A twist on the "Masters Degree worth it?" thread.

Hi guys,

I'm in a confusing position at the moment, and I was wondering if you guys could help me.

Short version-

The reason this is a twist on the usual "is a masters degree worth it?" thread is because I am trying to use the grad school as a "mask" to nullify the no-name school I currently am getting my bachelor's from. The other twist is that I am 20 years old, so I do not know if getting a masters this early on is a good call.

Long version-

I am currently a junior studying for a bachelors in MIS at a no name university. I've done quite well here in terms of grades and certs, but I'm starting to see the limits of what I can accomplish with this school weighing me down.

Its starting to feel like substance doesn't matter, its all about the brand. Top companies (Google, Apple, Facebook, etc.) are not interested in a ivy caliber student at a no name school. I spent some time on LinkedIn looking at where my alumni have wound up and... lets just say not too many of them wound up at Google.

I'm trying to figure out how to resolve this.

Right now, I am trying to decide whether I should prepare for grad school by studying for the GRE's, or prepare for the job market by improving my technical skills in things like Python, Bash, and Perl this summer.

If I do well on the GRE's this summer, I can give the top master's degree schools a shot in the fall. I'll probably go for a masters in cyber security, or an MBA. I feel like I might be competitive for some of the top schools, but I know they are a crap shoot in general.

I figure a top 10 school on my resume would allow me to write my own ticket in life, but at the same time, jumping right into a masters after my bachelors seems a bit reckless financially and in terms of my work-education balance.

Alternatively, if I improve my technical skills, I have a pretty much 100% shot at jobs in my state, but I'll be unable to work for any real "winners".

What do you guys think? What should I focus on this summer?

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Comments

xeruan

I know you said your BS was an MIS degree, and I'm not really sure what your plan is as far as your proposed graduate degree - but there is at least one option where you can get a MS degree from a reputable school in a sought after program at a very reasonable rate.

I'm pursuing my MS in Computer Science from Georgia Tech online, and after all is said and done, I'll have spent ~7500$ (much of which is being reimbursed by my employer) for a MS from a US Top 10 CS program. Even if you didn't have reimbursement, 7500$ in student loans for graduate-level tuition while you work or do other things isn't that bad of a deal.

I'm not really trying to cover up my undergraduate degrees as I have a BS in Computer Science with a concentration in Computer Forensics & Security, and a BS in Forensic Science with concentrations in Biology and Chemistry from Eastern Kentucky University - but I felt like I couldn't really go wrong with adding a MS in CS from Georgia Tech while I'm actively working in the Security realm for that cost.

NetworkNewb

xeruan wrote: »

I'm pursuing my MS in Computer Science from Georgia Tech online, and after all is said and done, I'll have spent ~7500$ (much of which is being reimbursed by my employer) for a MS from a US Top 10 CS program. Even if you didn't have reimbursement, 7500$ in student loans for graduate-level tuition while you work or do other things isn't that bad of a deal.

This program actually looks really cheap... I'm definitely gonna look into this. How are you liking it so far?

Edit: After looking more into the courses looks like pretty much all the courses anyone is able to take online at udacity.com for free. Makes me question the "US Top CS program" claim. Not saying you aren't getting a MS in Computer Science from a well known university for a good cost though!

Remedymp

NetworkNewb wrote: »

This program actually looks really cheap... I'm definitely gonna look into this. How are you liking it so far?

Edit: After looking more into the courses looks like pretty much all the courses anyone is able to take online at udacity.com for free. Makes me question the "US Top CS program" claim. Not saying you aren't getting a MS in Computer Science from a well known university for a good cost though!

Would you actually put "Udacity" on your resume as an educational reference though?

NetworkNewb

Remedymp wrote: »

Would you actually put "Udacity" on your resume as an educational reference though?

Right, your pretty much paying for the title: MS in Computer Science from Georgia Tech

And anyone with a internet connection can get the same level of education.

Danielm7

The classes on Udacity are from Georgia Tech. Anyone can take CS classes from MIT and Harvard free online too, it doesn't mean you'd be learning something lower level.

NetworkNewb

They are the actual "current" courses the students are taking to earn their Master's degrees?

Guess I just expected more for shelling out thousands to major university when going for a Masters degree than old video taped courses.

Danielm7

$7500 for an MS degree from Georgia tech, I think I'd settle for last year's recordings. You have projects, grades, professors, etc, basically all the stuff you get from most online schools today, they just also happen to offer them on Udacity. Again, lots of top schools offer their courses like this now for free, doesn't make them any less valuable for learning because you're not paying extra.

NetworkNewb

Interesting article on it: Don't Dismiss Georgia Tech's $6,600 Online Master's Degree | William Fenton | PCMag.com

Guess it might not be too horrible for the price.

josephandre

This is a really silly position. It's not 'not horrible for the price'. It's an outstanding program made even better by the price. You're talking about a 30k program taken on campus. And it's not that it's a degree made up of Udacity courses, they just happened to form a partnership with udacity when creating the program and were cool enough to democratize their program by giving anyone who wants to pursue the education an opportunity to do so for free.

You can learn almost anything online, or from books or other mediums, but just like the certs in your profile after knowledge comes credentials (if you're so inclined). The degree allows you to prove your newfound knowledge and market it. Along with the projects/feedback/structure and access to the professors.

And on top top of that the 'thousands of dollars' is on the very low low fringe of the graduate school spectrum. How it can be viewed as anything other than awesome is beyond me

Deus Ex Machina

@josephandre
You're completely right that you can learn much of the same material online. That applies with everything. You could have an MIT level education on your own from self-studying if you so chose, and you would actually be even better than the MIT grads because you were not bogged down with useless pre req's like they were. However, notoriety and reputation are equally important components of educational programs today. Having a degree so intimately related to Udacity courses immediately taints a programs reputation, and it is totally unjustified. Unfortunately, that's just how the world works.

jelevated

Quite simple, go to a Masters program that you can afford to pay for in cash. BETTER YET, have someone else pay for it. Don't pay for the name.

