Is Georgia Tech’s Online Master’s Worth It? #OMSCS

Cost

The whole thing only costs $,8000!
I’m talking books, tuition, fees, everything for the whole program
Compare that to UC Berkeley’s Master’s in Data Science where 1 semester costs $16,000

Here’s a spreadsheet with the details compared

Flexibility

Are allowed to skip 2 semesters sequentially, without re-applying to the program
That being said, you should be careful not to go that point too often
It will just take you longer to finish the program (theoretically, you could take 10 years to finish if you wanted to haha)

The average time it takes students to finish the program is actually about 10 semesters (so a little over 3 years)

Here’s a course planner I made about how to schedule my classes while I was in the program

Online

This program is completely online, no need to go in ever to Atlanta, not even for graduation if you don’t want to haha
Your degree also will not have “online” on it at all

Work-life-school 😋 balance

I did this whole program while working full time
It is definintely hard, but do-able!
Try it out, it is honestly ok if you just want to take 1 class at a time, to just make sure you are keeping up with other areas of your life

Content

Well you’re here reading this blog so you must know by now I’ve made a ton of articles and videos about the OMSCS

I personally thought it was a great program, there was a lot to learn, and really smart people doing it alongside you

I felt like I was able to learn a lot just by being around my classmates (virtually of course), and it honestly felt like just as good as my undergrad, if not better, because I had to learn this all myself (no help from classmates in person etc., though you can always ask questions on EdStem boards and what not, it just forces you to read, reason and think clearly more haha)

Specializations

There are now 6 specializations at the OMSCS:

Thesis?

You actually totally can do a thesis (see my video with Dr. Joyner) in the program
You just need to get started on that right as you start the program, and pair up with a professor who is willing to do it with you

Worth it?

This is such an amazing program!!! And it’s so affordable!!! And so flexible!!!
You should definitely consider doing the program.