Masters in Computing + Research Assistant

랴연

Hey all,

So heres my situation.

I'm currently living in South Korea and I have been offered a research assistant position at a University here.

I have 3 major problems written below and I'd really appreciate some advice on each. The deal is as follows;

1 - Research Assistant to Professor.
= My tuition fees (considerable here) are waved to do Masters.
= I get a little financial support (very little, nowhere near enough to live on) for doing research on his projects for him.
= I've been told that this is akin to signing up for slavery for 2 years. (Especially here) Anyone have any knowledge on this ?

How much time will I be expected to contribute ? What kind of work will be involved in peoples experience ? Will I be coding or just writing documents ? Is this a good deal ? f-all money for free tuition ?

2 - Masters in Computing/Software Engineering
= I have to undertake 8 classes for the 2 years. (Required)
= At least 5 of these classes will be completely through Korean. (I don't speak Korean). The aforementioned professor said that examinations etc will be through English (or will be made in English for me), lectures etc will be in Korean. He said and I assume I could study these on my own. Is that nieve ?

I also have to do a thesis on top of all this.

What do people think ?

On top of all these problems, I have another issue which is probably more suited to the Programming forum but ...

3- I haven't worked in the industry for almost 2 years and honestly I'm feeling like when I would go back, whether it be to work in software or study, I would be lost. I got a 2.2 in my BSc and I always had a few problems, Maths being a major issue for me. Also, I'm pretty sure I'd be lost going back to coding at the moment too without some preparation.

Can anyone give me some opinions about this ? I (potentially) have a few months (5) to prepare myself for this position so what could I do to bring myself up on maths/ready for research/postgraduate studies ?

랴연

Edit -> Why can't I edit my post ?

Anyways ...

4. I forgot to mention Reputation. Reputation of Schools is a huge issue here and the University that made this offer to me is somewhere in the middle. Not a 'bad' reputation, just not a good one. (It has a great reputation for medicine, has the biggest hospital in korea but for Engineering/anything else its down the list)

Its about #40-ish in Korea. There are about 700 third level institutions.

Should I be worried about this ? Should I try go for an institution with a better reputation ?

Breaktown

I wouldn't worry too much about reputation of the college, but that's just me.

Regarding not getting a lot of money, is there any tutoring or anything you could do for extra money?

I think it is possible to study classes on your own, but it really depends on how confident and motivated you are and also on the subject. I did physics in college and there's no way I could have done it by myself cause I often needed help with solving problems etc. Is there anyone who could help you out if you get stuck?

As for getting back to it, perhaps you could work through a maths or coding book to tackle some problems? Maybe if you still have your college notes you could back over them. I'm sure it will come back to you fairly easily.

랴연

First thank you very much for the answer, I really appreciate it.

Breaktown wrote: »

I wouldn't worry too much about reputation of the college, but that's just me.

Well the thought wouldn't even have crossed my mind except I've been told a hundred times by people here that its so important (here). I think the situation here is a bit similar to the US where there are a lot of mickey-mouse Universities, some religious nut colleges etc.

I know that the school that made this offer isn't one of them, but if you want a good jobs here you pretty much need to have graduated from 1 of the top 10-20.

I suppose I shouldn't worry too much and its only because so many others are telling me about it that I am worrying at all.

Regarding not getting a lot of money, is there any tutoring or anything you could do for extra money?

Yes and I am prepared for living on the equivalent of pot noodle for 2 years.

I think it is possible to study classes on your own, but it really depends on how confident and motivated you are and also on the subject. I did physics in college and there's no way I could have done it by myself cause I often needed help with solving problems etc. Is there anyone who could help you out if you get stuck?

I suppose this all depends on the way the classes is structured, i.e > Will the professor be following the book or will the tests etc depend highly on lecture notes.

I am going to try and go and talk to some of the professors today whose classes I will have to take.

As for getting back to it, perhaps you could work through a maths or coding book to tackle some problems? Maybe if you still have your college notes you could back over them. I'm sure it will come back to you fairly easily.

Thank you, yes thats what I was thinking. Would you recommend doing a short course with someone like the Open University ?

I've got about 5 months give or take.

petethebrick

Why are you thinking of doing the masters in Korea? - I'm gonna assume it's because you have a girlfriend/wife there??
Otherwise it would make much more sense for you to do it back at home here.

You'll have to weigh up each option when choosing whether or not take on the position of research assistant. I've worked as a research assistant here in Ireland and it involved a lot of work.
Maybe you would be better off just paying for the masters yourself and then using more of your spare time for teaching some private english classes. You can make a ton of cash doing these so I don't think surviving on pot noodles for two years would be necessary! I know it's illegal to do private classes on a student visa but I know if I was there that's what I'd be doing to be honest.

With regard to revising your computer skills only you can decide whether you'll be lost or not. I have a computer science degree myself but now remember basically nothing from it
I changed fields completely to international relations however.

The reputation of the college won't matter if you're planning to work in Korea but degrees from Korean Universities aren't held in a very high regard elsewhere as far as I know. Go and talk to different professors as you say and make sure you feel good about the course before taking it on.

Use the search function on this forum for information about postgrad study in Korea:
www.eslcafe.com

AARRRGH

From what you're said, it sounds like a bad idea.

I have a masters in computer science, and I am good at maths and programming, yet I found it reasonably tough even though I did it in English!

Do you actually want to do the course, or are you only considering it because you've been offered it?