Masters degree programs are in part designed to subsidize undergraduate degrees, where (bewilderingly) many universities operate at a loss
Master’s Degree in Computer Science
181–190 of 265 posts
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I had to get a masters, I would take one unrelated to software development. Marrying software development knowledge with another non-tech domain expertise would make one valuable.
The problem is most Masters programs don’t give you much expertise. Ever tried depending on someone’s skill in a topic they have a Masters in? Real crapshoot.
imo more common in the anglosphere that masters degrees are watered down these days. But top universities should have respectable programs still.
The masters students at my current uni (ETH Zürich) are easily the best software engineers I have ever worked with.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#183As someone currently mid-career in UT Austin’s part time MS in Software Engineering program, avoid this program. I got my undergrad from Georgia Tech 10 years ago, and Georgia Tech is better in every regard. UT has this nice list online that they never truly offer - you have at most 3 courses to pick from each semester. And to finish in 2 years you have to take the summer course, which there is one class and no optio…
Also a UT Option III student, same as you. I too regret doing the program. It just feels like such a hassle and to your point it is extremely disorganized.
I will say certain instructors like Vijay Garg make the program feel worth it. You learn new material, read research papers, and have implementations around research papers. His courses were the reason I stuck around. I took his advanced algorithms and distributed systems courses which were great.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#184I view university education as poor-to-useless vocational training for software engineering as well as most if not all careers that aren't explicitly research-focused, and I say that as someone who's gotten a master's degree in computer science, intended to get a PhD, and for the most part didn't for financial reasons. I really enjoy and respect academia, but it exists to train researchers, and the more advanced a de…
this is dangerously reductive and needlessly pessimistic. The power of a university education is on several levels. One is the community of peers that you are part of. Second is the ability to learn what you need to and to learn what the limits of your knowledge are. Tech changes quickly and no university syllabus will ever be fully up to date. Besides, that is never their goal. Third is to to provide a safe environm…
"Safe environment to fail"?
What???
It is incredibly stressful environment cuz if you fail then youll have to spend more time (so less vacations), maybe even pay some $$ or at worst have to take course again
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#185I'm personally in the Georgia Tech Online Master's in Computer Science (OMSCS) program right now and can't say enough good things about it. The coursework is rigorous, deep, and varied, you really do learn quite a bit through the program and more than just random learning on your own, you get a degree out of it. Plus you get the opportunity to do some research and publish papers.
I created this account for a specific question because the subject is something I'm thinking of right now. My question is: How much time do you invest every day on this degree? I dropped out of my MS degree 20 years ago and would love to do that again, but I feel like I would only have (at most) 1 hour a day to work on it due to all my work and family commitments. I could squeeze an additional hour at work to learn b…
It varies for me. I am a bit over half way through. I think I spend on average 10-20 hours a week doing work for the class. But I typically am the type to burn a weekend doing a project then do not much work for the next week.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#186I went back for a mid career masters and it was a great choice. It allowed me to reenter the "fresh grad" hiring pipeline and allowed me to get a job at a more prestigious and research focused company than I think I would have been able to get otherwise
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#187I'm personally in the Georgia Tech Online Master's in Computer Science (OMSCS) program right now and can't say enough good things about it. The coursework is rigorous, deep, and varied, you really do learn quite a bit through the program and more than just random learning on your own, you get a degree out of it. Plus you get the opportunity to do some research and publish papers.
I’m curious whether anyone here is doing/has done OMSCS with a family in addition to a day job. I would love to do the program, but I’m not sure how realistic it is to take it on with young kids in the house. Does all of your non-work time end up being consumed by coursework?
I just graduated from OMSCS and have four young kids and a full time job. It took me four years and I made full use of my employer’s generous continuing ed program (50 days/year, introduced about a year after I started) which kept after-hours work to a manageable level. I had to pass on a few good courses due to predicted workload, but made it through a good number of the harder/more rewarding ones and am very happy to have done it. I do not think I would have stuck with it if I was working 40 hours/week and doing the program entirely on my own time.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
A standard Introduction DSA course will generally not cover advanced DSA stuff like segment trees or Heavy-light decomposition, or theoretical stuff like number theory, or computational geometry all that stuff you would find in the competitive programming space.
> segment trees or Heavy-light decomposition, or theoretical stuff like number theory, or computational geometry I am not sure if there are any problems on leetcode that require any of these, but based on a sample of a few of their contests, if they exist they are a very small fraction ( The vast majority require: - no DS&A knowledge whatsoever - basic techniques (recursion, simple graph/tree algos, binary search, si…
I do CP on various sites so I don't know if it's for Leetcode in particular. But some companies like Salesforce or DE Shaw or Codenation do include advanced problems on their tests.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#189As someone currently mid-career in UT Austin’s part time MS in Software Engineering program, avoid this program. I got my undergrad from Georgia Tech 10 years ago, and Georgia Tech is better in every regard. UT has this nice list online that they never truly offer - you have at most 3 courses to pick from each semester. And to finish in 2 years you have to take the summer course, which there is one class and no optio…
Thanks! UT is one of the schools I applied to, so this is kind of a disappointment. Do you notice it getting better, worse, or staying about the same?
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#190No way this guy earns his money back. There is no salary premium for a CS master's. Employers that want to see one are places you don't want to work. I mean, if you want to do it just for fun, knock yourself out. Just don't delude yourself about what you hope to accomplish.
NACE showed a 46.9% salary premium for a CS master's over a bachelor's.
Also, after a career in startups, I am looking for work in bigger, more conservative organisations. So those are the places I want to work.