I am 1 test away from finishing an Excelsior BSCIS and am starting to look at possible graduate schools for Fall 2003. The plan the entire time was to get the quickest, cheapest bachelor's available and then get a master's for my "real" CS degree (this looked cheaper and faster than getting a "real" BSCS degree). I'm looking for strictly CS or Software Engineering programs and have narrowed it down to the following 5 choices with some comments: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (CS) - top notch reputation, expensive ($25K), but not outrageously expensive like the Carnegie Mellon degree, admissions will be very difficult. Kansas State University (SE) - cheap ($13K), same state so it won't obviously be a DL degree Capitol College (CS) - cheap ($13K), easy adminssions??? Nova Southeastern (CS) - might use this for a doctorate if I decide that's desired. Reasonable prices for the master's (16K) UMUC (SE) - pricey for the apparent quality ($19K). Easy admissions I've looked at numerous other programs at state schools, but the K-State program seems to equal them in terms of quality and relative ease of admissions, while being significantly less expensive. I still welcome feedback on any programs not listed though. If anyone has any direct experience with any of these programs, I would appreciate your feedback. Specifically, I would like to know about the quality of the coursework as well as the aulity of their DL infrastructure.
I did exactly the same thing (quick/cheap BA from TESC), so obviously I think that's a good approach if it suits your situation. I've recommended that others consider it as well. It sounds like we're on the same wavelength. I am currently enrolled in the Capitol College MSCS program. It doesn't actually officially launch until this Fall semester, but I took 2 electives in Network Security in the last Summer term (actually, right now I'm taking a quick break from working on my final exams). I am happy with it overall, but I do think that I'd be happier with a totally asynchronous environment. If you prefer live interaction though then you should enjoy the format. I would personally prefer for most interaction to take place through message boards. I do find the coursework so far both interesting and relevant, though. Don't get me wrong about the synchronous sessions, the live communication does have advantages, it's just that having to schedule fixed times at the computer with little to no noise in the room is kind of a pain. It's one night a week for the 8 week courses, and one night every other week for the 16 week courses. Also bear in mind that, starting this Fall, Capitol will supposedly to start to require at least one proctored exam for each course. They say that their accreditor is demanding it, but that seems odd to me. What's ironic is that a proctored exam will probably need to be much less rigorous than the extended essay exams that I've encountered so far. I think that your price estimate for Capitol is a bit off - even with the new price increase it should still come to just about $10.6k plus books for the whole program. I would actually prefer a program that could be completed entirely through coursework (no thesis or project), but the Capitol program is fairly quick and cheap since it is only 30 credits, and the project/thesis is probably a better way to go if you ever plan to apply to doctoral programs. The NSU program looks very solid, and they offer MS students early admissions to their doctoral program, which cuts 12 credits off of the total that you'd need for an MS/ Ph.D. combination, if I remember right. I chose Capitol over NSU because of the lower cost and 6 fewer credits required, though to be honest if the cost had been equal for each of them then I probably would have gone with NSU and just taken 12 courses. I believe that NSU is also totally asynchronous, so it depends a lot upon which format you prefer. Capitol does seem to have an easier admissions process though. The KSU Software Engineering program looks good, but the pricing is kind of confusing since they tack on big DL fees. If you want a SE degree, as opposed to a CS degree, then KSU or Auburn seem like good choices. You should check out the Auburn program if you haven't already - it looks interesting. I would definitely choose either of those over UMUC if you want SE and can get accepted. You'll just have decide whether you'd prefer a SE or a CS degree. I saved the best for last. If you can get accepted to the University of Illinois program, then you should do it! You get the best of both worlds, too, since I think that you can actually pick up a grad certificate in Software Engineering on the way to the MSCS. I haven't double checked it, but I seem to remember that you can do that. UIUC is a very presitigious CS program (probably top 10), and well worth the cost. Seriously, I can't stress enough that if you have the prereqs and can get accepted then you really ought to go for it. It would have been my first choice if I'd thought that there were much chance that I'd get accepted. Nonetheless, I still considered doing one of their grad certificates and then applying for the MS program, but I decided that it wasn't worth the risk, and I didn't want to pay $6k+ for a certificate and then only be able to transfer half of it toward an MS at another school if I didn't get accepted. Good luck, and let me know what you decide!
Something that I forgot to mention about Capitol is that they will permit you to take up to 6 credits before you are officially admitted, and you don't have to pay anything for your courses until 2 weeks after they've ended. So, if you thought that you may want to go with Capitol, and you could finish your bachelor's degree in time to complete your admissions before January, then you could potentially start the program this Fall semester, which starts in two weeks. You could take CS 504 (Theory of Computation) and CS 701 (Designing Intelligent Systems) with me. If you decided to go with a different program, I'm betting that most schools would accept those 6 credits in transfer. Just a thought that occured to me...
After further review of the UIUC program, it looks like I drastically overestimated the costs (based on 8 courses required rather than 12). It now looks like the program cost is closer to $18,000 which is incredibly reasonable given their reputation.
