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Thanks! I was looking for a program at Oxford. USN&WR has it at #11 worldwide for CS. The SE program at Oxford doesn't seem to be available for 100% remote stu

Thanks! I was looking for a program at Oxford. USN&WR has it at #11 worldwide for CS. The SE program at Oxford doesn't seem to be available for 100% remote study, though. Am I missing something? I love this informal, friendly Web site, and I might be looking in the wrong places.

oxml 4y ago
It's primarily an in-person program, delivered in one-week intensives. However, they went 100% remote for during the pandemic and apparently they are considering a hybrid option in the future.
petesergeant 4y ago
I can’t speak to what the current sitch is, but when I was there you had to be onsite for 11 weeks over four-five years. Quite a few Americans would fly in for it
- evanprodromou 4y ago
  11 weeks over 5 years is quite doable.
grumpytiger 4y ago
I’m currently attending it. It was full-remote during pandemic. Now you have a few courses still online but most of them are in person (1 week of lectures per module in Oxford). Not sure how it will be when things settle post-pandemic, but my impression is that it will continue to require in-person classes.
- selfportrait 4y ago
  I’m interested in hearing more about this program. How is it, and would you recommend it for an American? Is it even possible for an American to fly in for the week-long intensives like the other comment on here says? That would be worth the experience. What was your background when you applied and how tough is entry? (I see that there is a 99 application average over the past three years with 70 acceptances?) And how much is the cost?
  - petesergeant 4y ago
    > How is it You get a degree from Oxford at the end, which definitely opens doors. Of the ten modules I did, 2-3 were exceptional and stay with me today. 2-3 were trash. There rest were OK. It's an excellent excuse to get familiar with the subject, and the one-week onsite format followed by the six weeks of coursework is excellent. > would you recommend it for an American? Is it even possible for an American to fly in for the week-long intensives like the other comment on here says? Yes, we had quite a few Americans in my cohort doing this > What was your background when you applied and how tough is entry? I essentially flunked out of high-school, but I had ten years of solid commercial experience under my belt, and some interesting open-source contributions and tech talks at conferences, and they let me in. I suspect I had the potential to interview well as I also was awarded an academic prize at the end for highest overall marks... However they also had this really interesting system when I was there where you could essentially earn your way in: they'd let you come and do the SEM module (challenging, but not nuts), and if you passed, they'd let you in as a real student. > And how much is the cost? £41,080 over four years for a non-UK resident
  - grumpytiger 4y ago
    I guess @petesergeant already answered most of your questions, but to add a bit more colour... I don't know how tough is the entry because I have not seen the other applications. What I did appreciate in the application process is that since the target audience is working professionals, you can get 3 letters of recommendations from people that you worked with, not necessarily academic recommendations (for someone who has been out of uni for a while, makes the process much less painful). Some other selling points of the programme for me: - 1-week modules, instead of one evening per week - much easier to organise if you don't live in Oxford - No exams - for each module that you attend, you have one week of lectures, followed by an assignment that you have 6 weeks to submit the answers. Assignments demand a lot of time to complete, but I find it much more manageable when you are working than cramming for one big exam - Flexible curriculum - to complete the course, you need to complete 10 modules plus a project (like a Master Thesis) in 2-4 years. But you have complete freedom to pick and choose any course from those that are offered (http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/softeng/courses/subjects.html http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/softeng/courses/subjects.html). So you can customise the programme according to your interests. - Time flexibility - you can complete in 2-4 years. There are 3 terms per year, so you can attend one module per term and finish in 4 years, or if you have more time available, attend more modules in a term and finish in less time. The downside of the flexible nature of the programme is that you have less of a feeling of "class of '19", or whatever the year of your intake. You will bump into people that are taking their first or last modules, and some of them you will only see once. You will still have the chance of going out for a beer with them, so I don't mean that you won't have a chance of networking. - It is in Oxford, which is a pretty cool town to visit, and as a student you have free access to places like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Humfrey%27s_Library#/media/File:Duke_Humfrey's_Library_Interior_3,_Bodleian_Library,_Oxford,_UK_-_Diliff.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Humfrey%27s_Library#/medi...

