[Ghoser777]

So I'm finally looking to get my masters in Computer Science, and I'd like to get it online if possible. I did a lot of coursework during my undergrad, but not enough to get a minor or a major (I would have stuck around a little longer if I hadn't already finished my math degree). So, I'm kind of torn - I looked at U of Illinois' online program and I think it would be a great opportunity... but then again I can't register for the summer term because it's too late and I want to get started soon. Then there's the American College of Computer and Information Sciences, which looks interesting, and it cheap... but I don't know if that will just look dumb on my resume.

Any suggestions?

[Ghoser777]

So the general consensus is... no idea.

Hmmm... how about this:

1) Who here has a masters in C.S.
2) Who here has gotten a masters online
3) Who here has done both

If you meet 1, 2, or 3, I'd love to hear about your experience and what type of advice you could give me.

[mozilla fan]

Originally posted by Ghoser777:

1) Who here has a masters in C.S.

I got a Masters in CS by attending a local university. I worked full-time and attended classes at night. The interaction among the students was almost as valuable as reading the books.

I'm not familiar with online courses or degrees, but I do have to wonder if there's someway to make up for the lost peer interaction that a person would get in a real-world class (as opposed to a virtual-world class).

Good luck.

[davechen]

I have a masters (and doctorate) in CS. I have to agree with mozilla fan. I'm pretty dubious of on-line degrees. A lot of what I learned in grad school came from interacting with other students, and not just from classes. A lot of it came from the research projects I worked on. Or just hanging out in the lab, shooting the breeze.

[hayesk]

It's my opinion that you get out of any degree what you put into it. An online degree gives no personal interaction, very little communication with experts in the field, and generally a much smaller workload.

Good things are worth waiting for - go to a real school in the fall. But you can prepare now. Read books, try more programming, etc., keep track of all of your questions.

FYI, I have a BSc, major in CS.

[itai195]

I just typed up a long post for you, but Firefox ate it. Anyway, I'm currently getting my masters in CS online from RPI through a program my company funds. I wouldn't lie and say it's as good as a degree you'd get in person, but I don't think it's as bad as some other posters have implied. The workload, IMO, isn't much smaller. I'm doing about as much work per class as I did when I was an undergrad, in some cases more. Last semester I completed the largest project I've ever done in school, undergrad included, despite the fact that I had to work with two team members located across the country from me. Working that way is useful experience that you won't get from a local program.

On the other hand, interaction with professors is probably not quite what you'd get out of a local program. I'm still able to interact with professors more in my distance program than I did during my undergrad program, but I'm sure the opportunities for interaction and research would be increased in a local program. If that's important to you, you may want to reconsider distance education. To me, it's really a draw. I had 'access' to experts when I was an undergrad, but quickly discovered that access wasn't really meaningful and that I wasn't really interested anyway. That's all my opinion. The situation may be different in a good graduate program, but I'm not sure it's all that important for a masters student anyway.

As far as interaction with my peers goes -- to be honest, I prefer the distance method. For one thing, I think it's more similar to the way many of us will be working in the future. I also prefer it over the sorts of information-hoarding, impenetrable cliques that infested my undergrad program. My distance program includes students spread throughout the country. We have to share information and help each other using discussion boards, chatrooms, web conferencing, and other tools. Overall I think it results in a more egalitarian environment, with much more effective information sharing and fairness.

A couple of pieces of advice. First, choose a reputable program. A lot of fine schools offer great distance programs, but the reputation of distance education has been marred by the many bad apples out there. If you choose a school nobody's ever heard of, you'll invariably be disappointed not only by the quality of the program, but also by how much future employers will value your degree. Everyone's heard the tale of the housecat in Indiana that earned an MBA online. So be sure to get a degree from a credible university.

Second, make sure the school offers a broad range of courses each semester. Make sure you can take important prereqs more than once a year, and certainly more than once every two years.

That's all I have to say about it off the top of my head, but I'd answer any other questions.

[Ghoser777]

Now the interesting twist to all this is the prestige issue is more for my own edification and impressing people at parties, what not. I plan on staying in education, so where I get my Masters isn't always that important in that regard (same pay bump no matter where I got it).

Thanks for the input!

[itai195]

I guess that's a different story. But judging from my past interaction with you, I'd assume that you would value a quality educational program over some online get-rich-quick scheme. Plus, you never really know where your career will take you.

[zanyterp]

Originally posted by itai195:
I just typed up a long post for you, but Firefox ate it. Anyway, I'm currently getting my masters in CS online from RPI through a program my company funds. I wouldn't lie and say it's as good as a degree you'd get in person, but I don't think it's as bad as some other posters have implied. The workload, IMO, isn't much smaller. I'm doing about as much work per class as I did when I was an undergrad, in some cases more. Last semester I completed the largest project I've ever done in school, undergrad included, despite the fact that I had to work with two team members located across the country from me. Working that way is useful experience that you won't get from a local program.

On the other hand, interaction with professors is probably not quite what you'd get out of a local program. I'm still able to interact with professors more in my distance program than I did during my undergrad program, but I'm sure the opportunities for interaction and research would be increased in a local program. If that's important to you, you may want to reconsider distance education. To me, it's really a draw. I had 'access' to experts when I was an undergrad, but quickly discovered that access wasn't really meaningful and that I wasn't really interested anyway. That's all my opinion. The situation may be different in a good graduate program, but I'm not sure it's all that important for a masters student anyway.

