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James Kerti

JamesKerti.com

Why I joined and left OMSCS at Georgia Tech

August 2, 2019 By James Kerti

Note added 2 August 2019

Two years ago I published this rather long post describing my experience in the OMSCS program at Georgia Tech. As I wrote it on my personal blog, which has few regular readers, I did not anticipate that one day this post would show up on the first page of Google searches for OMSCS.

I’m leaving this post up but I want to be clear that it reflects my personal experience in the program more than two years ago.

While I left due to OMSCS not being the right fit for me, I would in general recommend the program to someone looking to further their career and computer science education.

I spent the recent fall and spring semesters enrolled in the Online Master of Science, Computer Science (OMSCS) program at Georgia Tech . I decided near the end of the second semester that the program and I weren’t the right fit for one another.

I made the decision to withdraw.

I hope to provide some helpful information for anyone considering the program and wondering whether it fits their goals. Before I get into discussing that decision and the program in general, I want to share a little more about my background in this area.

I graduated from Villanova University in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. I found employment at a few software jobs before and after graduation. For the last several years, I worked as a freelance web developer.

My interest and background in sports pushed me in the direction of research and analysis. Some exposure to the world of data science made me realize I had real interest in studying it.

After teaching myself some of the basics using books and online resources, I felt like a more formal education in the subject could be quite valuable — both as a tool for structured, accelerated learning and for the sake of having the credential.

During my research I came across the OMSCS program, which seemed like a dream come true.

Roughly $7,000 for a genuine Master’s degree.

Learn from the real professors and university resources at one of the top computer science schools in the country.

Get in on the cutting edge of something refreshing and forward-thinking in education.

So I applied. And I got in.

(One thing I want to reflect on real quick — when I enrolled in undergrad at Villanova, I was an 18-year-old who was doing what he thought he was supposed to do — go to college, get the piece of paper. The education part of it didn’t linger much in my mind. I reversed my priorities this time around. Learning mattered more to me than the credential.)

Before I talk about my experience as a student, I want to say a couple things about my feelings toward the program in general after having left it:

• I really appreciate what they’re trying to do. The partnership with Udacity represents a step forward for education in general. Their effort to make the program affordable also goes a long way to opening up opportunities for people to learn and advance their careers.
• The professors are the real deal. I didn’t feel like there was any downgrade in instructor expertise compared to in-person classes.
• I feel grateful I enrolled. I performed well academically, “met” interesting people, and had a positive experience overall. More on this near the end.

I also want to make it clear that I can only share my personal experience here. I only enrolled for two semesters. Other courses might be different. Your mileage with the program may vary.

The basic structure works like this.

1) Udacity hosts the standard lecture videos for the class. Lectures often include (ungraded) quiz questions throughout to encourage you to pay attention and understand the material as you watch the lecture. (You can actually watch these lectures without enrolling. Go ahead and sample them yourself to get an idea of what to expect.)

2) Piazza serves as the online discussion board for the class. The students, TAs, and instructor use it as a primary tool for communication regarding questions and assignments.

3) T-Square hosts assignment instructions and other downloadable resources, usually PDFs. It also serves as a portal for submitting your work.

4) Exams are proctored using ProctorTrack. Basically you set up a webcam and microphone in a quiet space. You have a specified amount of time — 90 minutes, two hours, etc. — to complete the exam during what usually amounts to a three-day Friday through Sunday window. Any time during those three days, you can choose to sit down and take your exam. It’s like an in-person exam otherwise — don’t talk, don’t get up, don’t look around like you’re trying to cheat.

5) Most things happen on a weekly basis. Students have lectures to watch, material to read, homework to do each week. The exact days and times during the week they choose to do those things is up to them. Aside from scheduled optional office hours, there’s no need to be anywhere at a specific time. It works pretty well around your schedule.

That structure works fine. While some students occasionally shared problems they had with the software, I never had any issues.

(I’ll concede that experiencing software issues while trying to take an exam must be really stressful. There were some meltdowns and freakouts on the discussion board. I feel grateful to not have encountered any issues myself.)

While the software and basic structure worked pretty well, some challenges came up pretty consistently across the courses I took.

