What CS graduate programs could I get into ? (or what should I do with my life?)

[DT4K]

BS in General Science from University of Oregon with 2.3 GPA in 1999.
BS in Computer Science from Southern Oregon University with 3.7 GPA in 2001.
3 years professional experience as software developer.

I haven't decided to go to grad school, but I've considered it and I'm just wondering what kind of schools I would even have a chance of getting into.

How much emphasis do they place on which school you attended versus GPA?

How broke would I be while attending?

Are there any good schools that have night/weekend programs for working professionals?
My wife would be much more accepting of this if I could also work during the day so we wouldn't be too poor.

Would an MS degree help my job prospects very much?

 

[gopunk]

are you going for masters or phd? for phd, for good programs, you will need research experience.

your gpa looks fine, school definitely plays a factor, but another big factor is letters of recommendation... can you get really good ones? not just "this student did well in my class", but ones that provide concrete examples of why you belong in a good program?

 

[DT4K]

It's been 3 years since I graduated so I doubt my professors remember much about me other than the fact that I was a good student.
I could probably get recs from my boss or other developers I work with.

EDIT: I'd like to get a masters. Don't think my wife would put up with me spending the years required to get a PhD since I do have a family to support. Although someday maybe. Eventually, I would really like to move beyond just developing business software and go into something more challenging.

 

[Zebo]

Med school. It's really the only gaurantee job I can think of right out of school because of aging pop and locked up graduation rates. I hear india is hiring programmers in droves.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Med school. It's really the only gaurantee job I can think of right out of school because of aging pop and locked up graduatation rates.

yea but there's a reason people are leaving the field... namely insurance

 

[DaveSimmons]

Why do you want an MS in CS?

Because you hope it will give you a salary boost, or access to different jobs (which are?), or you want to learn more about some area of CS?

If you don't have a clear reason for going you might not get much out of it except an empty bank account

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Why do you want an MS in CS?

Because you hope it will give you a salary boost, or access to different jobs (which are?), or you want to learn more about some area of CS?

If you don't have a clear reason for going you might not get much out of it except an empty bank account

I think after a few years in the industry I would want to get my masters soley for the reason of furthering my education. After a while experience is worth more than a MS in terms of salary.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Zebo
Med school. It's really the only gaurantee job I can think of right out of school because of aging pop and locked up graduatation rates.

yea but there's a reason people are leaving the field... namely insurance

Leaving it for what exactly? Anytime you have a cartel controlling entrance into a field (AMA in this case) the pay will always be higher than similar education field w/o these protectionist measures. In addition who cares about "insurance" if you make 300K and pay 85K in insurance (highest malpractice rate I've even heard of). that's still 215K per year before taxes.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Why do you want an MS in CS?

Because you hope it will give you a salary boost, or access to different jobs (which are?), or you want to learn more about some area of CS?

If you don't have a clear reason for going you might not get much out of it except an empty bank account

Both ideally. The problem is I don't really know what area I want to go into. I just know that I am bored with doing VB and SQL development and I want to do something more challenging. I'm just not sure how to go about moving from basic VB windows development into other areas. Seems that all the jobs require you have very specific experience. Plus I really enjoyed all my CS classes in my undergrad degree and I would like to learn more. I don't why, but I've just been pondering my career and education options recently.

EDIT: I'm not going to med school, so could we keep the "politics of healthcare in the U.S." discussion in another thread?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5
I think after a few years in the industry I would want to get my masters soley for the reason of furthering my education. After a while experience is worth more than a MS in terms of salary.

Agreed, though for some research-oriented jobs an MS might count more than experience.

I've considered going back one of these years (maybe after my current employer grows enough to be acquired), but am still not convinced that working in academia is more enjoyable than creating software that people actually use. It might be interesting enough though, just to brush up on the theory side after being away a decade.

