Thinking about dropping out of grad school..

[bignateyk]

I did my undergrad (EE) at Penn State, and I didnt really feel like getting a job yet, so I decided to go straight into grad school (EE at Penn State).

I have a research assistantship, which pays all my tuition, and gives me 1500 a month spending money.

At penn state, there are 100 level (freshmen), 200 level (sophmore), 300 level (junior), 400 level (senior), and 500 level (grad) classes. I hated the 300 level classes because it was all theory. I love the 400 level classes because they are actual engineering classes where you learn to apply concepts.

I thought that the 500 level would just be an extension of the 400 level, but I was dead wrong. 500 level classes are straight up crazy theory with no useful applications.

So anyway, im thinking about just taking a job at the lab ive worked at for the last few years (defense contracting) starting around 58K a year, and just ditching on grad school.

Is this a move I will regret? Should I give it another semester to see if I like it any better?

 

[jhayx7]

How long have you been in grad school?

 

[moshquerade]

it's all paid for. stay, and give it a chance. i mean, you can't go back can you? and even then the liklihood is slim.

you have your whole life to work.

 

[desteffy]

If you dont like studying theoretical stuff then do yourself a favor and get out of there as fast as you can. If you dont belong no sense wasting your time and their assistantship money.

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: jhayx7
How long have you been in grad school?

6 weeks. I plan on at least finishing the semester. It isnt a grades issue either.. its that it isnt at all what I was expecting, and I dont like it at all.

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: desteffy
If you dont like studying theoretical stuff then do yourself a favor and get out of there as fast as you can. If you dont belong no sense wasting your time and their assistantship money.

thats kinda what I was thinking

Originally posted by: moshquerade
it's all paid for. stay, and give it a chance. i mean, you can't go back can you? and even then the liklihood is slim.

you have your whole life to work.

well.. the lab i work at is affiliated with the university, so they would pay for my schooling if I wanted to go back, but like you said, once I started working, I doubt I would think about going back

 

[tfinch2]

You have grad school all paid for, plus spending money. You'd be stupid not to finish. I'd love to be in your situation.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: desteffy
If you dont like studying theoretical stuff then do yourself a favor and get out of there as fast as you can. If you dont belong no sense wasting your time and their assistantship money.

That's my thought as well. If you don't enjoy it, then why waste your time? If you enjoy the practical side of engineering then it seems you'd prefer industry over academia.

Contrary to popular belief, the idea of working isn't always as bad as it seems. Work can often even be more fulfilling, especially for engineers that actually get to see their academic do something useful. Only you can decide which you enjoy more of course, but it sounds like you're leaning toward the side of actual practice.

 

[Madwand1]

You're fortunate to be in that grad school in the first place. Instead of spending a good part of the rest of your life answering why you dropped out and couldn't hack the theoretical stuff, I'd encourage you to buck up, deal with it, and finish it. You do the hard stuff and you get something out of the experience. The money'll come inevitably, and more likely if you finish. Grad school just isn't as easy to go back to once you're making money.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
You have grad school all paid for, plus spending money. You'd be stupid not to finish. I'd love to be in your situation.

I agree.

 

[bignateyk]

yeah it seems the opinions are divided right along with my conflicts as well:

on one hand, I have everything paid for, and this is the perfect time to do it, but on the other hand, if its not something I see myself doing, am I just wasting my time?

 

[tfcmasta97]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
yeah it seems the opinions are divided right along with my conflicts as well:

on one hand, I have everything paid for, and this is the perfect time to do it, but on the other hand, if its not something I see myself doing, am I just wasting my time?

cuz u get more money when ur finished, and thats what you're there for?

this year you're a b1tch to the school work but it'll be well worth it when you're done

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
on one hand, I have everything paid for, and this is the perfect time to do it, but on the other hand, if its not something I see myself doing, am I just wasting my time?

Theoretical work? Very very few are going to be doing meaningful theoretical work in the end. But that's not why you learn to do it in school. It's foundational (still), and gives you a (still) greater grasp and selection of tools and mental faculties to use, however you choose to apply them or not. A graduate degree in itself is not valued because people think that you'll do advanced research base on it. It's valued because of its incidental effects on your mental faculties and because of general conclusions one might draw based on the requirements for that education.

 

[GasX]

With a PhD under your belt, you will be able to apply that theory and work on REAL projects and do REAL engineering at a level above what you will EVER get to do with a BS.