The pre-recorded nature of the lectures gives them the advantage of polish and convenient access for the students. No need to be in classroom at a particular day or time. Go through them at your own pace. Good things.

However, in the classes I took, the lectures were created by someone other than the current instructor. This disconnect brought a couple challenges.

The current instructor had his own perspective about what he wanted to cover in the course — and in what order to present. Instead of going through the lectures in the order in which they appeared in Udacity, students went through them in a different order that fit the current instructor’s plans for the curriculum.

Sometimes it caused confusion. It became more difficult to track our weekly schedule. Covering pre-recorded material in a different order than its creator intended left gaps in understanding.

One instructor created additional supplemental content which he posted on YouTube to cover things not in the original lectures. While this content provided extra value, it also obscured what we were expected to be watching and learning each week.

The situation also meant the current instructor lacked the level of intimate familiarity with the lectures (and included quizzes) that the original creator surely had.

It sometimes meant the instructor expected us to use a specific method or go about solving a problem in a particular way that differed from what the lecture creator presented. This disconnect caused confusion and miscommunications and created extra work for everyone involved.

Miscommmunication and confusion.

I felt like those two characteristics appeared among the most consistent themes of the program for me.

It felt like students frequently lost important information in translation on the online discussion board compared to what could have been more easily communicated and clarified in-person. The highly technical nature of the computer science material surely contributed.

Teaching assistants and instructors frequently answered student questions on the discussion board in ways that failed to provide the necessary amount of clarity.

Sometimes their responses even caused more confusion than previously existed.

I could share several stories, but one incident sticks with me most.

A student asked a question about a challenging homework problem we faced.

She wanted to know what level of detail the instructor expected us to go into in solving a problem. Did we have to do the entire thing by hand in great detail, or was using a shorter, known method we learned in the lecture sufficient?

This question represented a big deal because solving the problem by hand involved using fairly advanced calculus many students had not taken in years (or at all). Furthermore, this class did not list such calculus as a prerequisite.

(I’ll note at this point that this type of situation became very common in this class. Vaguely worded assignments left students guessing. The instructor, for reasons I did not understand, did not engage with students in addressing these concerns, instead opting to let students figure it out for themselves, docking points after the fact if students didn’t read the instructor’s mind.)

A TA responded that no, students could not use the shorter method and must use the calculus.

Meanwhile, the instructor himself remained silent.

Cue a panic as students started desperately trying to learn the necessary calculus while figuring out how to do the rest of the assignment.

The instructor then appeared in an office hours session three days later to say that no, in fact the rigorous method involving the calculus was not necessary, and the shorter version would be perfectly sufficient.

But then … oh no.

A few days later, in his weekly update on the discussion board, the instructor acknowledged the confusion and asserted that — yes — in fact the rigorous version involving the calculus would be necessary.

This 360-degree circle of confusion spread over an entire week spent trying to simply understand in what way to answer the first question, on whose solution the other five questions depended.

This story offers one of the more extreme but representative examples of the type of miscommunication that plagued the classes I took.

I often felt like I spent vastly more time trying to resolve these gaps in communication than actually learning the material. I found this balance to be incredibly frustrating at times.

Because I never had an experience like this one in my in-person undergraduate and graduate studies at Villanova, I can’t help but wonder if the frequency and magnitude of these challenges uniquely exists in an online program

Now I’ll repeat what I said earlier about my intention in joining OMSCS:

“I felt like a more formal education in the subject could be quite valuable, both as a tool for structured, accelerated learning and for the sake of having the credential.”

It seemed to me that I spent a fairly small portion of my weekly education time and energy on learning the content through the provided materials.

Instead, I spent the bulk of my time trying to:

1) Do extra learning on my own, hunting down other resources, to resolve gaps and incongruencies between the original created lecture material and the current instructor’s expectations. At times I watched several hours of video on YouTube and non-OMSCS MOOCs to clarify outstanding questions about four minutes of an OMSCS lecture I watched.

2) Resolve communication difficulties so I could make sure I learned the right things and completed assignments properly.

I felt like too much of a disappointing gap existed between the progress I made in learning the material and the speed at which I hoped to learn.

So I decided to leave the program because we weren’t the right fit for one another.