Supplement with MIT ProfessionalX CyberSecurity certificate (~$700).

I jest but not really. Is it MIT? Yes. Are you an bonafide MIT student? No. Do you learn from actual MIT Professors? Yes. Will this help you in your daily life? Absolutely.

NetworkNewb

josephandre wrote: »

This is a really silly position. It's not 'not horrible for the price'. It's an outstanding program made even better by the price. You're talking about a 30k program taken on campus.

I was being sarcastic when I wrote that...

NetworkNewb

jelevated wrote: »

Supplement with MIT ProfessionalX CyberSecurity certificate (~$700).

I jest but not really. Is it MIT? Yes. Are you an bonafide MIT student? No. Do you learn from actual MIT Professors? Yes. Will this help you in your daily life? Absolutely.

I actually took that course and got the certificate. Work paid for it. Wasn't overally impressed with it.

josephandre

NetworkNewb wrote: »

I was being sarcastic when I wrote that...

Im dumb.

But yeah, that degree is awesome. If I wasn't so far behind the curve in advanced math it would be my program of choice hands down.

I got rejected last year and planned to reapply, but after taking linear algebra at my local community college and hiring a tutor for calculus I was still not comfortable evough and had way too many other irons in the fire.

NetworkNewb

Yea, I'm actually really considering on applying. Can't really beat that price to get MS in CS from a well known school.

MontagueVandervort

Are we sure this pricing is still current though? I was looking into this to see if there were as cheap an option for a Bachelor's degree (per credit ratio of course, I didn't expect 4 yrs for $6K), and when I ran into the tuition page ( http://www.bursar.gatech.edu/student/tuition/Fall_2017/Fall17-all_fees.pdf ) , the MS in CS comes out to more around $9K than $6K.

$9K is still good though!

NetworkNewb

Yea, I noticed it was a little higher than what that article says as well. Think this one of the few Master's programs that I could get my company to completely pay for still. I'm not complaining!

josephandre

I may be confused, but I want to say they are working towards allowing you take some courses through Udacity and transferring them for credit at some point as well.

Ive researched myself retarded though

--chris--

josephandre wrote: »

This is a really silly position. It's not 'not horrible for the price'. It's an outstanding program made even better by the price. You're talking about a 30k program taken on campus. And it's not that it's a degree made up of Udacity courses, they just happened to form a partnership with udacity when creating the program and were cool enough to democratize their program by giving anyone who wants to pursue the education an opportunity to do so for free.

You can learn almost anything online, or from books or other mediums, but just like the certs in your profile after knowledge comes credentials (if you're so inclined). The degree allows you to prove your newfound knowledge and market it. Along with the projects/feedback/structure and access to the professors.

And on top top of that the 'thousands of dollars' is on the very low low fringe of the graduate school spectrum. How it can be viewed as anything other than awesome is beyond me

I researched the GT masters and to be honest it looked challenging and like it would be a bear for anyone lacking in math. It is a solid alternative to the likes of WGU if you want a CS masters.

LA2

Career wise, getting a master's degree will not hurt you. Period. It will deepen your knowledge in a particular field and make you a bit more marketable. With that said, you could still likely find yourself in entry level positions early in your career if you lack experience. From a financial perspective, you would want to make sure that you find a program that gets you a great ROI.

xeruan

Regarding the pricing - there is some talk about reducing some of the institutional fees, but as it currently stands, it is 510$ per course (3 credits at 170$/hr) and a per semester institutional fee of 301$. If you take a single course each semester (10 semesters at 811$ per), it comes out to 8110$ which would be the most you'd pay (as the pricing currently stands). If you take 2 courses per Fall/Spring and 1 course per Summer, you can get it down to 6906$.

Depending on what specialization you choose, some of the courses require some more advanced previous coursework or understanding (I'm talking specifically AI and Machine Learning), but overall it's been an interesting combination of coursework and projects.

I work in Security, so I'm working toward the Computer Systems specialization. So far, I've only taken: Introduction to Information Security, Computer Networks, and Network Security. Projects from running malware in a Cuckoo sandbox (and for a project, trying to trigger a developed malware in a scavenger hunt-esque manner), using python/Mininet to mimic network devices and traffic, and creating buffer overflows based on given code, have all been fun to mess around with and learn. I came into those courses with experience using Cuckoo and configuring/managing network devices, but they were fun projects to work on, and I left with more knowledge than I had gone in with. I'm also looking forward to several courses (that as far as I know haven't entered development yet): Applied Cryptography and Theory of Cryptography.

For some of the courses, it's beneficial to know some Python/Java, Linux/Ubuntu, and math always helps. I haven't taken any courses that used advanced math - but I also come from a somewhat mathematical heavy background (I took through Linear Algebra, Calc 3, and DiffEq as an undergrad). From countless surveys of students, one of the most difficult classes is Computability, Algorithms, and Complexting - renamed to Graduate Algorithms, which focuses on theoretical computer science (mathematical proofs, automata, data structures, Dijkstra's, NP-completeness, etc). Some courses have projects, tests, and assignments/quizzes, some only have projects or tests/assignments - it depends on the course and the instructor. In that same vein, some courses require books, and some do not.

MontagueVandervort

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Yea, I noticed it was a little higher than what that article says as well. Think this one of the few Master's programs that I could get my company to completely pay for still. I'm not complaining!

Yeah, it went up $3K in one year. Still a great deal though. Grab it now before it goes up another $3K lulz.