Master's with a solid foundation

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by philosophist, Mar 13, 2004.

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  1. philosophist

    philosophist New Member

    I'm looking for a technical/science master's degree and would like some recommendations. First, however, I will provide some background. At the (immature) age of 17, I enrolled in big state university. At the time, my apathy towards education was so great that I rarely attended class or completed homework assignments. After 2 years, I found myself on academic probation with a 1.5 overall GPA!
    Like many college dropouts, I enlisted in the military as a military policeman. Over the next few years, I matured and came to appreciate the value of education. My distaste for the rigid military caste system and the relatively poor treatment befitting a junior enlisted troop encouraged me to seek something more fulfilling. My first step was to re-train from a security police grunt to a computer programmer. Once that transition was complete, I enrolled in a satellite campus of a small, liberal arts college, Park College (now University). Park accepted all of my state school credits (D or better) no questions asked and even gave me a surprising number of credits for my military training.
    The Park University satellite instruction was poor (the instructors didn't even hold PhDs) and the curriculum was too easy (I sensed they were afraid to scare away their enlisted customer base). Moreover, the computer science program was misnamed; on retrospect, I think it was more similar to a CIS program without the business courses. Still, I was focused; I excelled. My post-state-school GPA was an amazing 3.9. On the strength of that and some decent (but not great) GRE scores, I was able to get accepted in the local state U's software engineering master's program. Considering the dept that hosted the program was ranked in the top 10 nationally, I felt very fortunate.
    I stayed in the program for a few semesters, but I quickly discovered I was more interested in theory than practice. And since the program was exorbitant, I decided to drop out and put extra emphasis on my blossoming career. I was fortunate to have re-entered the civilian world in 1998, almost at the height of the dot com era. Although my theoretical background was quite weak (Park's education was decidedly NOT rigorous and my military job was more network admin than programmer), I had no trouble finding a job. I'll never forget the suprised and exuberation I felt when I was offered $55k at my first job interview. Over past 6 years, I've been on the technical fast track; I'm now an infrastructure programmer/junior architect on a large financial application.
    Most recently, I abandoned technical education in favor of philosophy. Ulimately, I disovered I don't have the temperment to continue academic philosophy(I'm much too practical), and, besides, the career benefit is neglible.
    So, this is where I stand today: I can re-enroll in the local software engineering program. This is something I don't really care to do, but I already have 9 hours and the department is very pretigious. What I really want is some hard-core science, theory, and math courses. But I would also like a Master's degree. Furthermore, I must be a degree seeking student to receive both GI Bill and employer tuition reimbursement. The employer will pay up to $5250 per year (an IRS tax limit) and the gi bill will pay 5880 for 1/2 time work. That gives me 11k per year to play with.
    Don't forget that while my upper-division GPA is excellent, my overall GPA (thanks to home-state U) is approx. 2.7. I think my GRE scores (v540, q630, a590) could be better because I didn't prepare for it the first time. Surprisingly, several practice tests show my verbal up 100 points, but my quant down 20-30 points. I have the capacity to perform better on the quant portion, but I've never had solid math or science training because my high school (and Park Univ) was a joke.
    Additionally, my goal is to be admitted to the best program possible. The reason I haven't mentioned a specific degree is because I'm open; I'd like to study EE, CompE, CS, physics, mathematics, or even bio-informatics. I could pursue a second bachelor's if that makes sense, but my first preference would be a master's, preferrably one with some leveling courses. Even if I decide on a MSCS, I would want to take some leveling CS courses (my education at Park was that poor). I'm a pretty darn good software developer, but my understanding of theoretical computer science is limited.
    I also want to "economy proof" my career. While I don't think offshore outsourcing will have as great an impact as some expect (IT job market is still expected to grow) I want to protect myself. Computing careers such as computer security and related programs such as bioinformatics leap to mind.
    Finally, I'd prefer a degree with no residency requirements. If I have to take science labs at the local univ or juco, that's fine. But regular course work should be distance.

    Here are some of the programs I've considered:

    -University of Southern California's MSCS with a Computer Science specialty. I've already applied, but it looks like my cumulative GPA is lower than their minimum of 3.0. I will write a personal letter explaining my academic history, but I don't know if it will matter. I wish they only considered upper-level coursework (like many schools). Their curriculum is exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for, and they offer leveling courses to boot.

    -University of Illinios-Urbana Champaign's I2CS. According to the website, my GRE scores are too low. While their curriculum is interesting, they don't offer any leveling courses.

    -University of Florida. Appropriate curriculum but shipping VHS tapes would be both expensive and annoying.

    -University of Idaho. Their CompE and EE master's look promising because they both offer leveling courses. Does anyone have first-hand experience?

    -Knowledge Systems Institute. Bioinformatics sounds incredibly interesting (I'd love to study biology and chemistry), but neither the computing nor the biology in the program look deep enough for what I'd like. Remember, I want to emphasize theory.

    Recommendations?
     
  2. florida55

    florida55 New Member

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