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: Madwand1

Originally posted by: bignateyk
on one hand, I have everything paid for, and this is the perfect time to do it, but on the other hand, if its not something I see myself doing, am I just wasting my time?

Theoretical work? Very very few are going to be doing meaningful theoretical work in the end. But that's not why you learn to do it in school. It's foundational (still), and gives you a (still) greater grasp and selection of tools and mental faculties to use, however you choose to apply them or not. A graduate degree in itself is not valued because people think that you'll do advanced research base on it. It's valued because of its incidental effects on your mental faculties and because of general conclusions one might draw based on the requirements for that education.

hmm.. thats a good point. For a masters, I need to take 5 500 level classes, and 3 400 level classes. Right now im taking 2 400 levels and a 500 level.

Im gonna schedule a lunch with my supervisor at work to talk about some full-time options.

 

[Madwand1]

My final piece of advice on this will be talk to some counselors on staff, people in the field, etc., before throwing this opportunity away.

Edit: Heh, you seem to be on this already now. Great.

 

[Dedpuhl]

I dropped out of grad school (Civil Eng), and I have no regrets. Then again, I didn't have a free ride, and I worked full-time.

 

[Connoisseur]

Heh heh your first mistake was going EE. I graduated as an ECE from Rutgers and I couldn't WAIT to get out of that major and start working. Personally...I love working. I generally don't take crap home with me and I don't have to worry about further tuition. And my pay isn't half bad either. That being said, since you DO have a full ride, definitely take some time to consider it. If all your classes are going to be theoretical and you're sure you won't enjoy them, then by all means enter the working world. Otherwise, if there ARE going to be classes in the future you think will be useful, then suck up the theory stuff for now. A PhD is definitely a good bolster for the resume.

Further education (besides an MBA) is just not for me. Personally, I'm working towards more managerial/administration level work. I don't want to be a computer monkey forever. I wanna run companies.

 

[TuxDave]

What field in EE are you specializing in? I finished my MSEE in EE from Cal and I kinda wished I went all the way to my Ph'D. Some classes were very theory based buy all the 500 classes had a final project which I found to be great on building experience. That and finishing your thesis.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Madwand1

Originally posted by: bignateyk
on one hand, I have everything paid for, and this is the perfect time to do it, but on the other hand, if its not something I see myself doing, am I just wasting my time?

Theoretical work? Very very few are going to be doing meaningful theoretical work in the end. But that's not why you learn to do it in school. It's foundational (still), and gives you a (still) greater grasp and selection of tools and mental faculties to use, however you choose to apply them or not. A graduate degree in itself is not valued because people think that you'll do advanced research base on it. It's valued because of its incidental effects on your mental faculties and because of general conclusions one might draw based on the requirements for that education.

Well put. A graduate degree isn't so much about facts and figures its about learning how to learn.

Back to the OP...
Is this a thesis program, or just classwork? If the latter, I would try to get into the former. Having your own research makes things alot more interesting IMO!

 

[Ranger X]

I have an engineering background and I dropped out of a part-time MBA program. While I didn't have a full ride nor was it engineering related, I have no regrets dropping out simply because I saw all the BS through the work that I was doing. If you don't feel like you belong, full ride or not, drop out and start working. There's no use pursuing your graduate degree if you don't like what you're doing. That's the beauty of graduate schools ... you already have your undergrad degree and you have the luxury of beginning work without missing a beat.

 

[aux]

(I didn't read all responses, sorry if I am repeating things that were already mentioned)

Don't drop out just yet. There is no way to avoid theory in grad school, but a grad program is not just classes.
There should be faculty working on applied projects. You prefer applications, so try to find such projects that you can work on. (I am not sure how the EE program works, but most likely you have to do this at some point anyway). This way you can just start working on applied projects earlier.

 

[WildHorse]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
it's all paid for. stay, and give it a chance. i mean, you can't go back can you? and even then the liklihood is slim.

you have your whole life to work.

I second that!

In future it'll be one or the other:
You'll either have a Degree, or an Excuse.

Hang on sloopy

 

[sash1]

Once you quit school, there's really no going back.

You're lucky, your tuition is all taken care of and you have spending money on top of that. I wish I was that lucky. Since it's free, you might as well stick it out. Just hating classes is no reason to drop out. If you feel you'd be better off not wasting more years of your life in college and would rather be working, then by all means go for it, otherwise, get your masters.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
it's all paid for. stay, and give it a chance. i mean, you can't go back can you? and even then the liklihood is slim.

you have your whole life to work.

QFT.