Online MSc Computer Science Merrimack College

[Teabula]

I am considering switching careers into computer science but I have a non-cs bachelors degree. I prefer to do a program completely online. 

I came across Merrimack College online MSc Computer Science degree. I have some mixed feelings about the program and would like to hear others’ opinions before investing in the $20,000 degree. 

It is a new online program that does not require one to have a relevant bachelors degree to apply. There has not been a graduating class because the first cohort began in Fall 2021. Upon entry, students will have access to two bootcamps to catch up on materials as needed. I have mixed feelings about this because bootcamps seem to have a bad reputation in the CS field. I have yet to hear of another university that encourages the use of one in their masters program. 

The website claims the program can be completed in 1 year part time. This is not entirely true. Upon speaking with advisors, the reality is students enroll part-time; completing one course at a time in 8 week long semesters. At that pace, students complete their program in approximately 16 months. If a student wishes to be “full-time”, they can take 2 courses in certain semesters. 

I don’t like their use of bootcamps and the dishonest program description. Am I overthinking though?

[ss20ts]

Most of their students probably are part time which is 1 course per session/term/semester. That's normal for grad programs. Full time grad students typically take 2-3 courses per session/term/semester. 16 months is a bit more than a year. Many part time master's degrees are 2+ years.

It doesn't sound like you really like this program for a variety of reasons. i'd keep looking for another degree program. There are so many online degrees available today. Quite often it's tough to narrow down and pick one.

[Holmes]

Bootcamps are OK.

The cost is relatively high though. Check out upgrad.com , they offer master's degrees from good UK universities for $7,500.

[Teabula]

Most of their students probably are part time which is 1 course per session/term/semester. That's normal for grad programs. Full time grad students typically take 2-3 courses per session/term/semester. 16 months is a bit more than a year. Many part time master's degrees are 2+ years.

It doesn't sound like you really like this program for a variety of reasons. i'd keep looking for another degree program. There are so many online degrees available today. Quite often it's tough to narrow down and pick one.

Thanks for the input! Considering the cost of the program, I’ll definitely keep searching for a better alternative. 

Would you ever suggest just going back for a bachelors in computer science? My goal is to enter the CS field relatively quickly with a reasonable tuition. TESU BA CS seems like an interesting alternative path. Would it be more  worthwhile to obtain a second bachelors instead?

[bjcheung77]

@Teabula, which state are you in?  What's your budget, do you have tuition assistance or reimbursement from work?  What was your previous education in?  In fact, I highly would recommend boot camps, not only are they "OK", they're necessary to get you "up to par" on experience and learning hands on!  For the time being, have you looked at other colleges or universities besides the one you mentioned?  They have a few programs online and their computer science one seems fine.

Wow, seems like their online programs are in a Competency Based format!  https://online.merrimack.edu/why-merrimack/
Online Programs Link: https://www.merrimack.edu/academics/online-programs/
Other Graduate Programs from Merrimack College - https://online.merrimack.edu/
In addition to our Graduate Education programs listed above, you may also be interested in some additional Graduate Programs that Merrimack College offers:

MS in Management – Strengthen Your Earning Power & Develop Advanced Leadership Skills
MS in Accounting – Build your career path towards an accounting professional or CPA.
MS in Data Science – Combines the engineering skills needed to function as a data scientist with the business acumen needed to translate data sets into insights.
MS in Business Analytics – Develop Applicable skills you can immediately use in your career.
Graduate Certificates in Data Science & Analytics – Powerful Credentials for Future Data Scientists and Business Analysts.

[Teabula]

@Teabula, which state are you in?  What's your budget, do you have tuition assistance or reimbursement from work?  What was your previous education in?  In fact, I highly would recommend boot camps, not only are they "OK", they're necessary to get you "up to par" on experience and learning hands on!  For the time being, have you looked at other colleges or universities besides the one you mentioned?  They have a few programs online and their computer science one seems fine.

