6 ms·

>"This is perhaps the cheapest Computer Science masters in the United States from a premier school." Actually, there are funded ones! Princeton and Cornell bot

>"This is perhaps the cheapest Computer Science masters in the United States from a premier school." Actually, there are funded ones! Princeton and Cornell both have 2 year thesis-based M.S.E CS programs which are fully funded + stipend. I'm starting Princeton's in the fall. These are small programs though, I believe there's 12 of us incoming.

pc86 9y ago
First of all, congrats. That sounds like an amazing opportunity and I am legitimately jealous. I imagine the competitiveness is quite different between an online program from Georgia Tech for ~4,500 students[0] and an onsite program at Princeton for a few dozen. :) [0] https://www.omscs.gatech.edu/prospective-students/numbers https://www.omscs.gatech.edu/prospective-students/numbers
jhenkens 9y ago
I did reasearch during my MS as well. Tuition + Healthcare + Stipend. Still lost out on 1.5 years of $100k+ a year to slowly lose money (whatever the stipend didn't cover in my living expenses) and get a MS, but I'm happy in the end.
- ghaff 9y ago
  I haven't looked into the details for a very long time. But whether there's research/thesis at least used to be a big variant among MS/ME programs and there wasn't an obvious pattern based on the "prestige" of the school. One will be one year of mostly classroom learning. Another will be a couple years about half of which is primarily focused on research and writing a thesis.
closed 9y ago
For context, I'm pretty sure all of Princeton's grad students are funded (including masters of public administration). Still cool, just wanted to put it out there in case anyone was wondering what their CS dept is up to.
- no_flags 9y ago
  That's very cool if true. Usually it's very difficult to get funding as a Master's student because prof's want the full PhD commitment.
blparker 9y ago
I only see references to the Princeton program being self-funded. Do you have any details?
- rosstex 9y ago
  You're welcome to contact me, rteixeira@princeton.edu
technofire 9y ago
The funding implies a requirement that you will work on research, which for most people would preclude working a full-time software engineering job. Assuming a full-time job would bring in more income than the tuition plus stipend, when we take opportunity cost into account, pursuing the OMSCS while working full time still is financially less expensive.
obmelvin 9y ago
I don't know why one would even consider a non-funded research based graduate program. Even with my tuition waived and stipend I still almost feel ripped off despite being at a good school (UIUC MS).
- sarabande 9y ago
  Can you expand on this? Is it because of the opportunity cost of working during that time, or because you have to work so hard that the small positive amount of money you come away with is not worth your labor?

pc86 9y ago

First of all, congrats. That sounds like an amazing opportunity and I am legitimately jealous. I imagine the competitiveness is quite different between an online program from Georgia Tech for ~4,500 students[0] and an onsite program at Princeton for a few dozen. :) [0] https://www.omscs.gatech.edu/prospective-students/numbers https://www.omscs.gatech.edu/prospective-students/numbers

jhenkens 9y ago

I did reasearch during my MS as well. Tuition + Healthcare + Stipend. Still lost out on 1.5 years of $100k+ a year to slowly lose money (whatever the stipend didn't cover in my living expenses) and get a MS, but I'm happy in the end.

ghaff 9y ago
I haven't looked into the details for a very long time. But whether there's research/thesis at least used to be a big variant among MS/ME programs and there wasn't an obvious pattern based on the "prestige" of the school. One will be one year of mostly classroom learning. Another will be a couple years about half of which is primarily focused on research and writing a thesis.

closed 9y ago

For context, I'm pretty sure all of Princeton's grad students are funded (including masters of public administration). Still cool, just wanted to put it out there in case anyone was wondering what their CS dept is up to.

no_flags 9y ago
That's very cool if true. Usually it's very difficult to get funding as a Master's student because prof's want the full PhD commitment.

blparker 9y ago

I only see references to the Princeton program being self-funded. Do you have any details?

rosstex 9y ago
You're welcome to contact me, rteixeira@princeton.edu

technofire 9y ago

The funding implies a requirement that you will work on research, which for most people would preclude working a full-time software engineering job. Assuming a full-time job would bring in more income than the tuition plus stipend, when we take opportunity cost into account, pursuing the OMSCS while working full time still is financially less expensive.

obmelvin 9y ago

I don't know why one would even consider a non-funded research based graduate program. Even with my tuition waived and stipend I still almost feel ripped off despite being at a good school (UIUC MS).

sarabande 9y ago
Can you expand on this? Is it because of the opportunity cost of working during that time, or because you have to work so hard that the small positive amount of money you come away with is not worth your labor?