I’ve been continuing to do a lot of independent learning on my own. I feel like I’m learning more efficiently and effectively in this way.

As someone who’s already been working as a freelancer for several years, the credential doesn’t mean as much to me as it might to someone else.

The program probably is a good fit for someone who:

1) Feels more comfortable learning in an environment that provides a structured curriculum with an instructor.

2) Craves an introduction to interesting ideas and material in computer science to which they might not otherwise have an encounter.

3) Recognizes that earning the degree would bring a lot of extra value to their career.

I hope this post provides some value and guidance to someone exploring the program and wondering whether it is the right fit for him or her.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me .

Digital strategist and systems specialist, poet, former basketball scout, technically a politician.

Reader Interactions

November 22, 2018 at 7:10 am

Thanks for your post. It provides me with quite a lot information about this program.

I am living in China and graduated from Chinese top university with major in Mechanical Engineering. Despite my major, I have been working as a server software engineer for near three years at Tencent. I am trying to know more about this program, your post truly helps.

December 11, 2018 at 10:31 am

Hello James,

It sounds like the class you had difficulty with was Data Visualization and Analytics (DVA). I was in the class that same semester. It was easily the worst class I took in the program, and I ended up withdrawing from it. I am sorry you had to endure that.

I can assure you that the vast majority of the classes are handled much better than DVA (with some exceptions). I’m about to graduate this month, and I am very pleased with the quality of 9/10 of the courses that I completed.

December 11, 2018 at 12:05 pm

You are correct. No, it did not make for a good experience.

I’m glad to hear your experience on the whole was better. Congrats on being on the verge of graduating!

May 6, 2019 at 3:29 am

Great post James! Appreciate the time you have taken to write this!

July 4, 2019 at 7:56 pm

Thank you James Kreti. This post is a great help to me.

August 1, 2019 at 12:13 pm

Just a quick update two years on for anyone curious: this course was actually completely re-done from scratch not long after that semester, based in part on the feedback we received.

-David, person who works on the program 🙂

August 5, 2019 at 4:35 am

Prof. Jonyer, I really love how you take care of such details and try to answer all posta

and to share my experience I took 2 courses till now and they were very good (other than some small technical issues in the 2nd course)

overall I think such program gives us the chance to get a degree also learn the right way

so for me its better than MOOCs and Online courses ..etc (I also take alot of online courses) and i actually do think online courses are very good thing, but they are not as good as having someone in person to guide you

October 17, 2019 at 7:51 pm

Wow, I like your course for the Python!

October 11, 2019 at 8:00 pm

I am sorry to hear about your bad experience. Your feedback made the class better! So, thank you for the feedback!

I took the remade DVA by Dr. David Joyner and loved it. I learned the derivation of logistic regression. The calculus bit wasn’t too bad. I graduated from GT and had good experience with 1o of the classes I took (Most of the classes I took were related to ML/AI and Computational Perception).

I am happy you found a better learning method. I wish you all the best in your continuing learning!

February 22, 2020 at 4:24 am

I also quit the program. Before starting the program, I wrote a personal plan about what classes I would like to take. In my first semester, I got the class I wanted which was Computational Photography. In my second semester, NONE of the classes that I wanted were available. I started panicking: ALL the classes available were not in my plan. It had only “Advanced …”, or classes that I’ve never heard about before. I was waitlisted to one class that I would love to take and my position was #836 lol. End of story: I did not take this class. So, I took one class that I would be more familiar with… KBAI. I know it has the word AI, but not related to AI you saw in undergrad. I know It’s my fault, but when I’m not interested in something, I don’t put effort into it. I feel it’s a waste of time, energy, etc. I work fulltime and I really enjoy my job. Every time I was home, I was feeling very tired just to think of this class. So, I decided to quit.

March 20, 2020 at 12:14 pm

Like some here, I spent a lot of time doing extra learning on my own in order to complete homework and assignments because the course material was insufficient. Some courses were a normal graduate workload of about 3-4 hours per week per credit. Others were ridiculous 20-30 hours per week for 1 class. I couldn’t take it anymore and I quit the program after 5 of 10 courses. I have a full time job and kids who missed their mom. I gained 30 pounds from the stress and sitting still. I really wish I could have finished. It bothers me to not finish. I also experienced big problems getting the classes I wanted. KBAI was a total waste of time and was the straw that broke this camel’s back.

