[SOLAR_FIELDS]

The UG online masters of computer science is a good option. Many people in this site speak highly of the curriculum[1]. Last time I checked the total for the entire curricula if you pass every course on the first try is around $7000. As a bachelor holder myself looking to break into some of these higher-salary and in-depth roles I’m certainly considering it. It’s even better if you have a company that will pay for it, and because it’s so cheap even the most meager offerings from companies will cover a good portion of it.

1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15018002

[citation_please]

Yeah I'm definitely familiar with the Georgia Tech offering. But my impression is that it will be a $7000 + $(my_hourly_rate) * (hours_spent) certificate that will only get me past the employers who have a "Select your highest degree level" drop-down on their application form. Is it that much more respected than a collection of MOOCs?

As someone who's also involved in hiring, if I see no industry experience + GA tech online degree it's still on an entirely separate tier than 2 years of industry experience. But that's my bias I suppose, and part of the reason that I'm not the only one on the hiring committee.

[jj12345]

Definitely biased, but here are some anecdotes/thoughts:

- I've found the rigor to be significantly more than most MOOCs, inline with other traditional grad courses I've taken.

- Some classes are hybrid, sharing the term with on-campus students.

- Not having finished the degree, my work as a data scientist has significantly benefited from the coursework. This is not to say that it wouldn't have benefited from other, non-GT coursework.

[bobmarley1]

That's rather sad considering the degree isn't going to say Online and Georgia Tech is top 10 in the world in Computer Science and online or not that credential carries real weight for people in the know.

[citation_please]

Well I'm not the one who does resume sorting, so usually if it makes it to my desk I know there's a good chance they're qualified. If you give me (personally) two resumes, one with a master's degree from almost anywhere, and one with two years of experience doing /exactly/ what we do, I'll choose the latter first. At this point, master's degrees don't carry the weight they used to in my mind based on (1) people I've interviewed (2) my coworkers and (3) my friends and acquiantances.

[treyfitty]

UG and GaTech are two different schools

[madcaptenor]

I'm not even sure what school "UG" refers to. (People generally call the University of Georgia "UGA".)

In any case, the program here is from Georgia Tech.