Right now the program I'm lead developer of is in use at over 2,000 universities in over 50 countries, I doubt any paper I'd write would have quite the same impact.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Zebo
Med school. It's really the only gaurantee job I can think of right out of school because of aging pop and locked up graduatation rates.

yea but there's a reason people are leaving the field... namely insurance

Leaving it for what exactly? Anytime you have a cartel controlling entrance into a field (AMA in this case) the pay will always be higher than similar education field w/o these protectionist measures. In addition who cares about "insurance" if you make 300K and pay 85K in insurance (highest malpractice rate I've even heard of). that's still 215K per year before taxes.

retiring early... also leaving, threatening to leave their current state, cutting procedures out, etc. and doctors care about insurance, go do a search on google news

ok that was my last post, didn't see your edit shanti sorry

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Shanti
Both ideally. The problem is I don't really know what area I want to go into. I just know that I am bored with doing VB and SQL development and I want to do something more challenging. I'm just not sure how to go about moving from basic VB windows development into other areas. Seems that all the jobs require you have very specific experience. Plus I really enjoyed all my CS classes in my undergrad degree and I would like to learn more. I don't why, but I've just been pondering my career and education options recently.

That's actually why I went to grad school at UW, and how I ended up in Seattle. I wanted to go beyond the undergrad classes and see whether I wanted to go on to a Ph.D. I enjoyed the experience, but decided that I wasn't interested in any one area of CS enough to keep going.

I don't know that an MS would necessarily help you make the switch to other work though, except maybe a program manager type position. For something like what I do (C++ application software development) a C++ programming certificate or an MS would probably both get you the same entry-level position, since your VB experience wouldn't count for much.

 

[DT4K]

I don't know. Maybe it's more a matter of being bored with my job and wanting to do something different.

If I wanted to go into some other area of development, even just a different language (Java, C++, etc.), how would I do this when all my professional experience is pretty much VB and SQL?

One of the reasons I had considered grad school is that I didn't feel like I really went in depth enough in some of those areas.

 

[DT4K]

If I do end up deciding to go to grad school eventually, what "good" schools could I get into?

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Why do you want an MS in CS?

Because you hope it will give you a salary boost, or access to different jobs (which are?), or you want to learn more about some area of CS?

If you don't have a clear reason for going you might not get much out of it except an empty bank account

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Why do you want an MS in CS?

Because you hope it will give you a salary boost, or access to different jobs (which are?), or you want to learn more about some area of CS?

If you don't have a clear reason for going you might not get much out of it except an empty bank account

Is boredom a "clear reason"?

 

[CanOWorms]

Here's the rankings for CS graduate schools. There are additional rankings for the AI, Systems, and Theory specialties.

1. Carnegie Mellon University (PA) 4.9
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 4.9
Stanford University (CA) 4.9
University of California?Berkeley 4.9
5. University of Illinois?Urbana-Champaign 4.6
6. Cornell University (NY) 4.5
7. University of Texas?Austin 4.4
University of Washington 4.4
9. Princeton University (NJ) 4.3
10. California Institute of Technology 4.1
University of Wisconsin?Madison 4.1
12. Georgia Institute of Technology 4.0
University of Maryland?College Park 4.0
14. Brown University (RI) 3.9
University of California?Los Angeles 3.9
University of Michigan?Ann Arbor 3.9
17. Rice University (TX) 3.8
University of North Carolina?Chapel Hill 3.8
University of Pennsylvania 3.8
20. Columbia University (NY) 3.7
Duke University (NC) 3.7
Harvard University (MA) 3.7
Purdue University?West Lafayette (IN) 3.7
University of California?San Diego 3.7
25. University of Massachusetts?Amherst 3.6
Yale University (CT) 3.6
27. University of Southern California 3.5
University of Virginia 3.5
29. Johns Hopkins University (MD) 3.3
New York University 3.3
Rutgers State University?New Brunswick (NJ) 3.3
SUNY?Stony Brook 3.3
University of California?Irvine 3.3
University of Utah 3.3
35. Ohio State University 3.2
Penn State University?University Park 3.2
University of Arizona 3.2
University of Chicago 3.2
University of Colorado?Boulder 3.2
University of Minnesota?Twin Cities 3.2
Washington University in St. Louis 3.2
42. Indiana University?Bloomington 3.1
Northwestern University (IL) 3.1
University of California?Davis 3.1
University of Rochester (NY) 3.1
Virginia Tech 3.1
47. Dartmouth College (NH) 3.0
University of Florida 3.0
49. Michigan State University 2.9
North Carolina State University 2.9
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY) 2.9
Texas A&M University?College Station 2.9
University of California?Santa Barbara 2.9
University of Pittsburgh 2.9
55. Arizona State University 2.7
SUNY?Buffalo 2.7
Syracuse University (NY) 2.7
University of California?Santa Cruz 2.7
University of Illinois?Chicago 2.7
60. Boston University 2.6
Iowa State University 2.6
OGI School of Science & Engineering?Oregon Health & Science U. 2.6
University of Delaware 2.6
University of Iowa 2.6
University of Oregon 2.6
Vanderbilt University (TN) 2.6
67. Case Western Reserve University (OH) 2.5
Northeastern University (MA) 2.5
Oregon State University 2.5
University of Tennessee?Knoxville 2.5