May 5, 2020 at 3:49 am

Fun. There are probably 4-5 courses in the program that are not available after you’ve taken 1 class. You either (a) missed your time ticket for registering, (b) cannot endure sitting some time on the wait list, (c) had severe misunderstanding about how the system works. Either way, it’s hard to blame the program for that. P.S. KBAI is a trash course though, I agree.

July 1, 2020 at 3:02 pm

I just finished my first semester at GT, and I was in the wait list. I din’t get in until 2 days before register end. OMG!! After finished my semester I was feel very tired want to take a break. A lot of work load but fun with my team work. I hope I able to get in to class that my list on my second semester.

June 4, 2020 at 6:53 am

James, Thank you, thank you, thank you for keeping this post up! While I have been battling the Georgia Tech administration for the past 20 months to be able to continue in OMSCS, it has been infinitely reassuring to see that there’s at least one other poor slob out there who couldn’t read the TA’s mind.

You were wise to get out after two semesters. I stayed in for 5 semesters, until they finally succeeded in kicking me out over an exam issue that was not my fault.

My blog is coming next. I don’t have the URL yet, but the title will be: “One Woman’s Nightmare in the Georgia Tech OMSCS Program” Please keep an eye out for it!

June 26, 2020 at 2:59 pm

Some TA’s are really good but some are mediocre and its really hard to get the problems regraded even though we gave them right answers. I chose and left the program only because of poor grading structure and huge class sizes becomes impossible for professors to respond in timely manner. If we lose a point , TA is clue less and there is no way to talk to professors or head TA. If we argue there is a way our work will be flagged and i feel this is a key aspect in grading assignments and will be left out at their mercy. I feel in general its ook but there needs lot of improvement on grading and providing efficient feedback .

June 30, 2020 at 9:12 am

I am into my second semester of CS and I am convinced OMS is just a money factory for GATech and little to no academic oversight.

James I will say that the professors or teachers so far are non existent.. On two classes by W Lee not once he has responded to students with anything meaningful. You many know or be an expert on a particular subject, but that does not make you a teacher or professor!

TA’s here are the “professors here, they run the class and bully everyone. The current CS-6262 is the worse class I have seen in my life. The projects are poorly written, have errors, omissions and TA’s (Muktar) response it to ask in Piazza. Why can the fix the damn documentation?

Being a networking class, it is heavily loaded into web development and it should not be the case. There is a world out there for network security and chasing a malware/bots is not something exotic or that I can use at work today.

I am a paying student and should not have to ask or beg to get the proper documentation, references and resources for a project.

Everyone has personal experiences and opinions so for me personally, I did not join GATech to buy a masters for $9K or needed to “fuel” my career and make more money.

I get paid pretty darn well and this degree will not make a dime of difference. Instead, I expected to learn something for myself and be treated professionally. I have to say I am really disappointed.

Anyone reading https://omscentral.com reviews?

I am giving it a try for one more semester, but if this continues I will drop too.

September 8, 2020 at 6:52 am

This was quite insightful. Really appreciate it! As a matter of fact I was thinking to enroll to this course nay program. One thing I am worried about is when people in the comments saying that they did not get their preferred course, is there anyway to prevent this?

November 20, 2020 at 7:06 pm

I’m with you there. Coming from WGU that was never an issue. I don’t want to take courses because I have no other choice aside from wasting time until I can take the ones that are of interest; or worse, that must be taken.

September 13, 2020 at 11:26 pm

Was Just accepted to the OMSCS. Slightly concerned reading these posts. I have a CS undergrad and engineering undergrad but have been away from programing and calculus for over 20 years. Worked in Energy Engineering (power plants) not programming. Starting in jan and I am considering taking a C or C++ online class in coursera or jetbrians now to at least prep for coding have not taken a C programming class in over 20 years. If I accept the offer definitely doing one class at a time to minimize the difficulties and challenges here. I work full time but flexible schedule have the 20 hours a week to dedicate. Any thoughts?

