I went to Georgia Tech and did a CS degree there from 02-06. I taught some of the courses as a teaching assistant and did a year of grad school there before dropping out to go through YC in summer 07.
The CS education was good and rigorous. It's much more formal than you need for web apps (as are all CS degrees I would imagine), but it was a solid program and has served me well.
I've been looking for Georgia Tech grads/dropouts who have been to YC. Any chance you could send me a quick email at [email protected]? I run Startup Exchange at Georgia Tech
As someone who is on the other side of the fence for this program (I'm currently a CS PhD student at Georgia Tech), I can tell you that many of the faculty are excited about online programs. Hopefully the learning process for the faculty goes smoothly and the online students have a worthwhile experience. I know I'm excited to help TA some of the courses!
I've got an undergraduate degree from Northeastern University in "Information Technology" and an associate's degree from the Community College of Rhode Island in "Computer Programming." I did both of these degrees almost completely online, part-time, working a full-time job to pay my tuition. Getting enrolled into a master's program for me has been a huge challenge. Many universities do not want to talk to you unless: a.) you've demonstrated independent research, and, b.) you have an undergraduate degree in computer science.
I'm currently a non-degree seeking student at Brown University. This has only been possible because I work a job where I can shift my hours around to attend courses during the day. When initially trying to obtain "non-degree" status, my previous education wasn't even part of the discussion, my experience as an Erlang engineer working in the distributed systems field was.
I find the online master's degree idea extremely compelling. I want to keep learning, but I don't want to drop everything to go back and do a master's degree. I imagine this is the case for many people who simply can't quit their job because they have other financial obligations, or a more restrictive work schedule.
You've had that difficult of a time going for a CS masters? What schools have you looked into?
I ask because I'm considering the same thing, but I find it surprising that you can't find anywhere that will take you without an undergrad in CS given that you have work experience, especially given that your degree is in IT, which is very related.
I have an undergraduate degree in history and was provisionally admitted to an engineering MS at NC State based solely on work experience. After receiving good grades the first semester the provisional part was lifted and I successfully completed the program. Getting to know the program/department directors and the online/distance admissions folks MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE.
Definitely a step in the right direction, but I wish the degree didn't have the word "online" in it. I'd like to see them advertise the same integrity of their "offline" masters program.
I imagine the work is equal, and the word "online" shouldn't carry a negative connotation, but it sort of does.
Best of luck to anyone taking this on - again, I'm sure the program is great.
Looks like the degree will not contain the word "online". From the FAQ:
> How will this degree appear on my diploma and/or transcript?
The name "Online Master of Science" is an informal designation to help both Georgia Tech and prospective students distinguish the delivery method of the OMS program from our on-campus degree. The degree name in both cases is Master of Science in Computer Science.
I can understanding hedging on the first class; nobody knows if this will work well or not, so GT might just be trying to protect its current alumni from dilution in prestige if things go wrong. In the long run though, I agree that the "online" label must go.
In my understanding this distinction makes the degree essentially worthless.
Udacity and Georgia Tech are comparing the real master's and online master's as equivalent, but there hasn't been any evidence that employers or other universities (for PhD programs etc) would treat the online master's any better than a string of MOOC completions.
While usual bachelor and master degrees offer a "costly advertising" function, the lowered barriers should actually make the degree less attractive to employers. They could always hire self-taught engineers at a considerable discount if they wanted to.
I'd be very surprised if the work is equal. I know in theory it should be, but I think reality is that it will have to be much more programatically grade-able and won't be.
Having just completed an MS CS here, I can tell you that the most important part of my experience was not the course work, but rather the research opportunities. I spent far more time working on research projects with professors and they developed me far better than my classes did. Though the class-work might be the same, the total work will not be the same. You're getting what you paid for: an elite graduate-level education for a small fraction of the cost for people who might not be accepted otherwise which can be completed remotely at each person's own convenience.
That being said, there are some pretty great professors here and you will probably learn a great deal from the classes you wouldn't be able to elsewhere. But the reality is that the two degrees will never really hold the same weight, and to pretend like they do devalues the "offline" program we worked hard and paid more money and time to get.
The University of Florida EDGE program offers masters degrees in both Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer & Information Science & Engineering[1]. The EDGE program has been around for a long time. Before high speed internet was prevalent they actually mailed DVDs to students.
At UF they actually record the same lectures that on campus students are attending. Same quality, just a different medium.
Although UF's engineering program is not as highly regarded as Georgia Tech's it is still a very strong program and worth considering if you are considering Georgia Tech.
