I got into Georgia Tech's Masters in Computer Science - Online (OMSCS)!

[StudentOLife]

Just wanted to post here for anyone else that went the TESU route and is wondering about their grad school prospects. The OMSCS degree is not distinguished from their on campus masters, so it's the same top ten ranked program, but they are less selective than most other similarly ranked offerings since they can scale it much more easily online, and it only costs about $8k.


As for my background, I graduated from TESU in 2019 with a BSBA - CIS degree. I took several CS courses (intro to CS, database admin, networks, network security, systems analysis, software engineering). My day job has gradually shifted more towards devops and programming, and I started thinking a CS degree would actually help me long term. I looked into getting a second bachelors, like WGU's, but it just didn't seem worth it since I already had a similar degree, but I did want a masters and CS seemed like the way to go. I was worried I wouldn't get in becuase I didn't have a CS undergrad or years of experience as a developer, and also most of my courses were pass/fail. Only my capstone was graded but I did get a 4.0 out of that course. I also was able to get a recommendation from that professor because I had discussed it with him at the end of the course and he happened to remember me and came through. 

To round out my application, I took a free Object Oriented programming MOOC (from U of Helsinki) and the Stanford Algorithms course on Coursera. These both had certifications so I could add them to the application even though they're not valued as highly as for credit courses. I also knocked out the Calculus CLEP and included that along with a bunch of my IT certifications (CCNA, MCSA, etc.) in my additional document section of the app. I explained my experience as a network engineer and all the programming/automation I've done over the last few years, and also had a very solid plan for what I wanted out of the program, so I guess it was enough because I've been admitted! I half expected to get denied and have to do some CS pre-reqs at a community college and try again, so this was a nice surprise.



As far as what I'd do differently if I was starting over with TESU, I think I would've gone for the CS degree instead of CIS. There weren't nearly as many CS options when I was doing it as there are now, and it would've been a lot more expensive. I did like a lot of the sociology and management courses, but I could've fit those in the CS degree and skipped the accounting stuff. Also, if you plan to pursue CS at any level after graduating, PLEASE take at least a Data Structures course and Discrete Math along with the intro to programming. If you can manage, Linear Algebra and something in Computer Architecture/Organization will server your future studies well too. Those are the main prereqs that you're definitely going to need for future courses.

It's looking like in a few years I'll have an MS for less thank 10k to go along with my 4k bachelors. For those wondering if TESU or similar schools are worth it, it's led to a better job and now a great graduate opportunity for me, so if you play your cards right it can be a great option.

Thanks so much for this. Great to hear, also hoping to get into OMSCS. Have no tech background except for project management/management side of things.

I am taking the CS route as you've mentioned. Currently looking to get an additional "math area of study" option for 15 more credits that will likely take me an extra half a year to a year for hopefully a better chance at access to OMSCS. I thought I'd do that mostly because alot of my credits are PASS/FAIL, due to old credit transfers, ACE, Sophia ect. So there won't be a lot of GPA aside from capstone otherwise for GT to assess. 

Would love your opinion (or anyone else who'd like to chime in), do you think that'd be worth it that extra math would help my opportunity for entry, or would a CS degree with lots of Pass/Fail credits be sufficient?