oxml 4y ago

It's primarily an in-person program, delivered in one-week intensives. However, they went 100% remote for during the pandemic and apparently they are considering a hybrid option in the future.

petesergeant 4y ago

I can’t speak to what the current sitch is, but when I was there you had to be onsite for 11 weeks over four-five years. Quite a few Americans would fly in for it

evanprodromou 4y ago
11 weeks over 5 years is quite doable.

grumpytiger 4y ago

I’m currently attending it. It was full-remote during pandemic. Now you have a few courses still online but most of them are in person (1 week of lectures per module in Oxford). Not sure how it will be when things settle post-pandemic, but my impression is that it will continue to require in-person classes.

selfportrait 4y ago
I’m interested in hearing more about this program. How is it, and would you recommend it for an American? Is it even possible for an American to fly in for the week-long intensives like the other comment on here says? That would be worth the experience. What was your background when you applied and how tough is entry? (I see that there is a 99 application average over the past three years with 70 acceptances?) And how much is the cost?
- petesergeant 4y ago
  > How is it You get a degree from Oxford at the end, which definitely opens doors. Of the ten modules I did, 2-3 were exceptional and stay with me today. 2-3 were trash. There rest were OK. It's an excellent excuse to get familiar with the subject, and the one-week onsite format followed by the six weeks of coursework is excellent. > would you recommend it for an American? Is it even possible for an American to fly in for the week-long intensives like the other comment on here says? Yes, we had quite a few Americans in my cohort doing this > What was your background when you applied and how tough is entry? I essentially flunked out of high-school, but I had ten years of solid commercial experience under my belt, and some interesting open-source contributions and tech talks at conferences, and they let me in. I suspect I had the potential to interview well as I also was awarded an academic prize at the end for highest overall marks... However they also had this really interesting system when I was there where you could essentially earn your way in: they'd let you come and do the SEM module (challenging, but not nuts), and if you passed, they'd let you in as a real student. > And how much is the cost? £41,080 over four years for a non-UK resident
- grumpytiger 4y ago
  I guess @petesergeant already answered most of your questions, but to add a bit more colour... I don't know how tough is the entry because I have not seen the other applications. What I did appreciate in the application process is that since the target audience is working professionals, you can get 3 letters of recommendations from people that you worked with, not necessarily academic recommendations (for someone who has been out of uni for a while, makes the process much less painful). Some other selling points of the programme for me: - 1-week modules, instead of one evening per week - much easier to organise if you don't live in Oxford - No exams - for each module that you attend, you have one week of lectures, followed by an assignment that you have 6 weeks to submit the answers. Assignments demand a lot of time to complete, but I find it much more manageable when you are working than cramming for one big exam - Flexible curriculum - to complete the course, you need to complete 10 modules plus a project (like a Master Thesis) in 2-4 years. But you have complete freedom to pick and choose any course from those that are offered (http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/softeng/courses/subjects.html http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/softeng/courses/subjects.html). So you can customise the programme according to your interests. - Time flexibility - you can complete in 2-4 years. There are 3 terms per year, so you can attend one module per term and finish in 4 years, or if you have more time available, attend more modules in a term and finish in less time. The downside of the flexible nature of the programme is that you have less of a feeling of "class of '19", or whatever the year of your intake. You will bump into people that are taking their first or last modules, and some of them you will only see once. You will still have the chance of going out for a beer with them, so I don't mean that you won't have a chance of networking. - It is in Oxford, which is a pretty cool town to visit, and as a student you have free access to places like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Humfrey%27s_Library#/media/File:Duke_Humfrey's_Library_Interior_3,_Bodleian_Library,_Oxford,_UK_-_Diliff.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Humfrey%27s_Library#/medi...