How do I go about getting my master's?
August 2, 2010 4:51 AM Subscribe
I've been interested in getting my master's in Computer Science from a local school. I've been out of college for 4 years and don't have any academic contacts. How do I go about doing this?
I went to another local school in the area and achieved very good grades. My degree, however, was in economics and not in computer science. This is where my formal education ends.
Since high school I've been programming and currently work as a developer. I've contributed to some open source projects and run a somewhat popular javascript blog. Since I graduated I've been more and more interested in the theory of computer science. I started with the Turing papers and have made my way up through all the seminal papers. I read Lambda the Ultimate daily and while some of it is over my head, usually I have a good grasp of the ideas being presented. I guess what I'm trying to say, I'm not completely clueless about what I'm getting myself into.
So what steps should I take? Should I contact admissions or the dean? I really have no idea how to proceed, it seems like one of those things that's a lot more clear when you're in the system. I've also heard that you're not suppose to go through with a graduate program if someone else isn't paying for it. Do I apply and then seek grants, or what?
My employer has been very accommodating and said I can work part time / from home if I want to pursue this. Everything is with 10 minutes of me, so this should not be a problem.
Any advice would be really appreciated. I'm treading water at this point.
I went to another local school in the area and achieved very good grades. My degree, however, was in economics and not in computer science. This is where my formal education ends.
Since high school I've been programming and currently work as a developer. I've contributed to some open source projects and run a somewhat popular javascript blog. Since I graduated I've been more and more interested in the theory of computer science. I started with the Turing papers and have made my way up through all the seminal papers. I read Lambda the Ultimate daily and while some of it is over my head, usually I have a good grasp of the ideas being presented. I guess what I'm trying to say, I'm not completely clueless about what I'm getting myself into.
So what steps should I take? Should I contact admissions or the dean? I really have no idea how to proceed, it seems like one of those things that's a lot more clear when you're in the system. I've also heard that you're not suppose to go through with a graduate program if someone else isn't paying for it. Do I apply and then seek grants, or what?
My employer has been very accommodating and said I can work part time / from home if I want to pursue this. Everything is with 10 minutes of me, so this should not be a problem.
Any advice would be really appreciated. I'm treading water at this point.
Check out the website. Schools have so much information on there nowadays. It's to the point that if you schedule an interview and ask a bunch of questions that are clearly on their website, you can actually hurt your admission potential by annoying the interviewee.
1) Go to the website
2) If you still have questions, call the number on the website to set up an appointment with the department
3) Come prepared to ask intelligent questions and dress up
4) DO NOT send in application materials after the due date. 2 weeks ahead of schedule is the standard
Good Luck!
posted by WhiteWhale at 5:51 AM on August 2, 2010
1) Go to the website
2) If you still have questions, call the number on the website to set up an appointment with the department
3) Come prepared to ask intelligent questions and dress up
4) DO NOT send in application materials after the due date. 2 weeks ahead of schedule is the standard
Good Luck!
posted by WhiteWhale at 5:51 AM on August 2, 2010
Disclaimer: I am not an economist or a computer scientist. But I spent five years of my life in grad school, and got a PhD out of it.
Most departmental web sites will give a list of the courses that they expect you to have taken upon entering the program. If you've taken those courses, don't worry. If you haven't, then think about how you could prove to the department that you know that stuff anyway.
emd3737 said: Call the admissions office and schedule an appointment. This is sort of right. But admissions will likely be handled by the department, not by the graduate-school-wide Admissions Office. So you really should be contacting someone in the department.
I've also heard that you're not suppose to go through with a graduate program if someone else isn't paying for it.
This is advice for PhD programs, not for master's programs. It's true for two reasons:
1. getting a PhD is, from a strictly economic point of view, a Bad Idea. You may get paid more afterwards, but not enough to justify the opportunity cost of time spent in school.
2. most PhD programs fund at least some of their students, so the fact that they're funding other people and not funding you is sort of a sign that you're gong to be a second-class citizen.
posted by madcaptenor at 6:03 AM on August 2, 2010
Most departmental web sites will give a list of the courses that they expect you to have taken upon entering the program. If you've taken those courses, don't worry. If you haven't, then think about how you could prove to the department that you know that stuff anyway.
emd3737 said: Call the admissions office and schedule an appointment. This is sort of right. But admissions will likely be handled by the department, not by the graduate-school-wide Admissions Office. So you really should be contacting someone in the department.
I've also heard that you're not suppose to go through with a graduate program if someone else isn't paying for it.
This is advice for PhD programs, not for master's programs. It's true for two reasons:
1. getting a PhD is, from a strictly economic point of view, a Bad Idea. You may get paid more afterwards, but not enough to justify the opportunity cost of time spent in school.
2. most PhD programs fund at least some of their students, so the fact that they're funding other people and not funding you is sort of a sign that you're gong to be a second-class citizen.
posted by madcaptenor at 6:03 AM on August 2, 2010
You can contact me if you want, I am an adjunct professor at the school where I got my masters. I think it's best to just send a cold email to the head of the department for C.S. at the school you are interested in... they'll have a better idea of who you should talk to and what you need to do... Plus, you can find out if there are scholarships, etc... they can also put you in touch with a specific admissions person to help you out.