As a person who had a 2.92 GPA getting out of university(I transferred from one univ to another so while my credits were accepted from the first, the 3.3 GPA didn't carry), how critical are graduate schools of this sort of thing? I have a BS in CS, and about 9 years of real-world development experience under my belt and can probably get good recommendations from supervisors / professors. Can anyone comment on this?
Edit: I'm in the process of updating my resume and applying. While I'm still curious for anyone's thoughts for this, I figure it doesn't hurt to try anyway :)
Does anyone know how "accredited" this is an whether you could do this on an F-1 visa? Just curious. Would be kinda nice to do Georgia Tech without having to move.
I am wondering the same thing. As I am working full time on F-1 OPT right now, is it possible that I can enroll in this program? (I am not interested in the master degree OPT but rather the degree program itself).
I'm surprised at the 100 student limit they impose. I'm currently following MIT's 8.01x Physics course on edX along with 33k other students. So far I haven't had an issue that's a direct result of the number (like felling I don't get enough attention from the staff.)
So on one hand we have options like edX, which reach a lot more people and are mostly free ($50 for a verified diploma) that reach orders of magnitude more students, and on the other a paid-and-accredited degree.
I personally hope they'll be more of the first ones, because of a) not being able to spend $6k and b) the warm feeling I get in my stomach when I think about free and high-quality education that reaches tens of thousands of people.
In general, I think there is a lot more risk to the institution for handing out accredited degrees to paying remote students than for handing out an honor code certificate. They are just taking baby steps, which is a good thing.
They will only have limited resources for per-student support, they will have to authorize each student and they will want to gradually develop what "passing grade" (or similar) they want to require.
I'm applying, but don't have terribly high hopes. I'm hopeful that they'll look past my lack of a high-school diploma, in favor of my industry and teaching experience, but we'll see. It would be awesome to be a part of this.
It will be interesting to see if they will accept students with no bachelors degree at all. Their site says: "significant professional or other work experience with supporting recommendations may qualify as an adequate substitute for the appropriate academic credentials"
However, there have traditionally been accreditation issues with accepting students into masters programs without an undergraduate degree (I ran into this when trying to take non-degree graduate classes at Stanford).
As someone that only has a roughly BS equivalent degree: I checked the application form and closed it again.
I'd love to enroll, I just recently discussed with my wife that I'd love to get a better theoretical background, enroll again.
But .. the list of requirements to apply corrects this German's idea of what bureaucracy means and I cannot provide most of the documents, nor does it seem that this is seriously targeted at non US citizens. Not for me unfortunately, but I do appreciate that this is offered in general, and even (in theory?) includes global applicants.
There is probably less bureaucracy than you think. It all depends on who is making the decision. You should email them.
When I looked into schools, some schools stated they wanted a 3.0 GPA, for instance. this seems standard and seems like school policy, but I have found out that it isn't very strictly enforced at many schools, even public schools. there are things that are stated because the state makes up what rules need to be advertised for public schools, but departments often don't care.
In the end, they want your money, especially for a master's degree where you'll be paying.
If you're interested, you should try emailing them and try to get a feel for how lax they are about such things.
Does anyone know if doing this masters will count in front of USA immigration department? In other words will this degree move me from EB3 to EB2 category in Green Card application: http://www.murthy.com/2011/07/15/eb2-or-eb3-understanding-th... .
Masters from the school where I did bachelor's degree only counts as bachelor degree in USA, so it would be very important factor for some people.
So my problem is I never finished my undergrad. But I have no desire to put 3-4 more years work (its been 12+ years) into paying a whole lot in time and money for an undergrad degree. I've worked in the industry and learned the bits I was missing. (Advanced algo, statistic/probability, linear algebra)
I'd like to participate in the GA Tech program, its worth my time and the machine learning/vision curriculum is exactly up my alley. Mind you I've been picking this up anyway recently because I'm interested in the subject and have some product ideas to hash out with it. The grad degree would be nice to have, but not the end of the world.
I tried to email the contact for the program and they wouldn't really say one way or another if they would even consider people who didn't finish undergrad.
I would suggest that GA Tech should open a couple weeder classes. Let people who can hit a certain threshold take them and prove competency.
A degree is a nice benchmark, but in CS we have a pretty wide variety of ways to learn. It would be nice to be able to segue in and out of the academic system smoother to get needed credentials.
Preferred qualifications for admitted OMS CS students are an undergraduate degree in computer science or related field (typically mathematics, computer engineering or electrical engineering) from an accredited institution with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Applicants who do not meet these criteria will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis; significant professional or other work experience with supporting recommendations may qualify as an adequate substitute for the appropriate academic credentials.
which seems to imply that they're at least willing to consider applicants without a degree.
