Computer Science, then Masters

[ItsNeverTheLionsYear]

I'm on a similar journey myself, albeit from within the US. I'm mixing and matching community college courses plus university extension school courses to get a BACS from TESU, and then eventually an MSCS, and I also took a disproportionate number of Jewish studies courses prior to starting down this path. I'll do a breakdown for the American programs (Georgia Tech, UT Austin, UIUC), but each of the UK programs should have a breakdown of prerequisites somewhere on their website that is pretty similar to the American schools.

Georgia tech requirements: https://omscs.gatech.edu/preparing-yourself-omscs
UIUC requirements: https://cs.illinois.edu/academics/gradua...er-science, under "application information"
UT Austin requirements: https://cdso.utexas.edu/faq, under "What constitutes a successful applicant?"

I'm making the bet that I only need graded courses for certain subject area courses to get into MSCS programs. I make US-based course recommendations. You might be able to find something better with the Finnish universities, but I'm not sure if they offer grades. I don't know how Finnish universities work. There's a wiki page: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fi...iversities





Intro to programming 

Required by: Georgia Tech, UT Austin, UIUC. Counts towards the BACS area of study as a core course.

Took this one online from Washtenaw Community College, which is my local CC. They accept international students, but they don't have all the prereqs you'll need. 

WCC CPS 171 - $612 for 4 credits (international rate) https://catalog.wccnet.edu/current/courses/cps-171.php

Object Oriented Programming 

Required by: UIUC, Georgia Tech. Counts as a BACS lower level elective.

Taken through WCC. This course is a prereq for data structures at WCC, but not an explicit prereq for most MSCS programs. Couldn't hurt. 

WCC CPS 271 - $612 for 4 credits. https://catalog.wccnet.edu/current/courses/cps-271.php

Data structures

Required by: Georgia Tech, UT Austin, UIUC. Counts towards the BACS area of study as a core course.

Taken through Washtenaw. This course and the two above it are part of a 12-week "bootcamp" that you can take in one term. Packed calendar though, wouldn't recommend taking any courses alongside them. 

WCC CPS 272 - $612 for 4 credits. https://catalog.wccnet.edu/current/courses/cps-272.php

Discrete math 

Required by: UT Austin. Counts towards the BACS area of study as a core course.

I'm taking this through Oakton. The cheapest option I can find that should work without issue internationally is UC San Diego Extension. University of North Dakota also offers an online discrete math course, but that costs over $1.2k.

UC San Diego - $695 for 3 credits. https://extendedstudies.ucsd.edu/courses...-cse-41243

Computer Architecture & Organization 

Required by: UT Austin. Counts towards the BACS area of study as a core course.

I'm taking this through Oakton. 

Computer architecture is very hard to find a graded online course for that international students can take!!! Unless you're dead set on UT Austin, I'd take the SDC course. If you absolutely must take this for a grade, it seems like the only online option is to make nice with a UND admin to get an exception to take a 400-level electrical engineering class online as a non-major, or pay $1300 to Liberty University. I have strong objections to Liberty University that are not appropriate for this forum, but I'm guessing we might be from somewhat similar backgrounds, and if so you'll likely also have objections.

Liberty University CSIS 342 - $1365 pre-fees for 3 credits. https://www.liberty.edu/online/courses/csis342/

Algorithms 

Required by: Georgia Tech, UT Austin, UIUC. Counts towards the BACS area of study as an elective if just algorithms, or as acore AoS course if bundled with data stuctures.

I'm taking this through Oakton. Again the cheapest option seems to be UC San Diego, with a Data Structures & Algorithms course. If you want, you can take the gamble and see if the masters admission commitees see this count for Data Structures as well. 

UC San Diego Data Structures & Algorithms - $725 for 3 credits. https://extendedstudies.ucsd.edu/courses...algorithms

C

Required by nobody. Recommended by Georgia Tech. Counts towards the BACS area of study as an elective, probably lower level.

When I reached out to Georgia Tech for their requirements, they said they like to see a course in C. Don't think it's actually required, but I wanted to take it anyway. The only online provider I can find is UC Berkeley Extension, which offers a very low-commitment 2-credit course.

UC Berkeley EL ENG X24 - $995 for 2 credits. https://extension.berkeley.edu/search/pu...seId=40911

"Computer Systems" 

Required by: UT Austin. No clue how it would transfer to the BACS.

I don't know what UT Austin meant by this, even looking at their example class description. As best I can tell it's a theory-heavy operating systems course. I am not taking a course that matches their description 1-to-1 because I don't think any such course exists online, graded, for credit. The closest I can get is a "Systems Programming" course from the University of North Dakota, which I might decide I want to take at some point. Who knows.

UND CSCI 330 - Around $1200 for 3 credits. No direct link, but here's the online course catalog: https://und.edu/academics/online/index.h...er-Science

Linear Algebra 

Required by: UT Austin but the MSAI specifically, UIUC, Georgia Tech recommended. Should count as a BACS extra AoS elective.

Back to the straightforward stuff! WCC has got us covered. I took this class in my first BA, so I can't vouch for the course, but it's there.

WCC MTH 197 - $612 for 4 credits. https://catalog.wccnet.edu/current/courses/mth-197.php

Data Mining 

Required by: UT Austin only, and just the MSAI. Probably transfers to the BACS as a lower level elective.

UC San Diego is the only game in town on the internet for courses that give credit. Makes the choice easy. I haven't taken the course yet, and I'm not sure I'm going to (waffling about whether or not I want to apply to the MSAI).

UC San Diego Fundamentals of Data Mining - $725 for 3 credits. https://extendedstudies.ucsd.edu/courses...ata-mining


Calculus up to Calc 3 

Required by: UT Austin and just for their MS Data Science only, but STRONGLY recommended everywhere else. Calc I is required for the BACS.

You gotta take some calculus. Rite of passage, plus it's required for the BACS. WCC offers the full progression, but I would take Calc I through the ASU universal learner. You very much can take Calculus on Sophia, then SDC as well to meet the BACS requirements if you're not gunning for UT Austin. Like with linear algebra, I took this in my first BA, so I can't vouch for any specific course.

Calc I: ASU universal learner - $425 for 3 credits. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Ar...al_Learner
Calc II: WCC MTH 192 - $612 for 4 credits. https://catalog.wccnet.edu/current/courses/mth-192.php
Calc III: WCC MTH 293 - $612 for 4 credits. https://catalog.wccnet.edu/current/courses/mth-293.php

Statistics and/or probability

Recommended by: Georgia tech. Counts towards the BACS as an AoS additional elective.

Meh. If you don't want a data science degree you don't need to take a stats course, but you probably should. SDC it if you want. UC San Diego will cover you for a graded course.

UC San Diego Statistics for Data Analytics - $675 for 3 credits. https://extendedstudies.ucsd.edu/courses...-analytics


Everything else

I've knocked out the other courses I need through Sophia & SDC. and I would recommend you'd do the same. Very quick, minimal trouble. Other posts & the wiki cover it, but you can meet the upper-level course requirement through SDC if you take linear algebra somewhere.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE EVERY COURSE I LIST. Modify what you plan on taking to the programs you really think you want to apply to. Remember that the BACS will also cost you $4893 for the capstone and residency waiver, plus even more for the cornerstone if this is your first degree. Do up a spreadsheet and make a full accounting, including the cost of SDC exams. You'll probably be able to knock out your Sophia stuff within one $70 billing cycle, which on the scale of $10k is negligible.