Re: FLASH: Re: MM grad school (was Salaries - MBA thoughts)

[Neal Cabage]

You didn't by chance go to NYU did you?


N


----- Original Message -----

From: Travis Alber <

talberzatso [dot] com

>

To: <

flasherchinwag [dot] com

>

Sent: Monday, May 01, 2000 8:07 PM

Subject: FLASH: Re: MM grad school (was Salaries - MBA thoughts)



> Alright flashers, you got me to post--

>

> I also enrolled in a MM master's program when there were only 3 in the

> country. I completed my masters in interactive multimedia design last

summer

> -- two year program that dealt with both theory (UI, CBT, project

> management, 20th C tech history, quantitative and qualitative evaluation)

> and production (director projects, flash stuff, midi classes, digital

video

> classes, etc). Here's my take on the whole thing:

>

> 1. Your master's degree won't mean diddily right when you get out of

school,

> but will prepare you to tackle anything you can get. It's so new people

> don't have a clue what it means or how to value it.

>

> 2. You won't be specialized in anything, but you'll be able to make

> decisions about what you want to do because you'll have been exposed to

> everything (you can get a wide variety of experience at a job, but not as

> easily)

>

> 3. Your job will be easier than grad school no matter what you are doing.

No

> company expects you to eat and breathe your work like a grad program (some

> jobs can be pretty demanding, but i still haven't found one company that

> expects more or that is as hard to get through because lack of support as

> grad school), so working will be pretty refreshing.

>

> 4. In three years your degree will make all the difference in the world.

> There are two reasons for this: a) you'll be well read whether you want to

> be or not, and probably about a wide range of subjects, so you'll get

theory

> pretty well and that will help you in your job b) you'll have something up

> on people who just have experience.

>

> 5. You'll be poor as hell in grad school (i was living on $400 a month) --

> and sort of poor when you get out. but that will change too. just as i

said,

> once you have experience, then people care a hell of a lot more about the

> whole grad school thing.

>

> what it comes down to, like any graduate program, is whether you really

want

> to do it badly enough to make the sacrifices it takes. Only 6% of

Americans

> go on with edu after undergrad, and that's becuase it takes a lot out of

you

> without much more than personal reward.

>

> As far as getting a degree in this stuff, you need to look for a program

> with theory based courses -- the production courses teach you to manage

time

> and people, but the software skills themselves are transitory. If you do

go

> to grad school, it certainly helps to get experience beforehand. I didn't,

> and it really counted against me when i got out -- couldn't "prove" i

could

> work, despite what i considered to be a pretty decent portfolio. Finally,

i

> doubt i would get a master's in the same thing as your undergraduate. If

you

> have an undergrad in Multimedia, get an MBA or Curriculum and Instruction

> masters...something that will complement your degree. It makes your skills

> much more valuable and less transitory.

>

> hope that helps a bit..

>

> travis

>

> --

>

> Travis Alber

> Web Designer/Interactive Artist

> Zatso, Inc (formerly Reactv.com)

> 808 Brannan Street, Second Floor

> San Francisco, CA 94103

> 415.934.2915

> www.zatso.net

> www.zatso.com

>

>

>

> From: "ilia pasymansky" <iliap75hotmail [dot] com>

>

> Reply-To: flasherchinwag [dot] com

> > Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 08:23:03 PDT

>

> To: flasherchinwag [dot] com

> > Subject: Re: FLASH: Salaries - MBA thoughts?

> >

> >

> > I am in the same situation Sonya. I graduate next month from MM programm

and

> > really thinking now what to do next..??

> > Go and get experience on the field ..Or go for the master . I really do

not

> > care for degree and I also agree that the best education is on the work

> > place. So I'll probably take a first choise (if i'll find any :))

> > Ilia

> > ---------------------------------------------

> > Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 02:49:55 GMT

>

> From: "Sonja ***" <dear_sonjahotmail [dot] com>

> > Subject: Re: FLASH: Salaries - MBA thoughts?

> >

> > ---------------------------------------------

> > I, like you am attending graduate school (9 credits a semester, which I

was

> > advised against) and working 50+ hours in the multimedia field. I will

be

> > done with a MS in Multimedia Technology in July, prior to grad school I

had

> > absolultely no experience in the field.

> >

> > What I have I heard from many people who have been in the industry, but

who

> > have no formal education, is that those of us with master's degrees,

despite

> > our abilities ( or lack there of) are hired to "boss" those without

degrees.

> >

> > I have also learned that employers get bombarded with resumes and

inquiries

> > from people with exceptional talent that they are now weeding out the

> > candidates based on their "education".  It turns out that I enrolled in

a

> > multimedia graduate program when there were only 2 schools offering

such.  I

> > have to be honest in saying that one of the primary reasons that I was

able

> > to land a job in the field, getting the salary that I wanted, was less

about

> > my "experience" and perhaps even "talent", but more about the fact that

I am

> > about to receive a piece of paper.

> >

> > Ok, nuff gibberish :-)  Stick with your studies...all of the talent in

the

> > world will not help you should employers decide that they are only

> > interested in interviewing people with degrees.

>

>

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