I am a 2nd bachelor’s student pursuing a degree in computer science. For a while now, I have been thinking that I could also get a Master’s degree while I am at it. Of course I know that the 2nd bachelor’s for many is not the most useful degree, however that is not my concern here. After speaking with my advisor about options for Master’s program, they informed me that my university (Florida Atlantic University) had two options.
The first, is a BS/MS which requires you to take Master’s level courses during your senior year. The other program is a Master’s program that allows for non computer science majors to enter, so long as they take 8 course prerequisites prior to enrolling. Of course, when we look at the money and time investment, finishing my BS ( I can only do it part time), with the accelerated MS would take me 4 years.
However, if I was to do the later, the MS program with prerequisite courses, it would only take me 2-3 years. Once I am a graduate student, I would be able to go full time and could also get tuition assistance as well. So, it may seem like a no brainer, however for me I want to make sure that I am competitive in the field. Will forgoing the knowledge that I would learn through a BS program, prevent me from fully understanding the computer science core knowledge? Will the 8 courses be enough to give me the knowledge base needed to work comfortably at a company, while the MS gives more indepth knowledge to further my fundamental knowledge and skills?
So, I guess my main concern here is, will I be gaining in college savings by choosing the second option, while losing in my competitiveness when it comes to skills such as programming?
@happymomof1
Thanks for the response. However, I am actually interested in the opinions of those outside of my University. I can always ask the undergraduate or graduate department ( I have already consulted undergraduate advice) what they perceive the differences are. However, I am much more interested in those who actually have experience with what I am talking about or have an unbiased first hand look at the differences.
So, if there are any employers who typically make the hiring decisions of a company, and have had contact with students who went the more or less traditional route for their MS and those who came from other fields and then got an MS in computer science, please give me feedback.
Also, if you are a student who did either the traditional MS/accelerated MS and or the MS unrelated to your undergraduate degree, please give me some tips on how prepared you felt for the workforce.
You probably would be better off asking about this in the Parents Forum. Use a title along the lines of “Comp Sci Second Bachelors and MS or MS only - which is better?” to get the attention of people who know about hiring for this specific career field. It also would be useful if you could list the details of the coursework and any required internships/research experiences that would be part of the two options. That way you would get a better sense of which specific courses you can skip, and which you can’t
Background: I work in EE/CS for 30 years. I am currently doing software, but did hardware designs for 15 years in previous lives.
IMHO, once you have “MS in Computer Science” in your resume, people don’t care much about your “BA in Underwater Basket Weaving.” In fact, I myself find people with a wide/different backgrounds more interesting/refreshing to work with.
That is, assuming you can do the job applied for.
Some of my co-workers have non-CS/non-EE degree. One of the best software engineers I worked with for 12 years had an BA in Anthropology from UC Berkeley (she retired from engineering and now owns a dog-training business).
^What Pentaprism says. Once you have a master’s in a field, people assume that you have the requisite knowledge of an MS-level worker and they don’t really care what your BA was in. So go ahead and do the MS - this IS a no-brainer.
@Pentaprism, I don’t get the joke about the “underwater basket weaving” as there aren’t any whole degrees that focus on that, although there might be an elective course one might take. However, I think it has more to do with creating a self importance in one’s major over someone else’s (often a liberal arts major).
@juillet, The no brainer, is that getting a Master’s degree vs a second bachelor’s degree is financially a no brainer. My question really was how much knowledge would I be omitting as someone without the science background, going into a science Master’s with a handful of cs course prerequisites vs the many more courses I would have taken if I did the BS first (aka more knowledge). My question is entirely that of competency and preparedness as I value both. Not just “oh look I have a shiny degree, perfect now I can get the jobs…”
@Pentaprism, I meant to add, thank you for offering your expertise, as you have been in the EE/CS degree for sometime, and are just the type of person I like to hear from. I think it is a good thing that you went into CS much later, oftentimes, there is a sort of ageism in that field, but I can’t say for sure how true that is.
Usually programs that only require specific prerequisites - rather than the equivalent of an undergraduate major in the field - do so because you only need basic knowledge to get an MA in the field, and often because the graduate classes are advanced/accelerated versions of undergrad classes. In some applied statistics MA programs, for example, you are often taking classes in the same areas you would take them in undergrad, but they move faster and go a bit further than undergrad classes. That’s why you usually only need three semesters of calculus and linear algebra to get in. In these cases, if there are any small gaps in your undergrad preparation, those gaps will probably be in elective-area specific knowledge AND you will have to fill them in the course of getting the MS anyway.
For instance, let’s say that you need to take a graduate class in topic M. You haven’t taken any undergrad courses in topic M, but you have taken undergrad courses in topics L, K, and J, which are generally prerequisites for studying the undergrad class in topic M anyway. In the course of learning topic M at the graduate level, you will 1) already have the requisite knowledge needed to understand the material at the graduate level, and 2) likely fill in any small gaps that you’d have from not taking the class in topic M in undergrad. Besides, a lot of your classmates who majored in CS also may not have taken an undergrad-level class in topic M, either. (For example, I studied health psychology in graduate school but never took an undergrad class in it.)
If graduate programs were really concerned that people with no undergrad major in the field would lack competence and/or necessary knowledge, they would simply require you to have a major in the field…which many programs do.
@juillet
Thank you for the response. What you wrote above is precisely what I wanted addressed. I just didn’t understand how one could just slide by without the pre-requisite knowledge, and I think you more than assuaged my concerns. I am new to the graduate college thing and wanted to make sure it was the right thing for me.