Master's degree, postgraduate study, army. Which path to take?

Question

IT education

Hello. I am currently a 4th year IT student. I have been tormented by the question for about a few months now, what to do next. Give good advice, because from your advice it will be decided in which direction to fall the scales. SO, I am a 4th year student, I have several options for the further development of my studies.
1. The easiest one is to finish 5 courses and go to the army. a year to nowhere. (meaning in terms of a career in IT)
2. Finish 5 courses and go to graduate school. I do not argue that the problem with the army will most likely be resolved, but I am more of an applied person, and not a scientific one, it will be difficult to write a graduate dissertation, although I am not a fool, so that it is not subject to me. I also want to note that in graduate school there will be only one free place, which I will not be able to take in 9 cases out of 10. (But I am ready to study on a paid basis)
3. After the 4th year, transfer to the bachelor-master system, that is, get a bachelor's degree in the 4th year, and then get a master's degree in the 6th and then go to graduate school. There are pluses and minuses (over which I think), the minus is that I now have to write a diploma, in that I studied as a specialist for a fee, but I will receive a bachelor's degree, the price for which is half less than a specialist diploma for a year.) also a minus is that I actually lose a year (6th course).
since I will go to graduate school anyway on the first. But the teacher says that if you take a bachelor's-master's-postgraduate course, it's easier than a postgraduate specialist, even if it takes longer.
Of the pluses, we can say that there are free places in the magistracy, and getting into it has a chance of about 7-8 out of 10.
I also get a master's degree. (But I don't know if this is a plus or a minus, tell me)
Give me good advice. maybe someone else has experienced this problem, maybe someone who knows will tell me what to do.
I also want to know what does graduate school / army give for an IT career? Does a master's degree give any priority over a specialist's degree (in Russia)? Maybe graduate school / army will not give anything at all?

Answer 1

magistracy-postgraduate studies-army - all one waste of time, unless, of course, you are not going to "teach programming" at school later. If you want to work, pay off the army and work.

Answer 2

I don’t know, maybe the approach that my classmates once used will suit you. Its essence lies in a nutshell - to hide from the draft board. When you finish your studies and when you have a diploma ahead of you, you safely score on it. Our diploma was issued in the dean's office in exchange for the fact that you sign and take a summons to the military registration and enlistment office. However, without taking this summons, you are not responsible for the failure to appear. Thus, your diploma remains at the university for a long time, or even forever.
Cons:
- it’s dumb when the police stop
you - you don’t have a diploma for employment
- you can’t get a foreign passport
Pros:
- you don’t need to join the army
- you can work as a freelancer and other kind of “hack”

Answer 3

Personally, I dumped in America - and do not need to graduate school, and in the army.
If you really don’t want to go either there or here, get married. You can start working, earn experience and money.
In principle, a diploma is not needed at all, you need a desire.
But I think it would be a definite plus to have certificates, for example: Zend, Oracle, Microsoft or something like that.

Answer 4

The army will give you a lot of life skills. If you are going to get a job in government structures, then a military ID will not be superfluous. The only thing is that you lose a year. See for yourself, so at least learn to hold a weapon in your hands and shoot from it. At least it won't be redundant.

Answer 5

Quietly go to the army there is nothing to worry about.
PS He himself served.

Answer 6

If you want to work in your specialty, go to graduate school + get a part-time job in some IT company at the same time. For about a year of such a life, without losing anything, you will evaluate what you like best and, either in the same rhythm, you will reach the defense of your dissertation, or you will spit on graduate school, pay off the army and go to work.

