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mish4
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So recently i have been thinking about what to do after i graduate with my masters of science degree. I did my undergrad in electrical engineering at Penn State University, and stayed for a masters degree.
My original motivation to get a masters was to take more classes in computer vision (feed my interest in the subject) and to see how i like research (never did research in undergrad).
Well after completing one year of my degree, i have taken several classes (i learned a good amount), and began doing research in medical imaging. I feel like its kind of early for me to tell if i like research or not. Sometimes research feels slow, or even feels like you are working on a lot of implementation details and not so much the core problem. Some days its exciting, other days not so much.
Come this fall i have the opportunity to apply for phd programs for the next fall, which by then i will have graduated. However I don't know whether I would want to spend another 2-3+ years in school. I do feel like I am always unsatisfied with how much i know, and thus want to take more classes to fill in some gaps.
Recently I have been thinking since a lot of computer vision is based on algorithms, i should try and catch up in that area. Being that my undergrad was ee, i didn't get the chance to take discrete math, and algorithms courses. I have started reading some stuff on discrete math, and plan on taking an algorithms class in the fall.
So one reason i would want to go for a phd is to take more classes and learn more. However the real emphasis of a phd is on the research project. At this stage i really don't know if i would enjoy spending 2 years on one project. There seem to be so many factors involved (advisor, the project, whether you can keep motivated, candidacy exams). After all a phd is a serious time commitment.
The other option is to go into industry / or research lab and try and find a challenging computer vision job that would want a masters student (although i don't know how many research labs want masters students).
From my browsing the web it seems like a lot of computer vision jobs are for phd students.
I know that I want interesting work that will be challenging (and related to vision / image processing), but i don't know if that is only given to phds in the computer vision field.
any word of wisdom are appreciated
Thanks,
Mikhail
My original motivation to get a masters was to take more classes in computer vision (feed my interest in the subject) and to see how i like research (never did research in undergrad).
Well after completing one year of my degree, i have taken several classes (i learned a good amount), and began doing research in medical imaging. I feel like its kind of early for me to tell if i like research or not. Sometimes research feels slow, or even feels like you are working on a lot of implementation details and not so much the core problem. Some days its exciting, other days not so much.
Come this fall i have the opportunity to apply for phd programs for the next fall, which by then i will have graduated. However I don't know whether I would want to spend another 2-3+ years in school. I do feel like I am always unsatisfied with how much i know, and thus want to take more classes to fill in some gaps.
Recently I have been thinking since a lot of computer vision is based on algorithms, i should try and catch up in that area. Being that my undergrad was ee, i didn't get the chance to take discrete math, and algorithms courses. I have started reading some stuff on discrete math, and plan on taking an algorithms class in the fall.
So one reason i would want to go for a phd is to take more classes and learn more. However the real emphasis of a phd is on the research project. At this stage i really don't know if i would enjoy spending 2 years on one project. There seem to be so many factors involved (advisor, the project, whether you can keep motivated, candidacy exams). After all a phd is a serious time commitment.
The other option is to go into industry / or research lab and try and find a challenging computer vision job that would want a masters student (although i don't know how many research labs want masters students).
From my browsing the web it seems like a lot of computer vision jobs are for phd students.
I know that I want interesting work that will be challenging (and related to vision / image processing), but i don't know if that is only given to phds in the computer vision field.
any word of wisdom are appreciated
Thanks,
Mikhail