I had attended graduate school a few years back and gained about 36 credits already. But then i got a job and started working and couldnt go back to school to finish it up. Now I cant go back to that school since they require a thesis to be finished and that takes a lot of time which I dont currently have. So I was wondering which school would be the best to transfer my graduate computer science credits to finish up taking a few more simple courses. Which accredated graduate school would accept the most transfer credits.
Most masters programs will only allow 9 transfer credits. So you would probably have to do most of your work over. Many PhD programs allow up to 30 transfer credits (though some, and perhaps most, insist that you have a masters to transfer the credit). It seems to me that you have a couple choices - 1) enter a masters program, and just bite the bullet and expect to have to complete 21 to 27 additional credit hours. Depending on what you want to do with the masters, you might be better off getting a non-CS masters, such as an inexpensive MBA. The combination of a non-CS masters and a ton of graduate CS coursework might be more compelling than simply a masters in CS. But again, this depends on what you plan to do with the masters. 2) Enter a PhD program that will let you transfer in most of the CS hours. You might have nearly the same about of coursework. But, of course, you will have the dissertation to deal with as well. This option is probably more expensive as well, as their aren't many inexpensive PhD programs out there, while there are some inexpensive masters.
Given the options, I don't see how going back is off the table. Your thesis would sort of be "self-paced" meaning, you certainly have some degree of control over your progress, and registering for the thesis is going to be bucket loads cheaper than 21-27 new credits anywhere hands down. (and really, the number of schools that will simply accept any 9 grad credits is a short list) I also can't imagine a thesis taking longer than 21-27 new credits, but maybe it could depending on how/what you worked on.