September 14, 2020 at 8:36 am

I wrote this post years ago. I wouldn’t suggest it’s currently an accurate assessment of what to expect in the program. That being said, trying one class to start with sounds prudent if you’re working full-time and want to get settled in.

February 2, 2021 at 2:51 pm

No it’s quite accurate. And I would say it’s gotten worst. The course are TA driven and the head instructor is a former graduate of OMCS. Yes, the “canned” course on Udacity are Professors, but courses are now heavily led by and polices are set by former OMCS graduates. Disorganization and poor communication are still true. But most troublesome is the hypervigilance on student’s cheating. It is so intense that students don’t even want to talk to each other about ANYTHING. And these OMCS graduate instructors make no bones about communicating that someone was “caught”. It is used to further intimidate. There is no way they are this vigilant to students on campus. This will most likely be my last semester.

January 24, 2021 at 5:38 pm

Most courses are in python. I had not done any python before I started. Learned along the way. You’ll be ok, especially if you can devote 20 hours a week. Would recommend doing only one course a semester. Good for your confidence and will get you into it. I’m working on my 9th course now.

September 19, 2020 at 7:03 am

Thanks for your candidness. Villanova grad here as well, mathematics. I wasn’t as successful as you careerwise with math having very little practical application to the working world. I’ve been trapped at the bottom of the world of administration in the finance industry, lacking whatever personality trait is needed to climb the corporate business ladder. In hopes of moving to the more technical side of things where I belong, I enrolled in the CIS/Data Analytics program at BU. I attend on campus and the structure is very similar to what you described here. The core classes have tests made by the university which are checked by a computer, the instructors have no idea what is on the test, they lecture material they would like you to learn, and the TA’s grade the homework and are the only people you can reach out to for help. This is not the case for some of the electives, but in some classes they pretty much throw a book at you to teach yourself. I’m wondering if this is the overall mentality for graduate school where you aren’t expected to be spoon fed, or just the format for bigger universities in general. I have tuition reimbursement and was looking to do the OMSCS or OMSA after my current program to keep my skills sharp, it’s good to know to expect more of the same.

February 2, 2021 at 2:53 pm

You probably will not find a OMSCS program for $10,000 any where. It’s dirt cheap. But if you can find a way to work for a company and have them pay for your studies, you are much better off w/ traditional campus program or a hybrid program.

May 1, 2021 at 8:54 am

I know this article is a few years old but I wanted to ask if students in the online program could pursue research opportunities/write a research thesis?

That’s one of my chief priorities in pursuing a Master’s degree, as I want to use it to obtain research experience that I could use to get into a PhD program, as I currently lack any.

May 19, 2021 at 5:36 am

I was an undergraduate in the College of Engineering studying computer engineering at Georgia Tech from Fall 2020 – Spring 2021. Prior to GT, I had been to 7 higher-education institutions prior to GT; I moved a lot for work. GT was the only school where I had the hardest time connecting to a community and resources on campus for academic and professional enrichment and opportunities. I transferred to Cornell University and start there this upcoming Fall.

I’m not sure that Cornell will be better. I thought about applying to OMSCS program at GT, but if all of you are having the same problems I did during my undergrad at GT I think I better look elsewhere.

December 23, 2021 at 4:09 pm

I have completed 7 classes in the program. This is the OMSCS experience. It requires tons of self-learning and attention to detail. Almost all OMSCS classes offer high-level lectures and rigorous, graduate-level technical assignments. The real learning happens while grinding through the projects, which is consistent with Georgia Tech’s overall teaching philosophy.

At this scale, there’s definitely some overreliance on autograders and lack of grading flexibility. Minor issues with incorrect or ambiguous assignment instructions are, unfortunately, somewhat common. That’s the nature of school, especially online without synchronous opportunities to get clarifications. The good news is the unofficial online OMSCS communities have tons of information about the classes and literally hundreds of reviews, so you can easily avoid the problematic classes if you can’t tolerate some improvisation.

For posterity: a semester with 1 class currently costs $841, so a pace of 1 class per semester would be $8,410 total. The overall cost is slightly less for multiple classes in a semester.

June 1, 2022 at 1:27 am

I’ve earned two masters already.

