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Ask HN: Are there any online MS in CS programs comparable to Georgia Tech's?

14 points by bryanwb ↗ HN
I am aware that Arizona State, U of Illinois, and U Texas launched online MS in CS programs in the last 18 months. Anyone have firsthand experience in those programs and others that they care to share? I myself am in Georgia Tech's OMSCS but am very curious what these other programs are like.

7 comments

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adchari
Are these online Master's programs with a thesis or solely based on coursework?
rafiki6
Mostly course work with a capstone project.
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SQueeeeeL
In my own opinion...

online programs will never be as good as in person. There is so much learned by being in the same physical location and meeting classmates. Going to physically talk to the professor during office hours. Physically reacting when something doesn't make sense. Also, you just focus so much more; especially with a masters program, you'll be learning so much that you really should be treating it full time...

I feel like PhDs and Masters have been sorta bastardized over the years, they aren't just a way to get promotions and raises, they are for you to MASTER the material. Which takes a lot of time and effort

rafiki6
The important question...why do I need to master the material to get a promotion? Is that truly what the next level role requires? Well...unfortunately, many times that's not the case, but someone at company X decided to use it as a filter. So in our free market economy, educational institutions who have a social monopoly on being reputable purveyors of education happen to offer something the market is demanding. I agree with you that an in person focused full time Master's program is meant for you to "master" the material. That's not the reality though and frankly, most people don't have the financial situations to allow for that to happen. Getting a Master's in the purest form of educational attainment is something you need to be rather privileged to achieve, or hardworking/lucky enough that you managed to get a crap ton of scholarships to be able to live off ramen while you're doing it.
artemisyna
I strictly disagree with you here.

Most of the content in a master's program can be found online (or otherwise in the relevant textbooks) -- if you're paying to do it as a class, you're paying for structure and the piece of paper, and that's about it.

PhDs are start-level research jobs. You'll probably learn things (equivalent to a master's) during your first year or two, but you'll become an expert in your field via a PhD because of the fact that no one else is working on the topic to the same degree of depth that you will be.

(In fact, the fact that this comment conflates PhD with masters makes me suggest that the poster doesn't actually interact enough with folk that have either to have internalized the distinction.)

artemisyna
To further my assertion here - most big tech companies that I know of (at least, the ones I've had direct experience with myself) literally puts people with undergraduate/master's degrees into the same hiring pool -- even if folk think they'll get a leg up because they'll have the title of a "master's", it functionally makes no difference at a lot of (top) companies.