Wow, seems like their online programs are in a Competency Based format!  https://online.merrimack.edu/why-merrimack/
Online Programs Link: https://www.merrimack.edu/academics/online-programs/
Other Graduate Programs from Merrimack College - https://online.merrimack.edu/
In addition to our Graduate Education programs listed above, you may also be interested in some additional Graduate Programs that Merrimack College offers:

MS in Management – Strengthen Your Earning Power & Develop Advanced Leadership Skills
MS in Accounting – Build your career path towards an accounting professional or CPA.
MS in Data Science – Combines the engineering skills needed to function as a data scientist with the business acumen needed to translate data sets into insights.
MS in Business Analytics – Develop Applicable skills you can immediately use in your career.
Graduate Certificates in Data Science & Analytics – Powerful Credentials for Future Data Scientists and Business Analysts.

I would be an international student. I’m a Canadian with an honours bachelors degree with double majors in psychology and neuroscience from a Canadian university. For budget, I’d like to stay under 25000 USD. I would be paying for the degree myself, I don’t think there would be financial assistance available to me as an international student. My goal is to obtain a CS bachelors or masters quickly. 

I have looked at several UK online conversion MSc in Computer Science (Hertfordshire, Bath, London, Sunderland, Northumbria, Essex, and York). While they accept unrelated bachelors degrees, I worry if employers would prefer degrees from Canadian or American universities more. 
In Canada, I have looked at Thompson Rivers University online CS degree but that would take  a few years to complete. Same goes for Athabascsa. There are a few other schools with CS degrees that can be shorter but those require in-person teaching (UBC, Algoma) or CS undergraduate degrees for entry (Waterloo). 

I have looked at several CS bachelors or masters online degrees from American schools. Georgia Tech and Oregon State are potentials for MSC but require additional prerequisite courses for admissions. For bachelors in CS, WGU seems promising but they don’t seem to accept international applicants. The BA CS from TESU seems interesting to me. Although I would prefer a masters degree more, it would be amazing if I were able to obtain a CS bachelors quickly while staying well within my budget. Given my background, would TESU be a good choice for a second bachelors? Or should I continue to search for a suitable MSC in CS?

[jsd]

because bootcamps seem to have a bad reputation in the CS field.

quality bootcamps are fine if you actually put in the effort and learn. in the field, it's more important that you know what you're doing, it's less important where you learned it.

[MNomadic]

This program is mentioned here as well: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...non-majors

I too found it interesting that they claim to take someone from no CS background to full MSCS in around 1 year, part-time. The program is too new to really make any judgments one way or another. For $5K more, you could look into UPenn's online MCIT, though it probably has a much more competitive application process.

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Upon entry, students will have access to two bootcamps to catch up on materials as needed.

Do you have more details on which bootcamps they utilize/include?

[Teabula]

This program is mentioned here as well: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...non-majors

I too found it interesting that they claim to take someone from no CS background to full MSCS in around 1 year, part-time. The program is too new to really make any judgments one way or another. For $5K more, you could look into UPenn's online MCIT, though it probably has a much more competitive application process.

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Upon entry, students will have access to two bootcamps to catch up on materials as needed.

Do you have more details on which bootcamps they utilize

Yes, I do agree that it’s too new of a program to fully judge. I am just concerned with investing that much if I’m not 100% confident in the program. I will look into UPenn, thanks for the suggestion! 

Unfortunately no, I do not have more details on the bootcamps Merrimack College has for the MSc. To be honest, there is barely any mention of it on their program description online. During the program information session, they also explained it quite vaguely. Other prospective students asked for the names of the bootcamps and whether it was from Merrimack College or taught by another party. They were not forthcoming with their answers. This is why I have such mixed feelings with the program. I understand there are legitimate bootcamps but for the cost of the program, students should at least know who is behind the bootcamps.

[carrythenothing]

I think the two "bootcamps" are these zero-credit courses that I found in their catalog.

CSC 1010 - Problem Solving with Java Bootcamp: https://catalog.merrimack.edu/preview_co...coid=17182

CSC 1011 - Data Structures Bootcamp: https://catalog.merrimack.edu/preview_co...coid=17183