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OMSCS Open Courseware

sites.gatech.edu

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Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#91

Post by exogenousdata »

fuzztester wrote: post #83
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…

What does "three down, seven to go" mean? Unfamiliar with us academic terms.

The program requires 10 courses to graduate. The parent comment has completed 3 courses and has 7 courses remaining.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#92

Post by dannyfreeman »

rootusrootus wrote: post #34
dannyfreeman wrote: post #2

I 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 did it with two kids (both were in school at that point, which helps). It -is- a lot of work. I spent maybe an hour a day during most days of the week, and then for some things I'd try to get a few more hours early or late in the day on the weekend. And for the most part I only did one class per semester. I did two for one semester because they were both expected to be fairly easy, and that worked out, but I defini…

Thanks for sharing that! I still have a lot of time to think about enrolling thankfully.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#93

Post by dannyfreeman »

hasyimibhar wrote: post #78
Jesus_piece wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Mostly lack of sleep and having to sacrifice a lot of weekends to work on the assignments. I took OMSCS with the goal of learning as much as possible since I did not have a traditional CS degree, so I took all the hard classes in the Computing Systems track (DC, Compilers, ISL:BE, IHPC, etc). CS7210 (DC) is the hardest class I took. We had to write a correct Paxos implementation, then use it to build a distributed sh…

That's one of the classes I would really like to take. If I end up doing it the kids might spend a lot of time with grandma that semester.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#94

Post by mym1990 »

photochemsyn wrote: post #82
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…

The whole point is, if an LLM can easily complete rigoruous assignments and all the student has to do is add a little bit of personalization to the output, then has that student really learned anything? Can they evem come up with a plan to do such tasks without the LLM, even if it takes a lot longer without it? Educational certifications in the era of LLMs are going to be increasingly meaningless without proof-of-wor…

There is absolutely no way you’re passing OMSCS tests if you’re winging it on the other assignments, and the tests usually account for over 50% of the grade. Certifications you’re right about but there are ways to test knowledge without asking for code snippets.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#95

Post by robertwpearce »

schneems wrote: post #61

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.

I remember reading this when you published it! I was considering going at the time, as well as some years after, but this + work + starting a family had me choose different. I don't know if you've written a follow-up, but I would 100% read that.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#96

Post by fuzztester »

exogenousdata wrote: post #91
fuzztester wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does "three down, seven to go" mean? Unfamiliar with us academic terms.

The program requires 10 courses to graduate. The parent comment has completed 3 courses and has 7 courses remaining.

Got it, thanks.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#97

Post by rootsudo »

cgearhart wrote: post #87
oaxacaoaxaca wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh boy, love to hear that. Would be willing to share how exactly it transformed your career?

I had been working in civil service for the US Navy for about 10 years in operations research & systems engineering. It was very hard to break out of that role to any private industry—especially for the ML roles I wanted, which I think was partially because my undergrad degree was MechEng. OMSCS allowed me to add MSCS to my resume, with additional networking and work experience details as a TA for the algorithms and…

Your story is an inspiration. Thank you for posting, I've applied for the next cohort in Autumn.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#98

Post by hellojesus »

guiambros wrote: post #70
rdudek wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

I eyed this program last year but resigned my desires because I didn't think I'd be able to juggle it.

Would you say that a 1 class/semester pace is too much for someone with a full time job, two littles < 3 years, and a spouse that expects a nonzero amount of interaction?

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#99

Post by guiambros »

hellojesus wrote: post #98
guiambros wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ... 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!

I eyed this program last year but resigned my desires because I didn't think I'd be able to juggle it. Would you say that a 1 class/semester pace is too much for someone with a full time job, two littles < 3 years, and a spouse that expects a nonzero amount of interaction?

The program is quite intensive, so you'd have to be thoughtful selecting courses, and potentially making some trade-offs -- negotiate some weekends off with your spouse, use vacation days for studying, etc.

I have a demanding full time job, frequent travel for work, and two kids (although they're older, so not as time consuming as in your case). At times it has been tough to juggle (inc many late nights), but doable so far.

The workload goes anywhere from 8-10h/week per class for the easiest courses, to north of 25-30h+ for the hardest ones (GA, ML). Of course YMMV, depending on your background on each topic. Also, some classes are front loaded and release all projects early, so you can pace yourself. Others (I'd guess the majority) are released as you go, and you need to keep up with the schedule.

Another approach I use is to take advantage of the break between semesters to study the content in advance. This way I have some buffer when I need to travel for work, etc.

Feel free to drop me a note if you want to chat more. Email in my profile.

Re: OMSCS Open Courseware

#100

Post by hellojesus »

guiambros wrote: post #99
hellojesus wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I eyed this program last year but resigned my desires because I didn't think I'd be able to juggle it. Would you say that a 1 class/semester pace is too much for someone with a full time job, two littles < 3 years, and a spouse that expects a nonzero amount of interaction?

The program is quite intensive, so you'd have to be thoughtful selecting courses, and potentially making some trade-offs -- negotiate some weekends off with your spouse, use vacation days for studying, etc. I have a demanding full time job, frequent travel for work, and two kids (although they're older, so not as time consuming as in your case). At times it has been tough to juggle (inc many late nights), but doable…

Thank you. This was insightful. I probably don't have the time now, but maybe I can revisit the decision in a few years once the kids are a bit older.
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