Will this cure burnout?
Master’s Degree in Computer Science
51–60 of 265 posts
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#52Does anyone have experience with the step down from this? I have zero formal CS education but two decades of experience at pretty much all types of development. I live within spitting distance of my local state university (UNH) and don’t really care about any piece of paper, but I would love to take formal/ hard CS classes, whether for credit or audit. Is there a “right” way of doing this? Does it make any sense?
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#53Off topic, but the fact that three schools are tied for #2 and three more tied for #6 in these grad school rankings (and FIVE tied for #11) strikes me as a hilarious commentary on the arbitrariness of these rankings. Like, if you weren't fudging the numbers some, but were trying to come up with real scores, you'd have that many exact ties?
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#54Does anyone have experience with the step down from this? I have zero formal CS education but two decades of experience at pretty much all types of development. I live within spitting distance of my local state university (UNH) and don’t really care about any piece of paper, but I would love to take formal/ hard CS classes, whether for credit or audit. Is there a “right” way of doing this? Does it make any sense?
Why not just go through MIT's open courseware syllabus, or perhaps emailing/contacting a university teacher for guidance?
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#55Does anyone have experience with the step down from this? I have zero formal CS education but two decades of experience at pretty much all types of development. I live within spitting distance of my local state university (UNH) and don’t really care about any piece of paper, but I would love to take formal/ hard CS classes, whether for credit or audit. Is there a “right” way of doing this? Does it make any sense?
Looking at the course listing for UNH ( https://ceps.unh.edu/computer-science/program/bs/computer-sc... ), I'd suggest auditing (I imagine that's cheaper if you're not looking for a degree?) some of the following: Data Structures and Introduction to Algorithms, Assembly Language Programming and Machine Organization, Introduction to the Theory of Computation, Operating System Fundamentals, Algorithms, Programming Language Concepts and Features, Compiler Design, Systems Programming, Formal Specifications and Verification of Software Systems. Those are the ones that look like more formal CS, and gets you into at least an intro to fun formal/theory stuff like automata, grammars, low-level programming, functional programming. Performance Evaluation of Computer Systems and Mathematical Optimization for Applications also look fun to me, or you may be interested in some of the other electives too like Computer Vision, ML, etc.
If that's local, affordable, and easy, I wouldn't worry too much about looking for something "fancier" right off the bat, I think there's a lot to sink your teeth into there. There's a lot of stuff online too on all these topics of course, but if you're like me, that's not the same as taking a live course.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#56Does anyone have experience with the step down from this? I have zero formal CS education but two decades of experience at pretty much all types of development. I live within spitting distance of my local state university (UNH) and don’t really care about any piece of paper, but I would love to take formal/ hard CS classes, whether for credit or audit. Is there a “right” way of doing this? Does it make any sense?
I did a four-year CS degree after about twenty years in industry. I learned one thing, which I do not use.
My recommendation is don't waste your time and money unless you have a specific goal in mind or want to go on to a master's program - which I also generally don't recommend unless, again, you have a very specific goal and no other way of accomplishing it.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#57Does anyone have experience with the step down from this? I have zero formal CS education but two decades of experience at pretty much all types of development. I live within spitting distance of my local state university (UNH) and don’t really care about any piece of paper, but I would love to take formal/ hard CS classes, whether for credit or audit. Is there a “right” way of doing this? Does it make any sense?
I recommend you email or call the admissions team for programs you’re interested in. I did undergrad in CS and business and was interested in a different engineering discipline masters after quite a few years of unrelated work. The responses varied significantly among the programs I looked at, but the admission teams were all helpful and clear on requirements & expectations.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#58Also did OMSCS. Highly recommend it. The problem with self-learning is that sometimes you convince yourself that you understand something when you really don't.
Only when you get smacked by an exam or an assignment you realize that you've been fooling yourself.
The ML and Systems track is pretty hardcore. If you survive those you have pretty good foundational knowledge.
Fair warning though - the program is not a joke. Georgia Tech always leans towards application. You will spend a lot of time writing code and tinkering, but it's worth it if you want to learn a ton.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#59As someone who has a MS in CS (I did a combined BS/MS program) and who interviews lots of people, I don't think a MS in CS has much value as a credential (if any). If you enjoy taking classes and get a lot out of them, that's primarily where the value will be. It definitely helps a ton to have a undergraduate degree. CS is great, but if you have been working in the industry for a while, most people do not really care…
No degree at all here. I don't think it prevented me from attaining any job.
Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science
#60For the opposite perspective: "The case against CS master’s degrees" [1] [1] https://ozwrites.com/masters/
> In my experience, an MS degree has been one of the strongest indicators of poor technical interview performance. Oouf. Felt that one (and I don't even have a MS degree).
Maybe stupidly, but with the super segmented world we work in, with massive systems, I'd honestly rather a few certs in whatever enterprise thing we are working with.