CU Boulder Masters on Coursera

[spohara]

Small update: Just wrapped up my third course of the session.  This means my pathway is complete and pending good enough grades (should be there), I should formally gain admission.  I'm working at about a 2 weeks per 1-credit course pace as a reference.  There are definitely + and - to the program.  It’s a great school, but the program seems too easy so far.  Part of me wonders if that is just because practical documents are easier to write than scholarly research.  Or maybe I just know the subject matter of the first series better than I realized.  At any rate, the format works better for me right now than anything else would, so its full speed ahead.

I am seriously considering starting the pathway for ME-EM. I am wrapping up a certification course on renewables from UNCB via Coursera. I was wondering if the courses are laid out the same. Have you had to take proctored exams or assessments? Or is it pretty much read, watch lectures and take quizzes?

So far I have not had proctored exams.  I believe they use ProctorU when there is one.  The project management pathway is read, watch, quizzes and peer reviewed assignments, no proctored exams.  Not sure yet which courses have an exam.

[midnighttoil]

The MS in CS just opened. I started it yesterday, don't have an opinion yet. Anybody else doing this?

[spohara]

My understanding is that some courses will have a proctored exam, but I'm not sure which. The project management pathway does not. The only additional graded material beyond what is in the non-credit Coursera version (the lectures, quizzes, readings) is just a series of assignments where you write practical documentation that you would write for managing projects (charters, scope of work, project schedules, risk assessments, etc), with some very short (1 page) essays along the way.

Course content seems to vary a good deal from course to course - project management was a lot of Forbes or PMI articles. I'm starting the leadership series next, and there are far more scholarly articles in that one and it feels much more 'academic', but the reading is interesting and not overly difficult. I'm not taking it for credit yet, so not sure what the final assessment is like yet.

[eureka21]

@spohara

Any updates on the Master of Engineering in Engineering Management?

How many classes have you taken in a session? What is the difficulty / work load? How is your goal of graduating in 18 months going?

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The MS in CS just opened. I started it yesterday, don't have an opinion yet. Anybody else doing this?

@midnighttoil

Any updates on the Masters of Science in Computer Science? How is the difficulty?

Have you completed the first three required courses and been officially admitted to the program?

Students enroll in and complete their preferred three-course pathway with a grade of B or better in each of the three courses to be admitted to the program

Source: https://catalog.colorado.edu/graduate/co...ementstext

[spohara]

@spohara

Any updates on the Master of Engineering in Engineering Management?

How many classes have you taken in a session? What is the difficulty / work load? How is your goal of graduating in 18 months going?

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The MS in CS just opened. I started it yesterday, don't have an opinion yet. Anybody else doing this?

@midnighttoil

Any updates on the Masters of Science in Computer Science? How is the difficulty?

Have you completed the first three required courses and been officially admitted to the program?

Students enroll in and complete their preferred three-course pathway with a grade of B or better in each of the three courses to be admitted to the program

Source: https://catalog.colorado.edu/graduate/co...ementstext

Not much update on the ME-EM right now.  I did the project management pathway (one session with time to spare), I took a session off intentionally, but now it looks like unintentionally I'm taking a second session off.  Turns out having a second kid is harder than I realized.  The flexibility is one of the reasons why I went for this program, so that is working in my favor now.  I think this summer I'll have a better idea of whether I can pull off 18 months or not, but I still don't think it is a stretch.  Right now I'm working through some stuff in non-credit mode.

[spohara]

Another update on the ME-EM: I did 6 credits last session. I had some tail winds: I was on travel and had a week and change away from the family, had a long drive to listen to course content, got a big head start in one class (all non-credit content finished before session started) and took 2 very light classes. Head winds: I was working 60 hours a week on that travel, had to take a 3 week break from coursework (out of an 8 week session) when I got back for family obligations.

I finished the last of the coursework 6 days before the session ended. The pace while I was actually doing work was about 5 credits worth of course material done in ~4 weeks while working over 40hrs a week on average. I think this program is highly accelerable, and the course load is very manageable. The other Coursera based programs are also linked, and I've taken some electives and will take more from the other disciplines. So far my sense is the difficulty ranks as follows (hardest to easiest): MSEE,MSDS,MSCS,ME-EM. The MSCS electives look really interesting IMO, and all the programs let you take electives from the others.

[bubbasmurf]

Any more updates? Have you graduated and making a million $/yr? Inquiring minds. I'm interested in the ms-ds program. Did you have to use proctorU? How was it? how were the tests? Were they basically like the quizzes? How do you think of the program looking back? Do you know what the graduation rate is? Anything you can tell us would be greatly appreciated.

[spohara]

Any more updates? Have you graduated and making a million $/yr? Inquiring minds. I'm interested in the ms-ds program. Did you have to use proctorU? How was it? how were the tests? Were they basically like the quizzes? How do you think of the program looking back? Do you know what the graduation rate is? Anything you can tell us would be greatly appreciated.

Yeah, no graduation yet and the 18 month timeline just won't happen for me.  I have next to no free time and I'm definitely doing this program on a binge basis.  The good news is it is perfectly designed for that.  I have 13 credits under my belt, having done 3, 6 and 4 in a session.  ProctoU is terrible.  I was aiming for 5 credits the last session I took, but I couldn't get the ProctorU stuff working, got discouraged and dropped that class.  The good news is the refund process is super smooth.

As far as outcomes - I'll let you do the digging on graduation rates or average outcomes.  For me, I'm a newly promoted GS-14 in the federal government in the midst of a project I intend to see to completion.  I do think I am picking up some useful knowledge here and there, but as for salary potential, I'm not even looking for GS-15 jobs or private sector options for another ~5 years unless something unexpected happened.  I still like the program overall, and they seem to be doing a lot of work on both the CS and EE programs (not sure about what is happening with DS), and there is a trickle of additional offerings coming every few sessions for EM.