[2457013579]

For those debating starting a master’s program, the institution makes a big difference about 2 main factors. Required cost (which has been spoken about by multiple people so far), and required effort (which no one has touched on yet, and the reason I’m writing this).

While effort isn’t best depicted as a single value, some attributes of effort that I found making the act of getting a MS particularly easier and more enjoyable involves how professors bend to the life of students, rather than students to professors.

For homework this looks something like how common and easier it is to get an extension, extra help, adjustment of assignment/test, and so on. For schoolwork this looks something like whether class attendance is required, class sessions and professor office hours are time/location specific, and so on.

The original article talks about someone that made the decision to do school in person and then about how there were issues when it became remote. I opted to take an online program offered at a standard institution in hopes of increased flexibility and the same piece of paper at the end.

All my classes were pre-recorded lessons I could watch at my convenience. We would complete assignments and talk about them in a comment thread (usually required to do one OP and 2 comments per week), and also have larger projects etc. in groups. On about half of my classes I asked for and was always given extensions of anywhere between 30 days to complete and assignment to 3 extra months to finish 80% of the class I haven’t even touched yet due to increased demand at work.

As a side comment I’ll say you miss 100% of the extensions you don’t ask for, so if you ever feel stressed for time give it a shot and ask for an extension before the official due date or even on the day it’s due. Especially in higher education, I’ve never heard of a professor not working with a student. At the end of they day they have a financial incentive to keep you in the program.

[treyfitty]

To provide a counterpoint: I went the Georgia Tech online MS route and my ML finals coincided with my father’s funeral. I logged-in a few days before to take the final and it was buggy as hell, but my timer (24hrs) kept going. I emailed and slacked the TAs and professors with screenshots, but no one answered. The professor was known for being unsympathetic, so I logged in to see if it worked the morning of my fathers funeral, the last day to take the final. I banged out the final with the last 2 hours remaining on my timer.

That one event ruined my whole MS experience at GT

[sarchertech]

You can go above the professor’s head for that stuff. When I was in undergrad and when I was doing the masters at GaTech, it was common for professors to say up front that if you missed assignments or tests for a valid reason, you had to go through the university (I forget what office).

Edit: It’s called the office of student life.

https://catalog.gatech.edu/policies/student-absence-regulati...

They handle dealing with all excused absences. The professor could have responded and told you about this, but I’m assuming it’s just that no one got back in under 24 hours. It’s also expected that you read the syllabus and know this stuff already.

[vector_spaces]

Absolutely. And don't be ashamed to speak with your disabled students accomodations office about getting the accommodations you need. If you test slowly, request extended time. If depression or something else keeps you from getting stuff done during the week, ask for flexible deadline extensions. People are hesitant to request accommodations they genuinely need and it boggles my mind.

It's especially important for math and science STEM fields -- I wouldn't be making any progress on my math degree if I didn't request accommodations and left it up to individual instructors whether to approve or deny my requests for extensions