U of Arizona Masters Engineering Online Acceptance Rates

Graduate School
1

Does someone know why this disparity in the 2 articles, the dates of acceptance are a little unclear as to whether it’s referring to data of admission or admission for that semester. US News is showing a 100% acceptance rate for U of A engineering online.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/the-short-list-grad-school/articles/2015/01/20/10-online-graduate-engineering-programs-where-few-get-in

https://www.yahoo.com/news/most-selective-online-graduate-engineering-programs-140000913.html

I’m wondering if that dilutes its value and reputation at all??? I know they’re ranked Top 40 in ECE (regular full-time) and Top 40 Master’s in Engineering Online, so it probably shouldn’t, but wanted to see if anyone had insight. Has anyone been enrolled in U of A engineering online? I am looking to pursue EE.

Thanks

2

I don’t think an on-line degree will have the prestige of a full-time masters program, but unless you live next door to U or Arizona it is likely much more practical and will yield you a valuable degree. I don’t believe 100% of applicants would be accepted, that is very vague on the webpage, but you need a BS in engineering, physics or math and a 3.0 which would rule out a lot of people, do we count them as not accepted or not applied ?

Similar differences exist between a lot of full-time high ranked programs and their programs for working folks, for example at Johns Hopkins, you even get a different degree title, but then again Hopkins is Hopkins to most people. Outside of Bal-Wash, it is all the same (although a savvy employer can tell you did not take years off to do your masters).

Personally, if you are in driving distance to a good university, I would probably recommend a part-time on campus program maybe that allows a few on-line classes, I think you would learn more and maybe even have an easier time on tests … but not sure if that is practical. Would I drop far down the prestige ladder … not sure …

I think a completed U of Ariz EE Masters would get respect, while you are working on your degree you can even list coursework you have already taken, I would think employers would like that if you say have taken graduate version of classes that relate to their work.

Your employer will likely give you no credit until you earn your degree, and unless you remind them may not give you a raise then either. But if they pay for all the credits, that is good too, or even better give you time at work or time off to do some homework, fantastic.

I don’t think an on-line degree would be trivially easy either. The coursework will be rigorous and unless you outright hire someone to take the exams, the exams will be hard.

In a way, a masters is often an opportunity to learn a lot more in depth in your field or explore some specialties that were not discussed in your undergraduate program. In an interview, the masters will be noted and you may get 1-2 years credit for years worked for the masters (so if you go part-time you could potentially add 2 years to your same-age peers). Years worked is only loosely connected to salaries by say 10 or 15 years out, since performance and job responsibilities begin to matter a lot more.

3

Yes, it is very vague. Thanks for the feedback. I’m erring on an online MS in EE, because of my company’s tuition reimbursement, and I enjoy the flexibility of watching lectures on my own schedule, and hopefully being able to fast forward the playback ; ) Also, I did an undergrad in Industrial and Systems Engineering, and have yet to take the GRE, so at this point my options are limited. But I would like to start school before this fall, if it can work out.

I like the idea of listing courses as I complete them. There’s really nothing to lose, and I do feel it could open up opportunities after having taken 3-4 classes, showing progress, interest, and motivation.

4

JHU’s online and part-time degrees (aka Engineering for Professionals) do not require the GREs, their full-time program does. Likely tuition is high, hopefully your comment above is that your company will reimburse (but some companies do limit per credit cost to say the state flagship).

My guess is that in some classes you will have to re-watch the same video 3 or 4 times, lots of schools now offer videos of many lectures, which is a big improvement (also might make a local school attractive since you could miss a few in-person lectures). Fast forwarding would be for the “lite” courses … there may be some, or maybe not (does rate my professor cover on-line courses ?).

Many of my classes were darn hard, but I wanted to learn. One of my fellow students who had been working in configuration management did not fare well, he thought even statistics classes were really hard to get a B in since he did not do technical work.

The EE will be more analytically intense than your industrial systems classes … and you may need to take some undergrad classes to catch up for some of the harder MS classes.

All things to consider …

Also, my hubby got an MS in EE after being a comp sci person for many years, and really never got to do the EE work he was hoping to do … but he has done well in software systems engineering and other less engineering areas.

My ChemE to ME swap was more successful, but I was working as an ME the whole time anyway and concentrated on work related coursework where I also had a lot of college and work background.

I would say 4 of the 10 required classes were academically challenging, 4 were OK, one or two really easy.

5

What do you think about going from an Online MS EE to a brick and mortar PhD in EE?

6

Your credits may or may not transfer … you could discuss with U of Ariz if you are thinking of this path and see if they would allow you to complete your PhD there with ample credit for the 10 classes you take for your masters.

That said, I actually took 4 class in the full-time program at JHU and then finished my masters through the Masters of Engineering program at satellite campuses at night. The full-time program classes were much more academic and rigorous, some of the others may have sufficed for a PhD program, like computational methods and dynamics. The part-time program was taught at a lower level which was appropriate for people who were working 40 hours a week, commuting to work and school, and probably raising families.

I think you would need to really push yourself in the on-line program and take rigorous classes that are required for your PhD.

That is a long road, by the way, count on 10 classes taking 2.5 years, then a PhD program maybe another 4… but you are earning a living at least for part of the time …

7

Thanks, definitely a lot to consider. My company has a cap on reimbursement, and I’m looking to keep my out of pocket costs at a minimum.

8

Has anyone gone through with this program? I just applied to the Online Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering. My background is in biology though.