<p>I am looking for some advise from experienced professionals in CS/CE field. </p>
<p>I am admitted to 3 MS in CS programs (will be attending part time)</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins University Engineering for Professionals (part-time program)
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology</p>
<p>I am located in New Jersey, so Hopkins would be an online option for me, since its 3 hours drive. </p>
<p>I am unlikely to go on for Ph.D. in the future, but I definitely would like to choose the most advantageous choice in term of future employment in the industry, especially in top technical companies or defense industry. I would like to work with embedded systems or something that's more advanced than just pure web applications development that I am doing now. </p>
<p>Out of all three programs, only NJIT has a thesis option. Hopkins EP is all courses and Stevens has thesis option, but I heard that its hard to get any professor to work with you, since they are too involved with PhD students, who come at the priority. </p>
<p>Based on your experience, which of the above 3 options do you think would be the best path to future success (defined as employment opportunities and return on investment)? Any insight from you on the above programs would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>FYI, I am working in applications development, 4.5 years experience, completed my undergrad in Rutgers with GPA 3.2 and additional CS coursework in DePaul University with GPA 3.7.</p>
<p>I was very interested in your post and was wondering if you received any advice on your decision. I am asking because I am in the exact same situation mostly deciding between Stevens and JHU. If you did have any thoughts or advice on this you would really be helping out a fellow traveler. Also, where did you end up going? Are you happy with your decision? If you could go back, would you make the same decision? I’ve looked at a lot of different schools and have decided on an online option.</p>
<p>JHU is obviously ranked considerably higher than Stevens and has much higher brand recognition, but Stevens is more willing to work with my educational background and transfer credits.</p>
<p>I went to NJIT for reasons of lower cost, better research opportunities and slightly higher ranking. I also prefer state schools vs private. NJIT is improving and campus is fine, Newark is not that bad at all, but since its a state school, classes are crowded, sections close quickly and just overall it looks somewhat cheap. Teachers are hit and miss, but there are some good professors available. </p>
<p>Stevens is fine, but not very well known outside professional community, and I personally found it very bureaucratic and slow to respond to my needs compared to NJIT. They are also lower ranked than NJIT in CS, but cost is significantly higher. </p>
<p>JHU EP is pretty much an Extension school, not same as full time JHU CS program. Professors and admission criteria are all different, plus no research opportunities to do thesis. Otherwise, name is impressive for those who don’t know the difference between JHU EP and JHU. </p>
<p>At the end it depends on what your preferences are as far as education vs name vs research, etc.</p>
<p>If you are looking for distance education, I highly recommend DePaul. They have great professors and very nice mixed distance/in class room setting. Also, they are very reputable in Chicago from what I hear. I took 6 courses there and really enjoyed every one of them. Moved to NJIT since I wanted to try in classroom setting and pursue thesis. </p>
<p>So JHU EP is mainly meant for working professionals - it gives them the ability to study part-time even while maintaining daily jobs. Your job is your research - JHU EP program is meant to add value to your knowledge base not build it from scratch. If you are looking for research opportunities at school, then it is best to enroll in a full-time degree program at JHU or other schools for that matter.</p>
<p>Hi smirnovas,
Hope you are doing good. So how has your experience been in NJIT’s CS program? Can you pls share your insights?
Also any advice on MS CS thesis option?</p>