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Completing a part-time Master's in computer science while working

alexanderell.is

131–140 of 167 posts

Re: Completing a part-time Master's in computer science while working

#131
Doing a part time masters was a huge mistake I made in my early 20s. Sure, I learned a lot but I lost a lot of time and picked up a few grey hairs. It really took a toll on my family and social life. It has not benefited my career at all, which is why I tell people to avoid this route unless they have a non-comp Sci bachelors and even then to consider doing a second bachelors instead.

Despite interviewing a great deal since then and getting a few different positions no one in industry has ever really cared about it, except to call my background 'academic' in a vaugely negative manner at some smaller shops. I make very comparable salary to my peers who just have their bachelors. I usually recommend people not to go this route unless they just want to learn for the sake of learning... which I did, but I thought it would help career wise too and it really hasnt. Honestly I think there are a number of people in startups who will actively hold an MS against you, seeing it as a sign of failure. I have outright been told when interviewing that it is being held against me, because successful people don't need one.

Re: Completing a part-time Master's in computer science while working

#132

I did the same. My schedule was: - leave home at 7:30am to arrive to work at 9am - work from 9am to 16 (so 7h, my company allowed me to do so with the corresponding pay decrease) - university from 16 to 18 (sometimes 16 to 19) - back at home between 20 and 21 - go to bed at around midnight I did this for a year (I was 25 years old). It was hard. Main reason to do it was: don't lose a year of work experience, don't lo…

I had a similar schedule when I was 25-26 and finishing my masters part time. I'd done the first half as a full time student, but needed to get a job and make money.

- Out of bed at 7:30am, at work at 9am.

- Leave work at 4:30pm or so for the 60-90 minute trip to campus

- Class until 8:30pm

- Home at 9:30pm

Classes were held two nights per week, so on the non-class nights, I was usually home from work by 6:30pm and would have a couple hours of studying to do.

It was an exhausting two years.

Re: Completing a part-time Master's in computer science while working

#133
post #59

I'm currently in a Master program (data science: maths, maths, maths and maths, oh and maths). I'm almost 50 years old. I was very happy to read that article because it doesn't mention a little detail : age. The sort of effort the author has done is really something he should be proud of, but at 29 your brain is still quite up to to the task. At almost 50 (+kids, +family to keep care of (even if family is incredibly…

My step-father is in his 50s and is currently doing a masters whilst working full time. His kids are admittedly old enough to mostly look after themselves at this point, but 1 of them still lives at home and he also most of the cooking and cleaning in around the house.

Re: Completing a part-time Master's in computer science while working

#134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For those interested there's a number of UK universities that offer a remote master's. Would you say it is worth pursuing Masters from the UK university? If you dont mind which university would you consider worth it?

Depends a bit on your background. It's pretty convenient for me to just have the course available to look at, and since I've been coding for many years it's not terribly time consuming to fill in the gaps. For someone who's never done anything technical it's quite a leap, but not impossible. I can see she's increasing in confidence from learning this type of stuff, which is really positive. If you're doing it to get…

> not Oxbridge, which has its own aura

Yes, although they're not particularly well regarded for CS (not bad, just not better than other places). They have a reputation for being overly focussed on theory, and this is also a discipline that other universities do very well.

Re: Completing a part-time Master's in computer science while working

#137
post #59

I'm currently in a Master program (data science: maths, maths, maths and maths, oh and maths). I'm almost 50 years old. I was very happy to read that article because it doesn't mention a little detail : age. The sort of effort the author has done is really something he should be proud of, but at 29 your brain is still quite up to to the task. At almost 50 (+kids, +family to keep care of (even if family is incredibly…

I'm 54 and my brain is as effective as in my twenties, if not more. Where's the evidence that the human brain "slows down by a factor of at least 2"?

Re: Completing a part-time Master's in computer science while working

#138
post #136

I completed an MS in software engineering while I was working. I ultimately consider it to have been a waste of time and money. I think it gave my resume a slight boost early in my career but I don't think it matters much now.

I'm sorry. My experience is that my MSSE made me look at software development in a different way and definitely gave me a much wider view of what was in front of me. Then again, my only out of pocket cost was parking, since my employer reimbursed everything except that.

Stuff like Project Management, Quality Control and even formal real-time system analysis are probably not concepts I would have learned on my own. Coming from an EE background, it definitely gave me a leg up. Not to mention the class discussions with people from widely varying software niches give really useful perspectives from outside your own little bubble.

Re: Completing a part-time Master's in computer science while working

#139

I'm middle age and have begun to feel as if I'm being surpassed by younger engineers who've had more relevant CS and engineering curriculums in the 15 years since I got my bachelors. I enrolled in a masters of CS (online) at a prestigious university and was able to complete the first 3 credit course. I enjoyed it and did well, but ended up dropping the next course. My thoughts were: * At the pace I was going, it'd ta…

I am doing the Georgia Tech online masters https://omscs.gatech.edu/ right now, and your points do resonate. The financial ROI would be higher if I just invested that time into career, but I have no formal CS education and I'm doing this purely out of a learning experience. Life is long, education is important in the long term, and money isn't the main goal for everything.

Plus, it's under $10k for the entire program.

Re: Completing a part-time Master's in computer science while working

#140
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't you as a parent want to help your children avoid things you experienced? I think you always want your children to go through less hassle than yourself? I personally believe that guiding children through struggles we experienced is not a good idea of parenting. Disclaimer: I didn't finish college as well, for same reasons as you. Edit: I've realized my comment might've sounded like a critique of your parentin…

Agreed, my parents adopted the financial policy of providing just enough support that college was as difficult as possible but technically affordable. In hind sight, just a bit more help would have made a world of difference. That said there is a huge expectation in the US. 90% of the time professors or admins mentioned paying for college they assumed people were getting parental assistance or financial aid. For bett…

That was very Mitt Romney of you.
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