Taking a chance on one school for MS thesis?

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The discussion revolves around the dilemma of pursuing a Master's thesis while balancing a potential job opportunity. The individual has received a job offer from a company they previously rejected and is considering whether to accept it while attending UCLA for their MS in Mechanical Engineering/Aerospace Engineering. With limited faculty available for thesis supervision in their area of interest, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), they are contemplating the feasibility of taking a leave of absence to focus on their thesis. There's also consideration of negotiating with the employer for support during their thesis work, despite uncertainty about the company's involvement in CFD. Ultimately, the decision hinges on whether to accept the job and risk limited research opportunities or seek other graduate programs with better alignment to their research interests.
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So a few months ago I got 2 job offers, so I accepted one and turned down the other. However, my employment then ended unexpectedly in a couple months. A few days ago I called the company whose offer I had rejected to see if they had any current openings. To my surprise, they didn't seem angry at me, and yesterday, they told me that they should have an opening for me but will let me know in 2 weeks, after the hiring manager returns from a business trip. Since getting an MS is a job requirement, I have to eventually get it while working as well.

Last year when I applied for grad schools in ME/AE, I only applied to UCLA since I missed the deadlines for other schools. This company plans on having me work part-time so that I have more time for school. The main problem is that I want to do the MS with thesis, but the only school nearby that offers that is UCLA. My main area of interest is CFD, but UCLA only has 3 profs in that area, and one of them doesn't take MS students, leaving 2 available. Those other 2 sometimes take MS students, but won't anytime soon (at least for an RA-ship. Maybe I should ask if they will take me on for a thesis, but un-funded?). I really don't want to just take the coursework-only MS since I may decide to go for the phD

I heard one option would be to take a leave of absence from work to do my thesis. But since only 2 profs do research I'm interested in, is taking the job and going to UCLA worth gambling on? Or should I turn down this job again, so I can find another MS program (I was considering applying to grad schools for spring and fall '11 programs before I heard this company had openings) where I can more easily find research in my area of interest? The hiring manager told me they might also have internships, so that might be a better option..
 
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Talk to this employer about wanting to do a thesis. Assuming they do CFD work, you may be able to work out a way to do a thesis while working with the support of the company.
 
boneh3ad said:
Talk to this employer about wanting to do a thesis. Assuming they do CFD work, you may be able to work out a way to do a thesis while working with the support of the company.

I just called but no answer, so he may have already left. The company does some CFD work, but I don't think so in the hiring manager's dept, which is flight software. If so, you think the company can pay me in order to do a thesis even if I have to take a leave of absence for it? If so, I just got to find a prof at UCLA that will advise my thesis but not have to provide me an RA-ship, right?
 

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