Currently working on a doctorate degree.

I tried out the OMSCS to work toward a third master’s for one semester (a terrible idea and regrets for sure). They work as a business more or less than a Student’s self-interest to learn. There is no interface with the professor and seemed neglected, nor do they email you back. They do not promote interfacing with other students. You can easily get accused of false-positive or petty academic misconduct which can lead to an easy F or sanction from the OSI organization which is end-of-itself is very disorganized. I’ve read horror stories about these experiences. You will not be able to recover from this in graduate school. They do not replace grades but average them out.

Worst experience in my life after attending college for +10 years. I personally think it was a waste of time and money.

I don’t know how GT’s Computer Science is even ranked in the top tier. I believe it will get devalued over time due to the high quantity of MS CS degrees being handed out like candy at cheap prices. Plus the courses are self-taught by modules and typical exams that are proctored by a third party interface (they don’t want to do the work, but collect money like an education monopoly). Basically monopolizing off of their prestige and ranking. Not the greatest practice in my opinion. It felt like more of an undergraduate experience for me than anything else.

If I get asked if I would go back and attend GT OMSCS.

My answer is absolutely NOT.

To each their own experiences. And I expect professionalism and they did not offer that to me with basic standards.

August 3, 2022 at 12:58 pm

Some of these points are valid. Professor absenteeism happens in many classes. Thankfully, most of the TA teams have rock-solid leaders. The program does not provide direct professor interaction unless you seek out an independent project or research.

OSI violations are somewhat common but usually egregious. I say this as someone who has worked as a TA and talked to TAs from other classes. I haven’t heard any anecdotes of legitimate false-positive OSI violations. Unfortunately, aggressive plagiarism becomes a necessary evil when at least 1 cheating attempt is statistically inevitable in every class. The program has motivated a ton of plagiarism research at Georgia Tech.

“I don’t know how GT’s Computer Science is even ranked in the top tier. I believe it will get devalued over time due to the high quantity of MS CS degrees being handed out like candy at cheap prices.”

No evidence exists for this tired refrain based on foolish correlations: nobody is criticizing Berkeley with >1,300 CS graduates per year and nobody is praising University of Richmond’s >$200k CS degree. The US News ranking for the GT MSCS program has improved from #8 to #6 since OMSCS began.

OMSCS is a trailblazer, not a monopoly. UT Austin and UIUC host competing programs with similar objectives (fully online, discounted price, non-thesis). If you want something more exclusive and personalized, you could pay tens of thousands of dollars to the online programs at Johns Hopkins or Stanford for that privilege.

I understand you’re frustrated and the program wasn’t a good fit for you, but that doesn’t justify baseless accusations.

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College of Computing

M.s. computer science admissions faq.

1. What are the MS Computer Science admissions requirements?

Please review our admissions requirements page to learn more.

2. I am interested in your Online OMSCS degree program. Are the admissions requirements, program rules, the same for On-campus and On-line?

No. Please visit the OMSCS program requirements page for more information.

All questions related to OMSCS should be directed to  [email protected] .

3. Can I apply directly to the Ph.D. program, or is a master's degree required before doing so?

Prospective students may apply for admission directly into the Ph.D. program. Please visit this link for program and contact information  http://www.cc.gatech.edu/academics/degree-programs/phd  

Students may also enter as master’s students and later apply for admission into the Ph.D. program.

4. Where can I learn about the faculty’s research?

Visit our  faculty profile pages  to view a complete list of our professors and learn about their research interests and expertise

5. Based on the profile I e-mailed to you, am I eligible for admission?

We receive a large number of emails concerning admission to the graduate program. Profiles or information submitted through email for pre-review will not be evaluated by the Admissions Committee or academic advisors. A complete application package is necessary before the faculty can consider a student for admission The admissions committee will only review applications officially submitted through  https://grad.gatech.edu/apply-now

6. I am interested in your MSCS program but I do not have a computer science degree. Can I still be considered for admission?

