US universities don't really have research focused masters so they are shitty cash cow degrees. I think a research master's from a good European university can teach you a lot and make you a better programmer. It's kind of like doing a few years of a PhD and dropping out in the states.
Interesting. My dad leads the AI division for a major tech company (one of the top 10) and loathes interviewing candidates with masters degrees for the same reason. "They are smart when it comes to research but fucking clueless for implementation" I believe were his exact words.
I'm a high school drop-out and I've been doing software dev for 17 years or so, currently a senior dev in FAANG. My experience with master's degree holders has been about the same and I often surpass them on teams I've been on when it comes to promotions or getting recognition. To be fair though, two of the most brilliant devs I've ever meet in my career had master's degrees.
I wonder if that's more true for people who went straight from a BS into a MS without spending any time in industry than for people who got their MS after or during working in industry.
It's funny how while this might make some sense for the US, it doesn't apply at all to Europe:
- many positions in EU, especially on the leadership level, straight out require a Master's degree.
- most masters are consecutive. This means you need to have a bachelor in the same or an adjacent field in order to pursue the master.
- there aren't any high fees and the admission process is often more competitive that for the bachelors. Employers would rather wonder why you left university early. Bachelor's still has the reputation of not really being a full degree.
> If your undergrad degree was in some other field, you can get through an MS in CS without ever taking an algorithms or data structures class.
Hate to admit it, but she has a point. Though my CS masters program (BSU, US) only accepted me on a provisional basis until I finished the undergrad CS algos courses. It was more challenging than many of the MS courses. Partly due to the challenge of a foreign discipline.
This: https://blog.alinelerner.com/how-different-is-a-b-s-in-compu... lady suggests that Master's degrees are actually an indication that you're incompetent, unless you're a foreign student angling for a visa.