Answer 7

Honestly, I have not read all the answers, so it is possible that someone has already voiced this option. Well, in general, this is not very politically correct, nevertheless ...
Judging by your answers, you do not live in Moscow or St. Petersburg, judging by your profile, you still live in Russia. Accordingly, here is what I propose.
You study for a specialist or a master, according to your desire (just below I will mention one detail that can help with the choice). After that, you move to some large city, say Moscow, St. Petersburg, or something smaller, if you don’t want to live in these cities, get a job there, rent a hut and, the key point: you find a relaxed paid graduate school, in There are definitely such people in Moscow, in other cities, I'm sure, too. You can usually enroll in them almost all year round, admission is trivial, your specialty does not matter, they are relatively inexpensive (50k per year, by Moscow standards, it’s really not expensive, in the regions it’s even cheaper) and they don’t bother you at all: if you want - learn if you want or not. The main thing is to pay on time and they don’t touch you, but they give you a legal deferment from the army, this will give you three years.
Because you will only be enrolled in graduate school, then you will not defend yourself, respectively, depending on whether you will study as a specialist or a master, and what time you graduated from school, you will graduate from graduate school at 25-26-27 years old (the same detail) . The last option is generally fine (unless, of course, they start calling after 27). The other two are a little tighter, but quite lifting. You are registered in your hometown, no one will look for you anywhere else, so it’s quite possible to live a year or two, up to 27. So that the police do not harass you, you can sometimes buy a ticket from your hometown, although if you don’t look like a homeless person, a drug addict or still somehow not cultural, hardly anyone will stop you.
Of the important points:
1. Make sure that admission to such a graduate school gives a delay, googled on the topic "conscription of graduate students."
2. Be sure to get a foreign passport while you are still studying at this graduate school, but it’s better now, while you are studying at a university, otherwise it may be sad later.
And, in the context of all of the above, admission to the magistracy, it seems to me a good idea, if you leave later, you will leave later. :)
However, if you really move to another city, then you don’t need to bother with graduate school at all, they won’t find you anyway. Although this option is, of course, more restless. :)

Answer 8

ARMY

Answer 9

do you want to join the army? do you want to go to graduate school? you would decide. Going to graduate school so as not to go to the army is nonsense.

Answer 10

I made it easier - I studied at the military department.

Answer 11

My partner just went to the army, served, now he got a job in a very tasty place, where they probably wouldn’t have been hired with a payoff. I studied before the army, I studied after the army, everything is OK. Especially now they only serve a year.

Answer 12

IMHO, the best option is a specialist, and then graduate school + work on a related topic, but under several conditions:
1. You already know what and to whom you will do and are sure that this topic will allow you to realize yourself as a specialist. There are a lot of such topics in IT now, in fact.
2. Postgraduate studies and a future supervisor are adequate (they are sympathetic to work to earn money, share connections, etc., etc.).
3. Parallel work is adequate and does not interfere with postgraduate studies (finding a job in IT with a free or almost free schedule is not such a problem if you are a good specialist).

Answer 13

Himself from Belarus, we have a master's degree is a mandatory step before entering graduate school. At one time, I doubted for a long time whether the game was worth the candle. Some feature is that I have a medical education, and the issue of internship and certification was quite acute. However, now, a year later, studying in graduate school, I do not regret my choice. So.
Pros:
- you can try yourself in many projects and endeavors;
- meeting with many interesting, smart and talented people (there are, of course, antipodes - but is this a negative experience?);
- self-development - working on any fundamental problem, you can easily apply the knowledge gained in solving an applied problem;
- variety. Indeed, while studying, working, so many events happened in one short year that largely changed my view of many things. Very often, even at your favorite job, you can “burn out”, lose passion - during the magistracy / graduate school in a kaleidoscope of cases, IMHO, the likelihood of this is less;
- the opportunity to get really qualified help from a professional in their field.
Cons:
- high workload - I had to work for several months without days off, go to work at 8, return at 22.
- Initially low wages, medium-sized stipend. In the future, fortunately, these "nuances" disappeared from the list of pressing problems.
Hope it was helpful. Sorry for the wordiness :)

Answer 14

I went into the army after high school.
After returning, I spat for some time and was sure that everything was lost (progress does not stand still - new technologies, approaches, versions that I could not recognize, feel, study, comprehend in time, ...).
But now ... time has passed and I work in a large organization, do what I love, and I can say that the army has not ruined my life in any way.
The army teaches independence, good friends appear in the army, some are more lucky (like me) and in the army they are taught to handle weapons and hand-to-hand combat.
And the fact that you lose a year ...:
firstly, you will catch up and study everything that will happen during this year, and if you are a really cool specialist, it will not affect your career in any way (maybe it will help)
and secondly, you won’t be able to run away from the army forever, and there’s no point in my opinion - it’s bad there only for those who have weak nerves
. And if you’re afraid of hazing, write like that.
My advice is to join the army now rather than later.

