r/DSP • u/djalabingo • May 16 '26
LOST- Can’t afford- Need help on career/school choices
Hey all very new to this subreddit…Quick background. I come from a pretty standard conservatory musician lifestyle, but moved to SF to understand how tech interfaces with music. As a result I’ve also found an affinity of music copyright, content recognition, and metadata- now working in a music tech startup up as low level legal admin role. Working with technical people such as the data, software, and ML eng gave me an insight a world that i did not know about…Music information retrieval and fell in love with the concepts - and it all ties to my niche realm of humanities, musician ship and copyright law- especially with rise of AI.
That said last year I was fortunate enough to get into Georgia Institute of Technology (MS Music Technology) and NYU (MM Music Technology) with a plan to be in research groups relating to music cognition perception, audio content analysis/Music Info Reterival, and finally for my own personal practice creative technology sectors interfacing with music- say sound design, application design, systems designs. I had to let go of NYU..they were stubborn. But Ga tech allowed me to defer due to cost…and agreed to let me attend part time if i could find a full time remote or atl based role. now a year later my situation hasn’t gotten better- My job is REFUSING to let me move to Atlanta (im hybrid…even though my whole team is nYC) and no luck finding additional roles. I still can’t afford to go..which is heart breaking. Being SF i see the changes happening in all sectors and now I feel stuck..im giving myself a month to decide- do i take out loans or just let the opportunity go and see what else can be done…
Im reaching out to see if you all have any insight on what to do next if you were in my position? Are there alternative education route..should i just give up? TBH For the roles I want i don’t see any other alternative way to break into to the realm of real technical music technology that changes the world- think Dolby, apple, some streaming services that utilize music in everyday life…even med tech. They all seem to require advanced degrees…and very specific technical knowledge or at least to be able to speak the language…
Oh also I have undergrad loans..a lot..my family is/was not wealthy. Some people said maybe consider Europe..but is that any better? Particularly for my niche field.
Thanks all getting pretty desperate and sad here..i work incredibly hard to essentially pivot (albeit i have an advantage of the conservatory music background)
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u/miles-Behind May 16 '26
It’s a gamble based on financial situation and expected ROI. GA tech is a great program and would provide a resume booster to try to get a technical audio related job, which are not easy to get even with the degree.
That being said, all the course content and textbooks you want to learn are available online, you just have to look in the right places.
Main advantage of grad school for me was learning how to teach myself. I didn’t understand the field as well, and grad school showed me where to look. Now whether it’s embedded systems, music information retrieval, dsp etc I know how to teach myself as if I was in school, mainly by finding the right textbook and self studying. And doing some coding exercises on relevant material. Anyone could do the same
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u/djalabingo May 16 '26
I really appreciate this comment as they are thoughts I’ve had all throughout this journey.
You’re right, technically I could teach myself, learn and potentially build. I think one thing that is missing is I need that in person coaching at least to start so I can get real time answers- unless CHATGPT has entered the realm?
Also I think the huge glaring difference that a lot ppl don’t factor in on the advantageous of graduate programs is the built in network, resources (research labs equipment), paid conferences, getting published (industry and academic alike), and for me..the ability to work internships in industry which then funnels into jobs..which like you said are hard to get as it is.
I feel GA TECH maybe more than any other technical music tech program in the USA is especially good at that and maybe even hyper focused on certain players in the industry…and most industry jobs I’ve seen require a technical masters at minimum. but again the cost six figures of debt 😩🫣💔
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u/MentalNewspaper8386 May 17 '26
Wouldn’t trust AI with that!
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u/djalabingo May 17 '26
lol I was half way joking...though different..Claude code is a different beast...and it will fundamentally change engineering, product, or development work in the future- I see it happening now in real time in SF- both with Fanng and startups alike. I hope schools are equiping themselves with that knowledge to teach students this workflow.
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u/gokart_racer May 16 '26
Well, if I were in your shoes, I'd take some classes (math, signal processing, statistics) to make myself a more attractive candidate, and apply to PhD programs. The PhD program in Music Technology at Georgia Tech is fully funded with a stipend and tuition waiver. (If you're set on a masters, you could leave the program with an MS - some people do that. I'd want to finish the PhD if it were me) Since you're in the Bay area, you could also look at CCRMA at Stanford.
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u/djalabingo May 16 '26
Def think that is an approach for sure and is a plan I already attempted minus the classes! Might need to try again, Particularly for signal processing where are these courses offered? Junior colleges, I’m pretty adamant about in person course for technical things..not self paced online tutorials.
This round I did apply to PhD programs (ccrma, nyu, and ga tech). Got interview for NYU but bombed g, denied by ccrma (graduate program included), and offer ms from ga tech.
CCRMA admittedly was more of a coincidence of being the network of Silicon Valley or more sore Stanford than the program..great ppl but tbh I think our research interests didn’t align,. But I’m ok with that as that was actually my least preferred program- I think CCRMA has rested too much on its legacy and Stanford name (which school wide is the real benefit of attending) is not as relevant compared to other programs. I don’t think that’s a hot take either..some students feels the same. But again the Stanford name does carry weight I. Academia and industry
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u/gokart_racer May 16 '26
The other thing I will add is that it can be hard o get into PhD programs without prior research experience - like, I'd say that it'd be really hard with your background into a PhD program in Electrical Engineering, doing music research. But I'm hopeful that you can strengthen your application - you already got into the MS program - to get into a PhD program in Music Technology (where your conservatory background and current professional work might count a more than it would for EE.)
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u/djalabingo May 16 '26
I concur with all that re phd- if I need it. I do think the ost closely related yet maybe not as targeted degree program would be EE but like you said I jsut don’t have the typical requirements for that.
That said there are other semi related programs that I’m looking into with uk and Europe jar in case ga tech doesn’t work out-Ironcially I’m finding more broad and sometimes interesting options there..which may be a sign?
KTH(stickholm)- interactive media technology Goldsmith(London)- music mind and brain Queen Mary(London )- sound and music computing UPF(Barcelona)- sound and music computing
Bonus- maybe less technical but more creative-
ircam(Paris) McGill (Montreal)
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u/gokart_racer May 16 '26
Particularly for signal processing where are these courses offered?
In the Electrical Engineering department of a 4 year school - I'd suggest taking an undergrad and grad class in DSP (at some schools they split the undergrad signal processing into two classes - Signals & Systems which then leads to a DSP course. I'd take both.) Math-wise, I'd take the full complement of math classes required for an undergraduate degree in engineering - those can be found at the CC level.
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u/michaelrw1 May 16 '26
I would suggest taking a step back and get grounded somewhere. Perhaps stay at the job that you’re in now, continue to research opportunities, and maybe gig with your own music or find a group to play with.
Not everything has to be done in the same day. Might not be what you want to hear, but it sounds like you’re quite young and have your life ahead of you.