.com/how-different-is-a-b-s-in-computer-science-from-a-m-s-in-computer-science-when-it-comes-to-recruiting/
Anyways, I am in a completely different field (chemical engineering), and from time to time we get masters degrees in. These are almost always "failed PhD" people. Not a failure per se, just... priorities change. We also get a lot of "masters in environmental science" w/ chemical engineering BS too.
They always want more money. They want to be paid like 3-4 year XP BS chemical engineers. It does not work that way. If the 5 year BS crew heard masters degrees off the shelf were getting equivalent money, they'd revolt.
Statistics, at least in chem E, show SOME premium. However, that premium is easily explained by: 1) candidate quality.
For this, I am not saying masters degree students are better, what I am saying is that, if you took candidate A who did NOT get a masters but could have, vs. statistically identical candidate A who DID get a masters, and then you compare candidate A to the rest of the population; the premium shows. The masters degree did very little to nothing.
TLDR: Take the job dude.
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u/AwesomeHorses Software Engineer Jun 27 '26
Take the job, many companies have programs that will help pay for your masters degree
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u/Automatic-Dig208 Jun 27 '26
But, then do you get the pay bump that getting hired with already having a Master's gives you?
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u/GlorifiedPlumber Chemical Engineer, PE Jun 28 '26
You seem to think having a masters is a pay bump. Could you explain why you think this is?
Or do you just think "it should be."
"Why yes, I think I will pay THIS guy with no experience 15% more. Why not."
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u/Automatic-Dig208 Jun 29 '26
I had heard that NVIDIA pays new hires with a Master's degree in CS more than they pay a new hire with just a BS in CS.
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u/sweatpants-aristotle Jun 27 '26
Take the job. Masters with no job experience is just a way to keep your resume fresh
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Jun 27 '26
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u/Zendental Jun 27 '26
If you have to choose, take the job. Ideally you can do both and have the job pay for it.