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

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

#121

Post by vikascoder »

balls187 wrote: post #42
vikascoder wrote: post #34

Current working professional and an OMSCS student here. It highly depends on the context. Biggest pros are: 1. This is perhaps the cheapest Computer Science masters in the United States from a premier school. The degree is exactly the same as offered to the residential program and the credits acquired are all legit and transferable to other universities. I had friends who transferred from OMSCS to a regular school an…

> Cmon guys, a US Masters for 7000 USD? For US costal software engineers, $7k is relatively inexpensive. The average monthly income in Brazil is ~$620 a month. The average top end worker is $3500 a month. So $7k would likely be a significant investment for many Brazilians. https://www.worldcrunch.com/business-finance/in-booming-braz...

Agree, that's why I said its "for a US Masters". There have been other traditional offerings from CMU, Stanford and JHU etc which are all in the 40k USD range. Most of the international students would normally get more out of a residential MS in the US but 100k+ investment is sometimes out of the question. The other view is that the coursework lets say in a country like India will leave a lot to be desired and even an online MS such as from GaTech is a window to the outside world where they can interact with a wide variety of students and immerse themselves in a nearly international study experience. So the cost factor is just right. Also admissions to the Gatech cohorts are very competitive now, so its not also a cake walk to get in these days :)

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

#122

Post by praneshp »

throwawayaug15 wrote: post #47

Logging in as a throwaway. The program only costs $5k but it was one of the most expensive things I've done in my life. Got a job at Google directly because of this program (a few classes like CCA helped a lot with interviews). I'm aware of at least a couple dozen of us from OMS here. The program cost me dearly. It cost me my relationship with the SO and it cost me my health (staying up late nights, lots of coffee).…

> " the real way you pay for it is via your time"

Very true of my on-campus degree from Gatech as well. There wasn't any flexibility in spreading out courses due to my visa status. Tech tends to expect grads to leave in 1.5 years, which is slightly tighter.

> "It cost me my relationship with the SO and it cost me my health (staying up late nights, lots of coffee)."

Could've been true for me as well. Tech was also the first time my SO and I were long-distance, so that was an added challenge. I also put on 20 pounds the first year due to late nights and large pizzas. When I came to my senses, there were amazing options available in the fitness center.

> " The hidden gem is Piazza ..."

Opinions varied among my peers but I loved Piazza (the idea) too. Only one of my courses (advanced OS, Kishore) actually used it extensively, sadly.

Apart from the campus culture, etc, one thing I would miss in the OMSCS is talking to professors after class. A couple of the professors spent almost an hour after class answering questions in the hallway (in addition to scheduled office hours). I wonder if that experience can be replicated.

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

#124

Post by jboggan »

throwawayaug15 wrote: post #47

Logging in as a throwaway. The program only costs $5k but it was one of the most expensive things I've done in my life. Got a job at Google directly because of this program (a few classes like CCA helped a lot with interviews). I'm aware of at least a couple dozen of us from OMS here. The program cost me dearly. It cost me my relationship with the SO and it cost me my health (staying up late nights, lots of coffee).…

As a Yellow Jacket myself I am somewhat amused that they managed to translate the stress and fatigue of the Georgia Tech experience into the online course. In a perverse way I think that means the program is as valuable as it purports to be.

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

#125

Post by daok »

I have a question about the requirement to enter the program. It says is require to have 3 people to write a recommendation letters. I have finish my bachelor +10 years ago and I am not touch with any professors. Does providing managers are enough? On the website they put emphasis of not adding friends which I can understand, but I am curious about the serious about getting these letters.

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

#126

Post by Hortinstein »

daok wrote: post #125

I have a question about the requirement to enter the program. It says is require to have 3 people to write a recommendation letters. I have finish my bachelor +10 years ago and I am not touch with any professors. Does providing managers are enough? On the website they put emphasis of not adding friends which I can understand, but I am curious about the serious about getting these letters.

I only provided people in my professional life.

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

#127

Post by blparker »

rosstex wrote: post #92
vikascoder wrote: post #34

Current working professional and an OMSCS student here. It highly depends on the context. Biggest pros are: 1. This is perhaps the cheapest Computer Science masters in the United States from a premier school. The degree is exactly the same as offered to the residential program and the credits acquired are all legit and transferable to other universities. I had friends who transferred from OMSCS to a regular school an…

>"This is perhaps the cheapest Computer Science masters in the United States from a premier school." Actually, there are funded ones! Princeton and Cornell both have 2 year thesis-based M.S.E CS programs which are fully funded + stipend. I'm starting Princeton's in the fall. These are small programs though, I believe there's 12 of us incoming.

I only see references to the Princeton program being self-funded. Do you have any details?

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

#128

Post by petrbela »

daok wrote: post #125

I have a question about the requirement to enter the program. It says is require to have 3 people to write a recommendation letters. I have finish my bachelor +10 years ago and I am not touch with any professors. Does providing managers are enough? On the website they put emphasis of not adding friends which I can understand, but I am curious about the serious about getting these letters.

I think I only had one recommendation from my work manager. Perhaps the number of recs has changed (I applied in 2014) but as the acceptance criteria say, current supervisors should be perfectly acceptable.

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

#129

Post by throwawayaug15 »

throwaway98767 wrote: post #106
throwawayaug15 wrote: post #47

Logging in as a throwaway. The program only costs $5k but it was one of the most expensive things I've done in my life. Got a job at Google directly because of this program (a few classes like CCA helped a lot with interviews). I'm aware of at least a couple dozen of us from OMS here. The program cost me dearly. It cost me my relationship with the SO and it cost me my health (staying up late nights, lots of coffee).…

Can you elaborate a bit on what was said for the SCPD program "not being worth the time and effort"? (Googler here) I took ~4 classes, and they all seemed to be of high quality (applied for the full MSCS, but didn't get in, unfortunately). What are some of the opinions you've heard here?

Here's one Googler who says he regrets doing it:

https://garymm.blogspot.com/2016/07/i-regret-getting-masters...

Look for discussions from the author, I can't link it here.

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

#130

Post by auggierose »

SEJeff wrote: post #36
repsilat wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> algorithms and data structures being the most applicable There's really not much off that to be had -- one introductory theory + algorithms course, one course on algorithms and complexity for parallel and distributed programs, and after that just a few domain-specific things -- image processing and machine-learning algorithms. I thought the program was worthwhile because it was cheap and flexible. I could watch lec…

If you want to learn about Algorithms, you need to buy the entire series on Algorithms from Robert Sedgewick: https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Parts-1-4-Fundamentals-Str... https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~rs/ I don't think there is a single better source on algorithms than everything from Robert Sedgewick.

Some would say this is a pretty good source too:

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/introduction-algorithms

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