I wrote about my experiences in OMSCS here https://schneems.com/2017/07/26/omscs-omg-is-an-online-maste.... It took about 7 years, but I finally got my degree.
OMSCS Open Courseware
61–70 of 106 posts
Re: OMSCS Open Courseware
#62I would like to get my masters from georgia tech's omscs program but between work and 2 kids I dont see how I'll ever have the time
I completed OMSCS with 2 kids (both preschool), taking 1 class per semester from Fall 2019 to Spring 2023. It was possible thanks to having full remote job and a very supportive wife. I learned a lot, but I probably wouldn't do it again, it was extremely unhealthy, especially for certain classes like Distributed Computing (CS7210).
Why was it extremely unhealthy? The work load? The lack of sleep with work, kids, and school? Asking because I’m sorta in the same position
Re: OMSCS Open Courseware
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
ffmpeg
This is how I've done it. Some courses have short lectures from 30s to 2.5min which can be annoying
Re: OMSCS Open Courseware
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Is this a common thing to have at university? I'm from one of top universities in Poland; our database courses never included anything more than basic SQL where cursors were the absolute end. Even at Masters.
Yes. It is. Your database course was apparently broken.
Re: OMSCS Open Courseware
#65Current 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…
Graduated 5 years ago. One of the best decisions in life. Coursework is challenging and more than 2 classes would definitely feel like a very full time degree (1 per semester is the best pace imo for work life study balance). Although you would need special permission to take a third class (from what I remember).
My resume is also looked at differently after mentioning Georgia Tech. It really helped gain a lot of confidence. Fundamentally changed things as my undergraduate in India was not a good experience for me.
Re: OMSCS Open Courseware
#66Current 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.
Annoying indeed. I created a script using ffmpeg to merge all the 2-min clips into a longer video per chapter[1], so I could watch the lectures on my commute.
You may need to tweak for different courses, but I've used for ML4T, GIOS, and ML, and it has been incredibly helpful.
Re: OMSCS Open Courseware
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
I completed OMSCS with 2 kids (both preschool), taking 1 class per semester from Fall 2019 to Spring 2023. It was possible thanks to having full remote job and a very supportive wife. I learned a lot, but I probably wouldn't do it again, it was extremely unhealthy, especially for certain classes like Distributed Computing (CS7210).
Why was it extremely unhealthy? The work load? The lack of sleep with work, kids, and school? Asking because I’m sorta in the same position
Specifically CS7210 is demanding because of its assignments. The assignments come from UW's CSE452, have very little direct connection with the course lectures, and require you to implement a Paxos-like system correctly, basically in one shot, in an environment that is very difficult to debug. So the projects turn into 60-80-hour slogs where students change parameters semi-randomly until something starts working. CS7210 shares that aspect with a number of other courses in the program.
Re: OMSCS Open Courseware
#68In 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 to…
I was the head of enterprise curriculum in 2018 and an OMSCS grad in 2016. This was a weird time to work for Udacity and the company went thru a major shakeup in 2019. The “breakup” with GT happened before the focus on enterprise and the enterprise focus was somewhat short-lived as the CEO was replaced just as enterprise was ascending as the primary revenue stream. COVID was rough for Udacity, and content production was commoditized.
Re: OMSCS Open Courseware
#69I was in the very first cohort of this program. I loved it but had to drop for personal/family reasons after finishing three courses. Someday I'd love to jump back in! I highly recommend it to anyone who might be interested.
I was also in the first cohort. Graduated in 2016. Transformed my career. 100% would recommend.
Re: OMSCS Open Courseware
#70Current 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…
You'll get there! Some of them you can take two at a time. I myself only need 3 more!
> ... you can take two at a time
I wish! I travel quite a bit for work, so it breaks my legs every time it happens. Plus family, kids activities, etc. ML was brutal this semester, but hoping the curve will help a bit.
But it's ok, slow and steady is the way to go. Besides, I'm doing this for the fun of it; I don't need the diploma for career or anything.
See you around!