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OMSCS Open Courseware

sites.gatech.edu

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Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#41

Post by t_mann »

mym1990 wrote: post #19
photochemsyn wrote: post #7

I really can't imagine that these online degrees have any real value in the modern world of LLM-assited coding - there's no way anyone looking at a resume would think such institutional online degrees still have any value. Perhaps there is some educational value for the student, but even there the only real value is the organizational structure - you might as well form an online study group on discord for free, and g…

The OMSCS degree you get is equivalent to the in person one, so there is no way to make the distinction in an interview. I actually don’t see how people see that an experience like this brings no value, given the rigor of the assignments. One certainly would come out with a better knowledge of how things work, develop a better work ethic, and hopefully make some network connections on the way…

> there is no way to make the distinction in an interview

Just ask?

Some online degrees state that they're equivalent, but interviewers may still have their own opinions. I would discourage anyone from failing to mention the online nature of a degree in their CV. You're really not doing yourself a favor. A rigorous online degree is something to be proud of. I see people with PhD's proudly announcing their online course certificates on LinkedIn. However, 'discovering' that an education was of a different nature than one had assumed based on the presented materials may raise questions.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#42

Post by mym1990 »

t_mann wrote: post #41
mym1990 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OMSCS degree you get is equivalent to the in person one, so there is no way to make the distinction in an interview. I actually don’t see how people see that an experience like this brings no value, given the rigor of the assignments. One certainly would come out with a better knowledge of how things work, develop a better work ethic, and hopefully make some network connections on the way…

> there is no way to make the distinction in an interview Just ask? Some online degrees state that they're equivalent, but interviewers may still have their own opinions. I would discourage anyone from failing to mention the online nature of a degree in their CV. You're really not doing yourself a favor. A rigorous online degree is something to be proud of. I see people with PhD's proudly announcing their online cour…

This just reeks of you being insecure and thinking online education is of lower quality than in person education. Are you also pining for everyone to go back to the office? The degree GT gives you is literally the same thing as the in person degree. If GT does not make the distinction, why would I???

Here is a tip: maybe don't assume so much!

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#43

Post by zero-sharp »

guiambros wrote: post #39

Current OMSCS grad student; three down, seven to go. Loving the program so far. The content is great, and most of it is available on Open Courseware, YT, etc, but here's what else you get by officially going through the program: - the amazing community of TAs - the assignments - the feedback on reports & projects (either automated, or through TAs) - the collaboration with other students on Ed, Discord, Slack, etc - t…

In reference to the open courseware, is there a way to either just download all of the videos in bulk, or view them as part of a single video? It looks like they're broken down into ~2 minute long video clips through the Ed platform, which is very annoying.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#44

Post by mym1990 »

coolThingsFirst wrote: post #20
mym1990 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OMSCS degree you get is equivalent to the in person one, so there is no way to make the distinction in an interview. I actually don’t see how people see that an experience like this brings no value, given the rigor of the assignments. One certainly would come out with a better knowledge of how things work, develop a better work ethic, and hopefully make some network connections on the way…

This is very debatable. The courses look like they were recorded in the 90s. The DB course particularly sticks out. My undergrad's DB course was fathoms harder than this. This is what you'd expect a highschooler should be able to learn through a tutorial not a university course. If it doesn't talk about systems calls like mmap, locking and the design of the buffer pool manager, it's not a university Database course i…

I don't think watching the lectures is the hurdle that anyone at OMSCS is trying to jump. The program has a pretty low graduation rate, and the tests are known to be fairly difficult, which essentially requires the student to do work outside of class or go to the resources available through GT to understand the material. I can look up the highest quality lectures on any subject on YouTube, it doesn't mean I will understand any of it without the proper legwork.

FWIW I meant the diploma is identical, the actual experience will obviously vary. Some people will get better outcomes online, some will get better outcomes in person.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#45

Post by bubblethink »

warabe wrote: post #28

I once considered applying, but I gave up because collecting letters of recommendation was a major hurdle. My academic advisor from university has already retired… How do you all deal with this?

I don't think OMSCS is that selective. Get a couple of letters from your former professors and/or bosses. Letters are supplementary, not the sole determinant. More than the letters, they likely care about your GPA and GRE.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#46

Post by Jtsummers »

bubblethink wrote: post #45
warabe wrote: post #28

I once considered applying, but I gave up because collecting letters of recommendation was a major hurdle. My academic advisor from university has already retired… How do you all deal with this?

I don't think OMSCS is that selective. Get a couple of letters from your former professors and/or bosses. Letters are supplementary, not the sole determinant. More than the letters, they likely care about your GPA and GRE.

They don't even require the GRE. They have a very high acceptance rate but a pretty low completion rate.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#47

Post by johnnienaked »

warabe wrote: post #28

I once considered applying, but I gave up because collecting letters of recommendation was a major hurdle. My academic advisor from university has already retired… How do you all deal with this?

I got two letters from managers at work and one from a friend who I work with.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#48

Post by rs186 »

In the past they made videos available via Udacity, which were removed after Udacity turned their focus to short & easy (which often means superficial) courses for enterprise training instead of "serious" university courses. I guess that was not a viable business.

Of course they did not come with any assignments, just like these courses. Can't blame them, but other universities offer much resources -- for the same topic, you can often find a course offered by another university that provides videos hosted on YouTube, full assignments and labs, even exams. The only thing you are missing is TA/office hours and the course credit. In other words, unless you actually want to earn credits and work towards a degree, I suggest that you skip OMSCS videos unless there is no alternative.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#49

Post by rs186 »

t_mann wrote: post #41
mym1990 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OMSCS degree you get is equivalent to the in person one, so there is no way to make the distinction in an interview. I actually don’t see how people see that an experience like this brings no value, given the rigor of the assignments. One certainly would come out with a better knowledge of how things work, develop a better work ethic, and hopefully make some network connections on the way…

> there is no way to make the distinction in an interview Just ask? Some online degrees state that they're equivalent, but interviewers may still have their own opinions. I would discourage anyone from failing to mention the online nature of a degree in their CV. You're really not doing yourself a favor. A rigorous online degree is something to be proud of. I see people with PhD's proudly announcing their online cour…

> interviewers may still have their own opinions

That says nothing other than that the interviewers have a narrow mind and/or are ignorant. OMSCS is a very well known program, and it's their problem if they don't know it.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#50

Post by zero-sharp »

grantgallagher wrote: post #9

I’m an OMSCS grad - the dedication to making higher education in CS more accessible is something that really sticks out to me from those in charge (shoutout to Dr. Joyner who heads the program). Although not every course is on the Open Courseware (nor course work), there’s still a lot of good material, and if you like it enough, the program is a nice little side quest in ones journey through computer science.

Hi is there a way to view the lectures in a more traditional way? For example, as one long video? I'm seeing lessons broken up into 2-5 minute long videos.
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