As far as interaction with my peers goes -- to be honest, I prefer the distance method. For one thing, I think it's more similar to the way many of us will be working in the future. I also prefer it over the sorts of information-hoarding, impenetrable cliques that infested my undergrad program. My distance program includes students spread throughout the country. We have to share information and help each other using discussion boards, chatrooms, web conferencing, and other tools. Overall I think it results in a more egalitarian environment, with much more effective information sharing and fairness.

A couple of pieces of advice. First, choose a reputable program. A lot of fine schools offer great distance programs, but the reputation of distance education has been marred by the many bad apples out there. If you choose a school nobody's ever heard of, you'll invariably be disappointed not only by the quality of the program, but also by how much future employers will value your degree. Everyone's heard the tale of the housecat in Indiana that earned an MBA online. So be sure to get a degree from a credible university.

Second, make sure the school offers a broad range of courses each semester. Make sure you can take important prereqs more than once a year, and certainly more than once every two years.

That's all I have to say about it off the top of my head, but I'd answer any other questions.

is it worth it? other than the having of the degree, does it greatly impact job opportunities and pay scale? i am still only an undergrad, but am curious if it is worth the extra schooling? thanks!

[Theodour]

My school offered online classes, and after taking a few, I tried to avoid them.

What the other posters said about interacting with the other students (and the prof) can't be understated... especially for programming classes.

If you are alone with your code, it takes 10x as long to figure out whats wrong, or how to solve something.

Plus, my online classes actually tended to be WAY too much work ... like more than anyone could finish. I think the professors wanted to make a point that online classes were not for slackers, but they over-did it a bit.

We did have forums and chat, but it didn't cut it.

That being said, if your teacher is good with the format and you do your homework early and often, you can reach physical class status with an online class -- just don't expect it to be the same thing, and be prepared to work much harder (uh, and not always for the right reasons).

[itai195]

Originally posted by zanyterp:
is it worth it? other than the having of the degree, does it greatly impact job opportunities and pay scale? i am still only an undergrad, but am curious if it is worth the extra schooling? thanks!

I'm one of those people who just enjoys school, so it's worth it to me. I don't know that getting a masters will increase your job opportunities -- other than if you'd like to teach at a junior college -- because the software industry is rather merit-based. But I guess that if a masters program improves your understanding of the profession, then you'll be more likely to get a job. At some companies having a masters will give you a bump in pay as well.

Personally, I probably wouldn't have gone to grad school if it weren't an employer-sponsored program. I'm enjoying it because I enjoy school and learning and all that, but I would probably have done fine with just a bachelors degree.

[zanyterp]

Originally posted by itai195:
I'm one of those people who just enjoys school, so it's worth it to me. I don't know that getting a masters will increase your job opportunities -- other than if you'd like to teach at a junior college -- because the software industry is rather merit-based. But I guess that if a masters program improves your understanding of the profession, then you'll be more likely to get a job. At some companies having a masters will give you a bump in pay as well.

Personally, I probably wouldn't have gone to grad school if it weren't an employer-sponsored program. I'm enjoying it because I enjoy school and learning and all that, but I would probably have done fine with just a bachelors degree.

that's what i was looking for. thanks! i like school too, but not sure how pleased my wife would be if i were to keep on with school just because i like it . . . and not necessarily for the pay.

[driven]

I've done both online and on-campus courses.

Almost without fail the online courses were quite a bit more work. Why you ask? When you are sitting in class you can often gather from the lectures some of the high-lights of the material. The professor usually stresses the items that are the most important out of the material. Often this is what you are tested on.

With most (GOOD) online programs you are given a dumptruck of material and you are basically responsible for every drop of it prior to a test.

In some cases I learned more from the online program than I probably would have from an on-campus program, but not always.

That said: If the online version seems too easy, it probably is. Bad school, lazy professor, any number of things.

Good luck to you!

[CincyGamer]

I have a MS (Comp Sci from Univ Cincinnati) http://www.ececs.uc.edu/ and I work with someone, call her "Sheila" who studied online for MIS degree from Univ Phoenix Online. The real problems:

- Sheila goes around telling people she is getting her MS in Computer Science.
- I have helped her with her homework. All her homework ever is is just silly college freshman level questions purposely designed just to stimulate group discussion. Examples were describe the parts of a DBMS and list the pros and cons of Java and pros and cons of Visual Basic.
- She took 1 programming class which I tutored her. She took the equiv of CS 211. Write very basic C programs (3 - 4) mostly reading text in from scanf() and using printf() and had to get a C program working to read from a file and print to the std output.
- No theory.. She never had to buy real college textbooks such as Intro to Algs "White Book"
-No thesis. I am not a fan of these "professional MS" programs such as Carnegie Mellon offers. You dont have to do a thesis. You are just taking extra classes.
- She really isnt any more knowlegable.

Another recent hire here graduated with a BS Comp Sci from Wilburforce Univ. She does not even know how to program anything.
It is complete and utter ********. SHe does not know any theory either. She is very incompent.


There is something to be said for where ou go to school.

[Garage81]

I have a MS in Computer Engineer from the Univ. of Florida (go gators!)

I believe you get out of it what you put into it. Attending a "Live" university to me is worth the extra finances. You have better access to TAs, professors, peers, resources, etc.

I believe that in a field like Computer Science or Engineering, attending a "Live" university is a must. The resources and projects you gain access to are half the fun of getting your Masters.