It says that they require 9 courses (4 credits each, so 36 credits), but that's still a great deal, IMO. It's also a fewer number of courses than you'll probably find anywhere else, though I imagine that each course will involve a bit more work since they're worth more credits. If you think that you might get accepted to the program then go for it!
I'm thinking I might get accepted into UIUC. I should have a GRE score within 50 points of their average and I will have their prerequisites filled (in some cases via Pass/Fail tests however). It may boil down to whether or not they really buy into my non-traditional undergrad degree. Regardless, I'd be happy with all of my listed options except UMUC. Though, if you want to see a scarier accredited grad program, here's the one to look at: http://cs.colstate.edu/Academics/Graduate.asp#online%20track The curriculum is based on learning VB.NET! The course descriptions really sound like they belong in a community college.
I probably could have scored high enough on the GRE to get into UIUC, but I felt that my undergrad background was probably too weak. I might have been able to complete one of their certificates and use that to strengthen my application to the MS program, but I decided that it probably wasn't worth the risk, in case I still weren't accepted. Maybe I should have just applied anyway, but oh well. Even if I had, I would have ended up sitting out at least one semester, due to their admissions calendar, so it probably would have ended up taking quite a bit longer before I'd receive an MS degree. It sounds as though you're at point where this isn't an issue for you, so go for it. The Columbus State MS in Applied Computer Science really doesn't look that much different than some of the IT programs out there. For the most part it seems like it's geared toward people who are switching careers, but it has enough flexibility to accomodate people with a CS background who are interested in taking applied courses. They do seem oriented around Microsoft technology, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, since it should provide students with a lot of relevant skills, and it is explicitly an Applied program. I would hope that the curriculum is more than just repackaged community college courses (though there really are some pretty good CC courses). It does seem pricey for what it is, unless you're a GA resident, in which case it's a steal. I'd prefer an MSCS though, in any case.
Jeff and Gary, I've toyed with the idea of going on once I finish UMass Lowell's BSIS. Did any of the Australian schools figure into your decision-making? The cost seems attractive for the value and since you have obviously researched this in some depth I'm interested in going to school on your findings. Thanks, David
Hi, David. I did strongly consider some Australian schools, and I do think that some of them offer what appear to be very attractive programs, often at some incredible prices. DL seems to be much more integrated into the Australian schools, so it can pay to look at each school's website in order to find programs that may not be advertised in the typical sources. Bear in mind that, if you intend to use the degree in the US, the fact that it's from Australia may potentially lead to more inquiry about the source of the degree than you may encounter with a US RA degree, though I don't imagine that there would ever be a problem with recognition of the degree. You may not consider this a negative, but it's something to think about. Some of the terminology can also be different, so a CS oriented degree may be a "MSc Computing," or "MSC Advanced Computing," rather than a "MSCS." That could potentially lead to a need for explaining the equivalence to potential employers. Some degrees carry very similar, or the same, terminology as their US counterparts though, so that might not be an issue either. These are just things to consider before jumping into a degree program. Honestly, if I'd found an Australian school with a well established online program in CS (or Advanced Computing) that could be completed in 18 months or less, then I probably would have gone that route, due to the attractive exchange rates. I did find some DL programs in this area, but I was looking for something explicitly online, and many of them were 2 year+ programs. Maybe I could have found the same level interaction in some of the "external" programs, I don't know. It's definitely possible that I overlooked some great programs, but in the end I decided that a US degree would just be easier to use. However, if I do ever end up emmigrating to Australia then I'll probably wish I'd gone with an Australian school. Are you more interested in a CS type program or an IT or IS type program?
In my case the degree designation probably doesn't matter since my interest is mostly avocational. In my day job I'm a wrinkled retirement eligible psychologist with more than a few grey hairs. I became interested in computing in graduate school when I had the option of a three quarter program in computing for social science doctoral students or proficiency in a foreign language. Spanish just about finished me off in undergrad so I went for computing which I found to be a lot of fun. There are relatively few computer literate clinician's in my age cohort and over the years I was assigned numerous tasks at the medical center where I practice based upon this experience. About five years ago I was assigned as the clinician representative to an MIS team. Recognizing my skills were dated I started on a second BS. I started at UMUC and transferred to UMass Lowell. The IS program has really been fun and I'm thinking about going on mostly for the personal challenge. My background in pure math isn't that strong so I'll probably stay with CIS. I've learned a lot about medical informatics and I've had thoughts about taking a run a consulting after I retire and making some practical use of the skills I've developed but who knows? Thank you for your kind reply, Gary. David
No problem! I'll be happy to compile a short list of affordable Australian programs that might work well for you. It'll probably have to wait for a week or so though while I finish up my current courses, unless I find time to do it during a break one of these evenings. Would you be interested in studies that blend elements of psychology with computer science, such as artificial intelligence or human-computer interaction?
Gary, Thanks for your kind offer. I honestly don't know what to say about AI in that, as yet, I haven't had an AI-related CS/IT course and AI was in its infancy when I trained in psychology. I guess the best thing might just be to stick with the basics. I did familiarize myself with USQ but not any of the other OZ programs. David
