Neither. The sheepskin is increasingly unnecessary, but the experience can be invaluable.
I wouldn't trade my time at engineering school for anything, whether the outcome is a career or not. It made me take charge of my own education, forced me to introspect on where my interests and talents overlap. Just being surrounded by like-minded individuals who want to learn and build was fantastic. Coming out of it with improved time management, leadership, a patent and research experience were bonuses.
I can see the argument that you can get all of the above outside of an academic setting, and honestly, there are so many fantastic resources available now. But at the same time, it takes the right individual and personality to accomplish that on their own and there's something to be said for having skin in the game (committing to a program and paying for it.) I'm a little torn, but I'm still going to be recommending it, not for the sake of the diploma though, and definitely not if it incurs substantial debt.
If the individual is strongly self motivated or highly entrepreneurial, it might be the wrong call (depending on their interests.) But for me it was definitely worth the time and expense.
Neither. The sheepskin is increasingly unnecessary, but the experience can be invaluable.
I wouldn't trade my time at engineering school for anything, whether the outcome is a career or not. It made me take charge of my own education, forced me to introspect on where my interests and talents overlap. Just being surrounded by like-minded individuals who want to learn and build was fantastic. Coming out of it with improved time management, leadership, a patent and research experience were bonuses.
I can see the argument that you can get all of the above outside of an academic setting, and honestly, there are so many fantastic resources available now. But at the same time, it takes the right individual and personality to accomplish that on their own and there's something to be said for having skin in the game (committing to a program and paying for it.) I'm a little torn, but I'm still going to be recommending it, not for the sake of the diploma though, and definitely not if it incurs substantial debt.
If the individual is strongly self motivated or highly entrepreneurial, it might be the wrong call (depending on their interests.) But for me it was definitely worth the time and expense.