Is having a master's degree a must in the DC area?

[Anonymous]

How necessary is a master's degree here?

I know that DC is supposed to be the most highly educated area of the U.S. and am wondering if not having that piece of paper is holding me back from better paying jobs.

[Anonymous]

Only if you want to make decent money for extended periods of time.

[Anonymous]

depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

[Anonymous]

Depends on your field. I have one, DH does not and he makes more than I do.

[Anonymous]

If it's in a useful field. Don't get an MFA or a master's in medieval history and expect to get paid a lot.

[Anonymous]

Hard sciences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only if you want to make decent money for extended periods of time.

+1

[Anonymous]

What field are you in? DH is an accountant, so no. I'm in stats/econ/data analysis so yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What field are you in? DH is an accountant, so no. I'm in stats/econ/data analysis so yes.

OP here, I'm in the stats and data analysis field as well. I have a Bachelors in economics with a minor in statistics.

[Anonymous]

I work for a consulting firm and we won't hire anyone without a Master's. It's a selling point for our clients.

Very junior staff get a pass, but can't move up without a graduate degree.

[Anonymous]

Really depends OP. I am a lawyer and husband is an MBA. I agree with some other posters than some masters degrees are totally worthless. You should really want one and know what you want to do with it before investing gobs of money and time.

[Anonymous]

if you are in sales you don't even need a BS and can make 300k a year

[Anonymous]

I'm in IT consulting and only a handful of people have an MBA. It's not necessary to move up in my field.

My husband has a PhD in engineering and I don't anticipate him making 6 figures anytime soon - if ever.

[Anonymous]

Is a JD a masters degree? Isn't it a professional degree, same as an MBA? I guess the latter is technically a masters degree but since you can get an MBA coming from any discipline, is it truly a master degree in the sense that you continue your education of the base BS/BA degree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

DS has a stupid liberal arts major in languages. Why in the world would a stupid major company in the global business community need someone who has a dumb LS degree and speaks three critical languages? Wow! I'll mention that in my email to DS when he arrives in Singapore to assist with cultural/business affairs that he is soooo just wasting his time with his worthless degree. The world needs more enlightened people like you.