The page they link to [1] mentions that you need to submit your GRE scores. However the page itself doesn't have any mention of the GRE being a requirement? Any idea what the actual stance on this is?
Only a 100 open slots and potentially 10,000 of applications as it seems they accept applications from all over the world. And there will be no visa issues. That means they might be able to be even more selective than with their regular offline classes. => Very good to give the online degree an initial boost in prestige.
If you are a non-US student then you must still submit a TOEFL score. From the FAQ:
If my country’s primary language is English, do I still have to provide a TOEFL score?
Yes. TOEFL scores are required of all international applicants, except those who have spent at least one year in residence and enrolled at a U.S. college or university.
Me too ... I was a lousy student (in the early '80s) and then scored well on the Comp Sci GRE in 1990. I'm wondering whether they'll see the change I recognized in myself during that span.
Based on the wording on the page, it doesn't appear that time is the most important factor in qualification (other than meeting the deadline, of course). I'm sure they're looking for quality applicants, considering this is a "pilot" run of the program, to give it the greatest chance of success.
This might be a naive question, but why is this so inexpensive? Don't get me wrong, education is definitely way more expensive than it "should" be, but I recently started a Master's in CS at DePaul and $7,000 for the whole degree is a fraction of what I'm paying.
I understand DePaul is private and expensive anyway, but $134 per credit hour is still far and away cheaper than anywhere else I've seen while I was looking for schools to apply to, even in-state public schools.
[+] [-] robfitz|12 years ago|reply
I went to Georgia Tech and did a CS degree there from 02-06. I taught some of the courses as a teaching assistant and did a year of grad school there before dropping out to go through YC in summer 07.
The CS education was good and rigorous. It's much more formal than you need for web apps (as are all CS degrees I would imagine), but it was a solid program and has served me well.
[+] [-] timtamboy63|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tootie|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] naner|12 years ago|reply
They adjusted the cirriculum after you left:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/future/undergraduates/threads
[+] [-] amelim|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joeblau|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cmeiklejohn|12 years ago|reply
I've got an undergraduate degree from Northeastern University in "Information Technology" and an associate's degree from the Community College of Rhode Island in "Computer Programming." I did both of these degrees almost completely online, part-time, working a full-time job to pay my tuition. Getting enrolled into a master's program for me has been a huge challenge. Many universities do not want to talk to you unless: a.) you've demonstrated independent research, and, b.) you have an undergraduate degree in computer science.
I'm currently a non-degree seeking student at Brown University. This has only been possible because I work a job where I can shift my hours around to attend courses during the day. When initially trying to obtain "non-degree" status, my previous education wasn't even part of the discussion, my experience as an Erlang engineer working in the distributed systems field was.
I find the online master's degree idea extremely compelling. I want to keep learning, but I don't want to drop everything to go back and do a master's degree. I imagine this is the case for many people who simply can't quit their job because they have other financial obligations, or a more restrictive work schedule.
[+] [-] jdotjdot|12 years ago|reply
I ask because I'm considering the same thing, but I find it surprising that you can't find anywhere that will take you without an undergrad in CS given that you have work experience, especially given that your degree is in IT, which is very related.
[+] [-] eitally|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] prezjordan|12 years ago|reply
I imagine the work is equal, and the word "online" shouldn't carry a negative connotation, but it sort of does.
Best of luck to anyone taking this on - again, I'm sure the program is great.
[+] [-] ndz275|12 years ago|reply
> How will this degree appear on my diploma and/or transcript? The name "Online Master of Science" is an informal designation to help both Georgia Tech and prospective students distinguish the delivery method of the OMS program from our on-campus degree. The degree name in both cases is Master of Science in Computer Science.
http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/faq/
[+] [-] didgeoridoo|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bayesianhorse|12 years ago|reply
Udacity and Georgia Tech are comparing the real master's and online master's as equivalent, but there hasn't been any evidence that employers or other universities (for PhD programs etc) would treat the online master's any better than a string of MOOC completions.
While usual bachelor and master degrees offer a "costly advertising" function, the lowered barriers should actually make the degree less attractive to employers. They could always hire self-taught engineers at a considerable discount if they wanted to.
[+] [-] dpeck|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sologoub|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] khawkins|12 years ago|reply
That being said, there are some pretty great professors here and you will probably learn a great deal from the classes you wouldn't be able to elsewhere. But the reality is that the two degrees will never really hold the same weight, and to pretend like they do devalues the "offline" program we worked hard and paid more money and time to get.
