Guidance Counselor Filter: Where in MA should I go to school for Computer Science?

November 17, 2008 3:01 PM

If you had to live and work four days a week (Friday-Monday) in Framingham, Massachusetts, and your employer was giving you $10,000/year toward tuition reimbursement, where would you finish your Information Technology / Computer Science degree?

I've been taking online courses through UMass Lowell for almost two years now on my employer's dime. This May, I'll have enough credits to graduate with an Associate's degree in Information Technology. The courses are fine, the convenience is wonderful, and I've been doing much better than I expected - lowest grades being a couple B+'s - but because I basically picked UML overnight, I feel like I might be missing out on some more interesting opportunities. Now that I have a car, I'm no longer limited to online courses, so can anyone recommend schools that I could reasonably commute to three days a week?

Things I'm concerned about:
Transferability of my credits
Hecticness of commute
Stretching my $10k/year tuition reimbursement limit as far I can, though I'll take out loans if I end up going to a school that I lovelovelove
Being able to juggle school and a 32+ hour work week

I'm also interested in grad schools, in case I end up finishing my BS at UML.

So Mefites, given my situation, where would you go? I'm not afraid of pushing myself. Am I crazy for considering devoting the next two years to excelling so I can do grad school at MIT? Is there anything I should be considering that I'm not?

posted by lizzicide to Education (4 answers total)

I don't know of much in or around Framingham. If you would rather go west to avoid the Boston commute there are a few schools in Worchester with a good reputation, such as Worchester Polytechnic Institute. Personally I would recommend Northeastern for a CS type degree. They tend to be very flexible with working people as a core part of their curriculum involves work experience (the co-op) and they offer a good amount of night classes. Their computer science and IT departments are very strong and I have a friend going there right now who works a normal job and loves the program.

If you are willing to commute into Boston though, the sky is really the limit. I think credits may transfer more easily and directly to another state university in MA, but it's really something you are going to have to sort out with admissions on a case by case basis.
posted by sophist at 4:26 PM on November 17, 2008

Framingham State has a computer science program which seems to cater to students preparing for a master's. I had friends that went there a few years back and they did well. Transfer of credits shouldn't be an issue, the commute is nothing and the tuition would be covered with your $10k. I'm not sure about the MIT end of your question, though
posted by kuujjuarapik at 4:26 PM on November 17, 2008

Response by poster: Framingham State has always been a school I've considered. Anyone know how its CS degree rivals UMass Lowell's IT degree?

I'm still looking for something a bit more horizons-broadening than a school in the town I grew up in, though. If FSC turns out to be a better route than UML and a vastly more feasible route than commuting into Boston, I'll make the switch.
posted by lizzicide at 7:50 PM on November 17, 2008

If you would rather go west to avoid the Boston commute there are a few schools in Worchester with a good reputation, such as Worchester Polytechnic Institute.

It's Worcester, pronounced 'Wustah' if you're a native.

WPI is a great school, but their tuition and scheduling might be prohibitive. Northeastern might be a better solution, as they might have lower tuition costs and more courses offered.

There's a commuter rail from Framingham to Boston (~30 minutes into the city) that could make commuting to school more efficient. You can get a lot of studying done on the train, turning your commute into valuable working time.

If you're interested in going to MIT for grad work, you may want to take a look at their Free Online Course Materials.
posted by Seppaku at 10:15 AM on November 18, 2008