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Ask HN: Is Georgia Tech's Online Master in CS Worth It?

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Ask HN: Is Georgia Tech's Online Master in CS Worth It?

#1

Post by soneca »

I would like to know if HN thinks it is worth to go through Georgia Tech's Online Master of Science in Computer Science.

https://www.omscs.gatech.edu/

It is basically an online program of academic education in CS planned to be taken while working, costing around USD7,000 to complete.

My context: I am brazilian, living in Brazil, 37 yo, graduated in Economics and just recently made the career transition to become a developer. I basically studied more practical things about software development (web, mostly javascript) through free content available online. I am already working as a frontend web developer.

I believe this program is a good complementary source of knowledge to become a better software developer. I assume the more theoretical academic approach would benefit me as a complement to my more hands-on learning I had so far. And I also assume the Georgia Tech credentials will benefit my career.

So, what you think?

Re: Ask HN: Is Georgia Tech's Online Master in CS Worth It?

#2

Post by mindvirus »

I graduated from the program in December and I found it incredibly rewarding. There are a lot of great classes, and I learned a ton - in particular, the machine learning and reinforcement learning courses were top notch, as we're the systems programming ones.

One thing I'd warn though is that you'll get out of the program what you put into it - so it's really up to you to choose classes that will set up your career the way that you want it.

Re: Ask HN: Is Georgia Tech's Online Master in CS Worth It?

#4

Post by growtofill »

mindvirus wrote: post #2

I graduated from the program in December and I found it incredibly rewarding. There are a lot of great classes, and I learned a ton - in particular, the machine learning and reinforcement learning courses were top notch, as we're the systems programming ones. One thing I'd warn though is that you'll get out of the program what you put into it - so it's really up to you to choose classes that will set up your career t…

Have you been working while studying? Could you share how much hours/week have you been committing?

Re: Ask HN: Is Georgia Tech's Online Master in CS Worth It?

#5

Post by hnrodey »

What are some of the prereq's to be prepared to be successful with completing this degree? Asking as someone who graduated with a CS degree from almost ten years ago (wow, time flies). I've been programming/development pretty much that entire time but I think I have forgot most of the core math and core CS concepts that might be necessary in a CS masters degree.

It's hard for me to estimate how much prep I would need to do to come in to this program and feel comfortable with the tasks at hand.

Re: Ask HN: Is Georgia Tech's Online Master in CS Worth It?

#6

Post by bkanber »

Worth it -- based on what metric?

My wife did an online master's degree (at a legit university that also had an online program). You have to be very good at self-pacing, diligence, and learning autonomously. You have to be so good at it, in fact, that the type of person who would succeed in an online master's program is the same type of person who would succeed in self-learning without the master's program.

So if your only goal is to learn, then I say no, it's not worth it.

However, you're in Brazil and not a lifelong programmer. Credentials may work against you if seeking a job in the US. Many US companies look at South America as the "nearshore" talent, much better in quality than devfarms in India, but also still cheaper and -- because of that -- slightly lower in quality than US talent.

In that case, spending $7k and completing the program and getting the degree may help you get a $7k higher salary in your first (or next) job. It may give US companies more confidence in your abilities, as you received a US graduate school education.

So from a financial perspective and the perspective of job opportunities inside the US as a foreigner, then I think it may be worth it. If you don't care about getting US jobs then still probably not worth it.

Best of luck!

Re: Ask HN: Is Georgia Tech's Online Master in CS Worth It?

#8

Post by lemonghost »

I'm halfway through the OMSCS in the machine learning specialization. It has been a great experience so far and definitely worth it for me.

A couple of things to consider: As you mentioned, it is more focused on Computer Science than Software Engineering/Development. There are a couple of Software Engineering/Architecture/Testing courses but I haven't taken them so I can't comment on how relevant I think they are to my day job.

It's an incredible bargain... 7-8K for an MS (not an online MS) from a top 10 school in CS. That on it's own makes it worth it for me.

It's not easy and it's not like a typical Coursera/Udacity course. Depending on which courses you take it can be quite challenging (which is a good thing). You typically don't have much interaction with the Professors but there are a lot of TAs and other students to help you along the way.

Here's a reddit in case you haven't come across it that answers many questions:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OMSCS/

And here's an awesome course review site that a student built:

https://omscentral.com/reviews

Re: Ask HN: Is Georgia Tech's Online Master in CS Worth It?

#10

Post by lemonghost »

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #7

Don't you need an undergrad degree in computer science to be admitted? http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/program-info/admission-criteria

No, they admit people without a BS in CS but I think they want to make sure you'll be able to succeed in the program. So it helps to have professional software engineering experience or some other coursework.
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