[+] [-] mmorey|12 years ago|reply
At UF they actually record the same lectures that on campus students are attending. Same quality, just a different medium.
Although UF's engineering program is not as highly regarded as Georgia Tech's it is still a very strong program and worth considering if you are considering Georgia Tech.
Disclosure: I'm an alumni of the UF EDGE program.
[1] http://www.ufedge.ufl.edu/degrees-and-certificates/offerings...
[+] [-] liamondrop|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Blahah|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] artmageddon|12 years ago|reply
Edit: I'm in the process of updating my resume and applying. While I'm still curious for anyone's thoughts for this, I figure it doesn't hurt to try anyway :)
[+] [-] mattferderer|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Dragonai|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] waynesonfire|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dhawalhs|12 years ago|reply
http://www.class-central.com/initiative/gatech-oms-cs
[+] [-] makmanalp|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] khoitran19|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] whoeverest|12 years ago|reply
So on one hand we have options like edX, which reach a lot more people and are mostly free ($50 for a verified diploma) that reach orders of magnitude more students, and on the other a paid-and-accredited degree.
I personally hope they'll be more of the first ones, because of a) not being able to spend $6k and b) the warm feeling I get in my stomach when I think about free and high-quality education that reaches tens of thousands of people.
[+] [-] codezero|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ojbyrne|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bayesianhorse|12 years ago|reply
Slow roll-out is probably the smart choice.
[+] [-] daeken|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] packetslave|12 years ago|reply
However, there have traditionally been accreditation issues with accepting students into masters programs without an undergraduate degree (I ran into this when trying to take non-degree graduate classes at Stanford).
[+] [-] thrun|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] darklajid|12 years ago|reply
I'd love to enroll, I just recently discussed with my wife that I'd love to get a better theoretical background, enroll again.
But .. the list of requirements to apply corrects this German's idea of what bureaucracy means and I cannot provide most of the documents, nor does it seem that this is seriously targeted at non US citizens. Not for me unfortunately, but I do appreciate that this is offered in general, and even (in theory?) includes global applicants.
[+] [-] jrs99|12 years ago|reply
When I looked into schools, some schools stated they wanted a 3.0 GPA, for instance. this seems standard and seems like school policy, but I have found out that it isn't very strictly enforced at many schools, even public schools. there are things that are stated because the state makes up what rules need to be advertised for public schools, but departments often don't care.
In the end, they want your money, especially for a master's degree where you'll be paying.
If you're interested, you should try emailing them and try to get a feel for how lax they are about such things.
[+] [-] kozikow|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] karmicthreat|12 years ago|reply
I'd like to participate in the GA Tech program, its worth my time and the machine learning/vision curriculum is exactly up my alley. Mind you I've been picking this up anyway recently because I'm interested in the subject and have some product ideas to hash out with it. The grad degree would be nice to have, but not the end of the world.
I tried to email the contact for the program and they wouldn't really say one way or another if they would even consider people who didn't finish undergrad.
I would suggest that GA Tech should open a couple weeder classes. Let people who can hit a certain threshold take them and prove competency.
A degree is a nice benchmark, but in CS we have a pretty wide variety of ways to learn. It would be nice to be able to segue in and out of the academic system smoother to get needed credentials.
[+] [-] spicyj|12 years ago|reply
Preferred qualifications for admitted OMS CS students are an undergraduate degree in computer science or related field (typically mathematics, computer engineering or electrical engineering) from an accredited institution with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Applicants who do not meet these criteria will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis; significant professional or other work experience with supporting recommendations may qualify as an adequate substitute for the appropriate academic credentials.
which seems to imply that they're at least willing to consider applicants without a degree.
[+] [-] vamega|12 years ago|reply
[1] - http://www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu/apply/index.php
[+] [-] VolatileVoid|12 years ago|reply
I took the general GREs back in 2008 but I'm just over the arbitrary 5 year cutoff that the ETS imposes on score validity.
[+] [-] r3m6|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] otoburb|12 years ago|reply
If my country’s primary language is English, do I still have to provide a TOEFL score?
Yes. TOEFL scores are required of all international applicants, except those who have spent at least one year in residence and enrolled at a U.S. college or university.
[+] [-] fintler|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] smoyer|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] timdorr|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jskonhovd|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] klaussilveira|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jasondemeuse|12 years ago|reply
I understand DePaul is private and expensive anyway, but $134 per credit hour is still far and away cheaper than anywhere else I've seen while I was looking for schools to apply to, even in-state public schools.
[+] [-] gu|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] if_by_whisky|12 years ago|reply