Yes, you will be considered for admission. We review applications holistically in order to determine applicant’s suitability. The admissions committee considers several factors when making admission decisions; academic performance at prior institutions (GPA), experience, background, GRE test scores, statement of purpose, and letters of recommendation. In general, we expect students who enter the program to be very comfortable working with multiple programming languages such as C, Java, and Python (there is no provision within the program for make-up any deficiencies) and to have taken several more advanced topics, such as Advanced OS, Networking, Theory, and/or Algorithms.

7. What can I do to be competitive? What do you recommend for applicants without a CS undergraduate background?  

The following is what we recommend for applicants without a strong undergraduate background in computer science:  

1. Must know how to program

2. C programming (proficient)

4. Algorithms

You can gain this knowledge through undergrad classes, MOOC, or learn it through work experience.

8. What types of prerequisite courses?

The student should have an undergraduate level of proficiency in core computer science areas including operating systems, design and analysis of algorithms, formal languages and automata theory, networking and communications, theory/algorithms, and computer architecture. If any remedial coursework is needed, it will be assessed by our faculty and discussed with you during orientation.

9. My GRE score is below your minimum, can I still apply and be considered for admission?  

You would not be automatically disqualified from consideration. Applicant scores are expected to be at least 153 in the Verbal, 155 in the Quantitative, and 3.0 in the Analytical sections for the MS program. We consider the strength of your overall application, including your educational and professional background, your performance at prior institutions (GPA), statement of purpose, and letters of recommendation. All of these factors are important, and your application will be strengthened if your GRE scores are at or above these average values. If your GRE scores are lower than these averages, your chances for admission will be reduced. You may retake the GRE, TOEFL, or IELTS to improve your score as many times as you wish. We will accept the highest score attained in each category.

10. My TOEFL is below the minimum, can I still apply and be considered for admission?

You are welcome to apply however, we generally do not accept applicants with less than 100 because most of our applicants exceed the minimum  TOEFL . You may want to consider retaking the TOEFL. 

11. Do you accept IELTS?

Beginning Spring 2020, we will accept IELTS in place of TOEFL.  A minimum overall score of 7.5 is required, with minumum section scores as follows:  Reading 6.5, Listening 6.5, Speaking 6.5, Writing 5.5.

12. What is the Department Code to request my GRE and TOEFL scores?                                                                                                           

As long as you request the test from ETS using Institute Code 5248 we will receive the scores. When test scores are received from ETS and entered into Georgia Tech system, they are available for all degree programs to view.

13. What is the application deadline?

Students are admitted to the master’s program only once a year. The application deadline is February 1 for admission to the following fall semester.

14. When do you admit new students? What about Summer and Spring?

Students are admitted to the master’s program only once a year. The application deadline is February 1 for admission to the following fall semester. We do not admit for Summer or Spring.

15. I have a master’s degree (MSCS, or another degree).  Can I still apply to your program?  

16. I completed a three-year bachelor’s degree.  Am I eligible? 

If you have a three-year bachelor's degree and a post bachelor's degree including the one-year postgraduate diploma, you should be eligible to matriculate as a degree-seeking student. The Office of Graduate Studies is the ultimate arbiter regarding whether or not a student can matriculate as degree-seeking. Please consult their webpage on three-year bachelor's degrees  to learn more.

17. What should I say in my application Statement of Purpose?                                                                                                                           

The statement of purpose allows you to highlight areas of your background or interests that may not be clear in other areas of your application. Therefore, it is very important to write a clear and concise statement that expresses your interest in the program, and what you hope to gain from, or bring to, the program of study. You may address special features of the program that made it the right fit for you, or you may address specific topics that you are interested in studying. You may wish to address aspects of your personal, academic, and work-related experiences that would make effective contributions to the program or would showcase your knowledge and interest in your chosen area of study. This statement should be concise, outline a plan for graduate studies, and indicate why Georgia Tech is the right graduate program to meet this plan. It should include what you plan to accomplish with our MSCS degree, and what we should remember about you when considering your application.    

18. Whom should I ask to write my recommendation letters?

Three letters of recommendation are required and it is recommended that at least one of your recommendations come from faculty (it is not required to provide computer science faculty recommender) who are familiar with your academic performance. 

At least one of the letters must be from a professor.

The letters of recommendation are submitted online. Information regarding the submission of the letters is given in the directions for submitting your online application.