 

[DT4K]

But would I be accepted at any of the top 50?

 

[atom]

Originally posted by: Shanti

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Why do you want an MS in CS?

Because you hope it will give you a salary boost, or access to different jobs (which are?), or you want to learn more about some area of CS?

If you don't have a clear reason for going you might not get much out of it except an empty bank account

Is boredom a "clear reason"?

It's a clear reason, but not really a good reason....

I was in the same position after I was about to graduate with a BS and after looking over applications and talking to numerous professors who headed graduate programs at my school, it was pretty clear I didn't have a good reason to go on to get a MS at that time. Even now, I don't really have a compelling reason to go back for a MS other than just because I want the degree. You should at the very least figure out a field you want to go into/study. Depending on the field, it should somewhat narrow down your school options.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: Shanti

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Why do you want an MS in CS?

Because you hope it will give you a salary boost, or access to different jobs (which are?), or you want to learn more about some area of CS?

If you don't have a clear reason for going you might not get much out of it except an empty bank account

Is boredom a "clear reason"?

it maybe clear but its a fundementally stupid reason to go back to school.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Shanti
But would I be accepted at any of the top 50?

Sure, why not? Those are the only ranked schools (only 67) so apply to some within there and some that are not mentioned. Give it a shot. Some of the latter half of the rankings are probably not too difficult to get into.

I would just apply to several schools... remember that it's not like undergrad. Some programs may only accept ~30 CS grad students a year.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Shanti
But would I be accepted at any of the top 50?

3.7 is a decent GPA, especially if you prep and do well on the CS GRE.

My BS CS was at an undistinguished state school (UM-St. Louis) and I was accepted at Univesity of Washington, though my GPA was higher and I did quite well on both the regular and CS GREs.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: Shanti

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Why do you want an MS in CS?

Because you hope it will give you a salary boost, or access to different jobs (which are?), or you want to learn more about some area of CS?

If you don't have a clear reason for going you might not get much out of it except an empty bank account

Is boredom a "clear reason"?

it maybe clear but its a fundementally stupid reason to go back to school.

Yes, I know. I should have added the "j/k".

The University of Washington's Professional Masters Program looks like an interesting option. You take 1 course per semester through a combination of online and evening coursework for 2.5 years. I know normally programs that have "online" associated with them are looked down upon, but being offered by UW, I'm sure it has a good reputation.
I've considered looking for jobs in Seattle so if I can find a position it might be worth looking into.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> UW online

UW CS was already taping some of my graduate classes a decade ago for distance learners from Microsoft, so they should be good at it by now

The Seattle job market is still recovering from the dot-com bust, but if you're good at the VB + SQL you can probably find something.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
> UW online

UW CS was already taping some of my graduate classes a decade ago for distance learners from Microsoft, so they should be good at it by now

The Seattle job market is still recovering from the dot-com bust, but if you're good at the VB + SQL you can probably find something.

Thanks.
Any tips on getting a job in something other than VB when that's the only professional experience I have?