5 ms·
Why not take the Georgia Tech online MSCS instead? Only $7k, you get a Master's degree instead of a 'Certificate', and you have the option of covering a lot of
by jtagen 10y ago
Why not take the Georgia Tech online MSCS instead? Only $7k, you get a Master's degree instead of a 'Certificate', and you have the option of covering a lot of the same material.
- eranation 10y agoYep. And Sebastian Thrun's course (the Stanford professor, google VP, Udacity founder and google driverless car initiator) is part of that program. You can take AI for robotics for credit there :)
- XenophileJKO 10y agoThey require a previous undergraduate degree, which is a no go for me. I'm already a high level software engineer at a top tier company. I have no desire to go back and take an undergraduate degree. But I do like collecting certificates... Currently taking Udacity's self-driving nano-degree, pretty fun for someone with no robotics background.
- jedberg 10y agoHow closely do they check the undergrad degree? Some second rate universities will trade you a degree for experience plus cash. Most of them are non-accredited though.
- alnitak 10y agoDo you happen to know any accredited university or institution that would do that? Maybe with some examinations?
- dsacco 10y agoI don't think any actual accredited university would allow you to "test out" of an entire four year degree, let alone simply buy it because you have comparable experience.
- sqldba 10y agoAny undergrad degree or only CS ones?
- dsacco 10y agoYou might be interested to know that it's possible to enter a Master's program without completing a Bachelor's degree. This is not openly advertised, but I am aware that even universities with high signaling value like CMU and Oxford are open to this arrangement.
- grayshirts 10y agoIn general Masters in CS programs require either a BS in CS or coursework in areas like operating systems, data structures, algorithms, computability/complexity etc. These courses generally have prereqs such as 1-2 semesters worth of programming courses, discrete math etc. Someone without a CS background most likely would not be accepted to a standard MS program.
- aerioux 10y agoi'm sorry but this is not correct. CS Masters programs are more money-making then credential caring. Georgia Tech's MS as well as CMU's both accept non-CS traditional backgrounds. This is trivially verifiable on linkedin. That said they do require high ugrad GPAs frequently. Source: Knowing Georgia Tech Phd TA's and being a CMU TA for Master's classes
- grayshirts 10y ago> Georgia Tech's MS as well as CMU's both accept non-CS traditional backgrounds. There are exceptions but in general CS Masters programs look for sufficient coursework/background in Computer Science and Mathematics. An art major with 0 math/programming courses will find it difficult to be accepted to a Masters program in CS.
- dsacco 10y agoYes, of course. But that's moving the goalposts a bit. When I originally made my point, it was to another commenter here who is presumably a self-taught software engineer without an undergraduate degree, not an "art major." For other commenters reading this thread down the line: my point here is that yes, while it's an exception, it isn't exactly stunningly difficult to get admitted to a good CS graduate program without an undergraduate degree. You don't need to be a prodigy who is so inarguably talented that you're just skipping the bachelor's. You'd be shocked what you can bypass by convincing a real human with decision making ability that you can do the work, instead of relying on every rote admissions page. Admissions pages for graduate degrees are like job posts - almost all say they want an undergraduate degree at minimum, but when you open the kimono many are willing to silently drop that requirement without advertising it to others.
- xyzzy123 10y agoSignalling value. It's kind of a nihilistic answer, but that's it. The question is only whether the HR person's neural network triggers more strongly on "master's degree" or "stanford". None of this has anything to do with what you learned or know. Like most tertiary education.