I think I've narrowed my search for a MS in Computer Science down to two online programs: Nova Southeastern and California State University at Chico. I'm actually leaning towards Nova because I like their course selection better because the courses seem to be more theory based while some of the Chico courses seem more practical and oriented toward the business application world (which is what I'm trying to get away from). Does anyone have any experience with either of these two programs that they can share? Thanks, Vin
A few years ago, Playboy chose Chico as the number one party school in the country. I don't think Nova made the top 3,000. Probably doesn't carry over into the online world, however. When the California State University system decided, 20+ years ago, that each campus would develop one distance (eventually on-line) Master's program, Chico apparently was felt to have the most promise in math and ultimately CS. The feedback I used to get from Bears Guide included a fair number of very happy Chico alumni. Very friendly and responsive, they used to say, in sort of a small town way. (Similar to the comments about Dominguez Hills in the early days). But I haven't been in the feedback-collecting world for 4 or 5 years.
I have no experience with these schools; however, I think it would easy to choose between these schools. Which it depends where you live, if you live in the east coast go for NOVA. If you live in the west coast go for CSU-Chico. In fact there many MS program in Computer Science via distance. You should choose tier one school. The University of Illiniois at Urban Champaign has this program, and the class delivery via video.
I've been debating this and was considering University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Florida. In both cases, I'd have to wait until Spring '09 to start. Neither program offers the option to do a thesis. UF appears to have a preset list for all 30 credits of classes without room for electives. Boulder requires pretty high GRE scores and seems to be strict about course prerequisites which would possibly require me to take undergrad courses that I'd only end up retaking at graduate level. Is a name worth dealing with all this when I could choose less reputable school with less hassle and more choice? UF is pretty much out because of the lack of choice, and it would really suck to bust my butt preparing for the GRE, hold out until Spring '09, and not be accepted by UC. Although I am concerned about the reputation of the school I choose, it is the actual education and course selection that I am most concerned with. If you happen to know an online MSCS tier one program that offers a good selection of online courses and wouldn't require me to jump through flaming hoops to get in, I'm all ears.
Of course, you could start in Fall 2008 as far as taking courses is concerned. Personally, since I am Florida resident, I am taking 6-9 graduate credits from UF before going to a different CS department to complete my MS. (As you may know, you can take up to 9 graduate credits at UF as a non-degree seeking student and then apply those to the MSCS at UF or another school once accpeted into the program. Most graduate schools allow 6-9 graduate credits to be transferred to an MS program and 30+ credits to b e transferred to a PhD program. Simiarly, almost all other online programs (Colorado-Boulder, UIUC, Stadford, JHU, Harvard, Columbia, etc.) allow one to one take online coures as a non-degree seeking student, and the only thing they usually care about for non-degree-seeking students is if your credit card is accepted.) Their brochure does give that impression, but I do not believe that is the case as they only have 4 course requirements for their MSCS and MSCE degrees (Analysis of Algorithms + 3 courses from a select list): The staff at UF should be able to clear up any questions. My impression is that UF only has 4 core course requirements for their online degree while Nova has 9.
What's about Southern Methodist University? Master of Science in Computer Science. http://engr.smu.edu/academic/distance.html SMU also waive GRE for certain criteria. The University of Illinios at Urban Champaign doesn't require GRE, "GRE General. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general aptitude tests (Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical) are no longer required. In some cases, GRE scores may provide helpful supporting information; therefore, it is recommended that the scores are reported if the applicant has taken the exam."
Regarding Nova vs. Chico, I would agree that Nova is the obvious choice for computer science. Regarding a lower-tier school like Nova with a thesis option vs. a tier-1 school without one, perhaps it would help to contact a CS graduate advisor at a well-ranked school in the hopes of getting some input about the situation. Your chances of getting a reply may be greater if you ask at a well-ranked CS department in your state. If you do go to Nova, perhaps spicing up your transcript with 6 credits from a more reputuable school could help alleviate some of the concerns about reputation. Similarly, scoring well on the GRE Computer Science Test before applying to PhD programs can help. Getting over a 90 percentile on that exam (which is very difficult, even for PhD students) could skyrocket your chances for admission to a top 10 PhD program, and that would be a lot cheaper (in terms of cost) as the exam only costs $135 or so. And the most direct way to improve your chances, I assume, would be to publish brilliance.
Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it! Daniel, why do you say Nova is an obvious choice over Chico? I think I agree, I'm just curious what your reasoning is. TEKMAN, those are both great programs, but they're too expensive for me. I'm aiming to stay under $700/credit. It looks like it would be possible to start at Colorado this fall, so I'm considering taking the GRE. I'm also waiting to hear back from Florida to see if there's more flexibility with their course selection than indicated in their brochure. Any feedback on SUNY Binghamtom? I can get in-state discount there.
Southern Methodist University offers 50% discount tuition for Military personnel or DOD Employee. BTW, let me know how you do on GRE. I plan to take either GMAT or GRE exam because my dream is going to U of SoCal for Ph.D in Business. And they accept either one.
I don't believe Binghamton is in any computer science rankings, but it is more reputable compared to Nova, at least regarding faculty, as most of the CS faculty from Nova got their PhDs from Nova while all of the faculty at Binghamton got their Phs from at least decently-ranked CS departments. (One positive about Nova I saw was an AI professor who went to CMU.) (Of course, the general advice is to go to the best school you can afford, so I would still be considering Colorado-Boulder, UF, etc.)
While Chico State is not UC Berkeley, I believe that computer science degress from that school are well received and considered a respectable credential. Many of the software developers I worked with in Silicon Valley a few years back earned their degrees from Chico. Tricia Schodowski
Just as a listing, I do now see that Chico's cirriculum does seem very similar to that of Nova, so I made a mistake before regarding my comments about Chico. Still, I would rather go to the in-state SUNY school that the OP later mentioned as that would not only be cheaper but a more respected option, e.g. the faculty at SUNY Binghamtom have more reputable backgrounds than that of Chico and Nova. BTW, Chico's graduate algorithms course uses an algorithms textbook by Dr. Sahni, who is chair of the CISE department at UF: http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~amk/foo/csci650/ I found that a little ironic, especially since most of the professors at UF who teach "Analysis of Algoriths" use Cormen's book as the required textbook: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/class/cot5405fa07/ http://www.cise.ufl.edu/class/cot5405sp08/
