On 12/03/2013 05:26 PM, Dennis Raddle wrote:
All replies have been helpful. I realize my question is vague, and that's partly because I don't know what area within CS interests me. I may have to do at least an MS to find out. What I meant was whether you would like to do research or teach (or both) -- not a specific area. While you will probably be required to teach some classes anyway (as a TA, which means grading, supervising labs and consultations), most of your time in grad school pursuing a PhD would be spent on research. That's because producing novel and relevant research results is an absolute requirement for getting a PhD (while teaching a lot of classes, on the other hand, is not). In pursuing a PhD it would help if you enjoy (or at least can tolerate) the very process of research and feel passionate about your research topic. Otherwise, you might be in for quite a few miserable years.