CMU is supposed to be a great school for HCI – it will probably be worth the effort! What area of HCI are you interested in?

I never got to the Ph.D phase. Gave up after the MA. For me it was to much politics and not enough learning. I was sick of being poor. I was also immature. I lacked direction.

But I saw a lot of smart people that “got sucked into the Ph.D thing.” Years and years of their life wasted. Not wasted on the degree. Wasted because it took them so long to get it done.

In my family I am the first person not to have a Ph.D in three generations. So I an not putting down education. It is key.

But think, at least it moved me, that every day, week, month of the semester where you don’t finish your degree is time taken away from your ability to use that knowledge to “do something.” Unless you want to teach (a very noble cause BTW) you’ve got to get into the marketplace.