Answer 15

I personally studied to be a specialist, but the truth is with a military department. It's a pity that the state has not found a worthy use for computer brains - if I were them, I would organize an alternative service: write code for the state for 1 year for free, but in an interesting project :)

Answer 16

Going to graduate school just to avoid joining the army? Where do you plan to go after graduate school?

Answer 17

There are three options and they depend on what you want from this life:
1) I want to go into science, research, some wild things - graduate school, if possible somewhere abroad (then you should go for a master's degree and look for professors now) .
2) Career, wife, house, car (at the same time you are smart and can work) - quit after a bachelor's degree (IT people don’t need the following diplomas, and time is running out), get a job, save up for an excuse from the army in a couple of months, move on and make a career.
3) If you didn’t manage to become a programmer and get a normal salary (no knowledge, don’t like it, the wrong mindset, etc., etc.), then stomp on a specialist and think about what you want to do in this world for another year, while trying to get a job some work.

Answer 18

As an option, go to the army, and during this year think everything over carefully so as not to make mistakes and hasty decisions.
The vast majority of people regret mistakes made in the heat of the moment at a young age. Many people say “I wish I had a mind then”, but even more often they say “I wish I had the opportunity to calmly think it over”.
Of those who went to the army, the vast majority say that they have wasted their time. But it is impossible not to notice that all these people are an order of magnitude wiser than those who did not walk. And in life they are also lucky more often. Maybe karma is correlated after the army strained, or maybe they really have wised up and make more effective decisions, since they had enough opportunity to think everything over carefully.

Answer 19

why do you immediately dismiss the army ??
when he served (2008-2009), many of my colleagues took the academy and went specifically to the army so that they were left behind. I don't think they've lost anything.
although I don’t have a higher education, but I have a secondary technical and excellent experience, now I’m in absentia ...
I wouldn’t lose in salary if I had a tower, I would receive the same.
I served not badly (Moscow region). From the beginning I thought that I was also losing a year, and now even the pluses have appeared that there is a real normal warrior ...

Answer 20

The third option is not recommended. The fact is that the number of deferrals for obtaining a higher education is limited. And, if you are already over 20, then when transferring to another specialty, the deferment may burn out. I may be wrong, as it has been five years since I was a bachelor and studied deferment issues. But in any case, it is better for us to study legal issues from start to finish. Ask on recruitment forums.
I recommend the Graduate School. The method is reliable. It is not necessary to study there, it is enough to be registered.

Answer 21

It all depends on your university. There are places where graduate school is a formality, but in my department, for example, there is a clear unspoken condition that first-year graduate students do not work anywhere other than the department.
I would advise you to finish your bachelor's degree and look towards a master's or a specialist's degree, again depending on the university.
If some interesting projects are offered in the master’s program, you should boldly go there (so you will have more chances to get useful connections), but if the master’s program does not promise anything concrete, it’s better to finish as a specialist and start working in the fifth year

Answer 22

Is it impossible to pay off the army?

Answer 23

if you plan to go over the hill in the future or at least work there, then the road through postgraduate and master's programs is unambiguous (this gives extra evaluation points - once, our IT education is still valued there - that's two).
You can study full-time in graduate school and work - I did it. Many do not care how you work, the main thing is that the task is completed. I confess that I did not work for the first six months - when the main stream of lectures was going on and the last six months, when I was writing my dissertation. In general, I had the entire second year in graduate school - continuous rest (2 lectures a week + some kind of insignificant work at the department).

Answer 24

If suddenly you were born in Ukraine, or you have relatives here, get citizenship and move. Everything is easier with the army

Answer 25

I had it. I completed my master's degree at the Russian State Pedagogical University. A.I. Herzen (St. Petersburg). I was planning to go to graduate school. But immediately after the defense, I was taken into the army. After the army he entered graduate school. It is a pity that no one at the university even suggested that it turns out that you can take postgraduate leave, just at the time of admission.
True, our university management is very poor (Solomin V.P., Kantor V.Z.). There is information that this university cooperates with military registration and enlistment offices and they do it on purpose. Maybe you have too.
But in essence, stop being afraid of the army, there is nothing like that there. A lot of young guys get there every year and come back alive.