I also used to work in admissions, so feel free to contact me.
posted by fozzie33 at 6:42 AM on August 2, 2010
I also used to work in admissions, so feel free to contact me.
posted by fozzie33 at 6:42 AM on August 2, 2010
I've also heard that you're not suppose to go through with a graduate program if someone else isn't paying for it.
Some M.S. programs in CS are fully funded (for full-timers doing RAs). My last two employers have also paid for their employees to get M.S. degrees in Computer Science. It always depends on how much money you're talking about and what the expected ROI is.
posted by deanc at 7:25 AM on August 2, 2010
Some M.S. programs in CS are fully funded (for full-timers doing RAs). My last two employers have also paid for their employees to get M.S. degrees in Computer Science. It always depends on how much money you're talking about and what the expected ROI is.
posted by deanc at 7:25 AM on August 2, 2010
I got my Masters in CS part time while working, the school I attended only offered graduate CS courses in the evening so it didn't require me to take time off from work. The time commitment was manageable for the most part, but it got quite intense towards the end as I started work on my final project.
I had multiple jobs during this time but all of my employers offered tuition reimbursement which was the only reason I could afford to go. For me, with a CS degree and working as a software developer, it was easy to justify this as a development activity. You mention your employer supports you taking time off but apparently doesn't offer to pay. If I were you I'd do some research before I started going back to school on my own dime. You need to know what, if any, advancement opportunities are possible with a Masters that would otherwise not be available. While there's nothing wrong with doing this just for the personal satisfaction, you really want to be in a position where the time and money expended will be appreciated and rewarded.
posted by tommasz at 8:08 AM on August 2, 2010
I had multiple jobs during this time but all of my employers offered tuition reimbursement which was the only reason I could afford to go. For me, with a CS degree and working as a software developer, it was easy to justify this as a development activity. You mention your employer supports you taking time off but apparently doesn't offer to pay. If I were you I'd do some research before I started going back to school on my own dime. You need to know what, if any, advancement opportunities are possible with a Masters that would otherwise not be available. While there's nothing wrong with doing this just for the personal satisfaction, you really want to be in a position where the time and money expended will be appreciated and rewarded.
posted by tommasz at 8:08 AM on August 2, 2010
Meet with a professor who does research you're interested in, and at least vaguely qualified to participate in. A professor's word will often get you in with no other qualifications.
Consider taking an MS level class on your own dime as a nonmatriculated student, while still working full time. Getting an A will show that you can compete at the graduate level and are willing to work hard. This is risky though: pick the wrong class and you might be overwhelmed by the work load.
Meet with the whoever does administrative stuff for the admissions process -- not a professor, the person in the department office who actually organizes applications, reads transcripts, etc. At my school, this person is really open about the process and will let you know right away if you have adequate qualifications and how to go about improving them.
If you're admitted as a PhD student, you can get TA/RA funding even if you plan to quit after you get your MS.
Keep in mind that due to the recession, application numbers are way up. The number of admitted students at public schools has actually declined due to state budget crunches. If you can't get in this year, try again in 2 or 3 years and it may be much easier.
posted by miyabo at 11:39 AM on August 2, 2010
Consider taking an MS level class on your own dime as a nonmatriculated student, while still working full time. Getting an A will show that you can compete at the graduate level and are willing to work hard. This is risky though: pick the wrong class and you might be overwhelmed by the work load.
Meet with the whoever does administrative stuff for the admissions process -- not a professor, the person in the department office who actually organizes applications, reads transcripts, etc. At my school, this person is really open about the process and will let you know right away if you have adequate qualifications and how to go about improving them.
If you're admitted as a PhD student, you can get TA/RA funding even if you plan to quit after you get your MS.
Keep in mind that due to the recession, application numbers are way up. The number of admitted students at public schools has actually declined due to state budget crunches. If you can't get in this year, try again in 2 or 3 years and it may be much easier.
posted by miyabo at 11:39 AM on August 2, 2010
Oh, also I have several friends with econ undergrad degrees who have applied to my school, one who got in. I've heard through them that CS profs are skeptical of econ and lump it in with the fuzzier social sciences (unjustly in my opinion). So it may be an uphill battle.
posted by miyabo at 11:56 AM on August 2, 2010
posted by miyabo at 11:56 AM on August 2, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
In general, PhD programs are funded and master's programs are not. You can apply for grants, scholarships, or even see if your workplace will pay some of your tuition, but the onus if on you to pay tuition. (What you heard of must have been about PhD programs, and yes, the good ones are all funded, but that's a because they expect to get 5-6 years of work out of you while you're earning your degree. Apples and oranges.)
One option you could think about it is to take a single class (at night, probably) for a semester before you apply to the program- maybe you'd feel more "in touch" and it would give you a chance to show you're capable of handling the material.
posted by emd3737 at 5:22 AM on August 2, 2010