Please visit these links for more information regarding recommendation letters:

Recommendation letters FAQ

Supporting documents

19. How can I check the status of my application or check if my application materials have been received by Georgia Tech? 

Applications, transcripts, test scores, and all other application materials sent to Georgia Tech are received and processed by the Office of Graduate Studies. Graduate Studies must certify these materials, scan transcripts, etc. before forwarding them to the College of Computing. To check your application status and/or what materials have been received by Georgia Tech, please visit the Graduate Studies website . On this page, there is a link called "Status Checking"  where you can check the most current information regarding the status of your application including received materials. The Graduate Studies Office sets all the requirements for the necessary documents, and all application materials are received and processed by Georgia Tech Graduate Studies. If you have any questions, please refer to Georgia Tech Graduate Studies Admissions frequently asked questions (FAQ) or contact the Graduate Studies staff or call 404-894-1610

20. What is the deadline for letters of recommendation, and test scores?

We allow applicants an additional two weeks to submit these after the deadline. They are due no later than February 14.

21. My supporting documents such as my transcript (or GRE or TOEFL scores) have been sent to Georgia Tech, but my application status is still showing incomplete, or Graduate Admissions hold due to Missing Documentation. 

It sometimes takes time to receive and log these documents.  Keep checking, and if admitted, we will let you know if there is anything we are missing from you.  ETS scores are only received from ETS once monthly in a large batch.

22. Should I resend missing documents?

No. The application status site shows what has been received and processed. Transcripts must be scanned in order to be added to the database, and some of the data from other documents must be entered manually into the database. This takes time, especially near the application deadlines, since Georgia Tech receives thousands of applications each year, many of them arriving right before the application deadlines. Documents arriving during school holidays and school breaks will not be posted during that time. A minimum of 10 working days is typically required to process received documents. Please be sure you have allowed sufficient time for the materials to be sent and processed. If any of the materials you sent or arranged to be sent to Georgia Tech are not acknowledged as received, you should contact the Office of Graduate Studies. Please visit the supporting documents page of the Graduate Studies website. The Graduate Studies Office sets all the requirements for the necessary documents. These materials are received and processed by Graduate Studies.  If you have any questions throughout the application process, please refer to Georgia Tech Graduate Studies Admissions frequently asked questions (FAQ) , and IF your question is not answered please contact the Graduate Studies staff by visiting their Contact Us page at or call 404-894-1610 and they can tell you what exactly is missing and how to rectify it. As a reminder, letters of recommendation and test scores do not have to be received by the application deadline. We allow applicants an additional two weeks to submit these after the deadline.

23. How can I check if my letters of recommendation have been received by Georgia Tech?

Your recommenders submit letters of recommendation directly to Georgia Tech Graduate Studies. Please visit the  Graduate Studies Recommendations Letters category of their FAQs  for more information regarding recommendation letters.

24. I have applied to your program.  When will decisions be made?  Do you make admissions decisions on a “rolling basis”?

The Admissions Committee prefers to view the entire pool of applications before making admission decisions. We will begin the review process after the February 1 application deadline.  

All application decisions should be available for applicants by April 1.

25. When and how will I be informed if I have been admitted?

Please learn more at the Graduate Studies admissions FAQ page.

Log In using the same user id that you used to apply to Georgia Tech.

Your admissions process can be tracked via your  Application Status Portal .  Once a decision has been made, you will receive a notification that an update has been made to your Application Status Portal.  Once you are logged in, you will be able to see the decision, whether you are admitted and any funding that you may have been awarded.

26. I was admitted to the program. However, is it possible to defer my acceptance? 

If a request is approved, applicants accepted to our MSCS degree program may be eligible to defer for up to one year from accepted admissions term.

27. Length of study/How long does it take to complete the degree? 

30 credit hours are required for the MSCS degree. Students typically complete the program within 24 months

28. What is the cost to attend?  Tuition, fees, etc Total cost?

Please visit the Bursar's website for tuition and fee rates per semester. Our program is included in the MASTER & PHD CANDIDATES line at the very top of the GRADUATE RATES section.       

Only the programs that have special fee structures are listed individually.

29. When can I expect my I-20?

If students need I-20s, we will work on those as soon as we get the tuition numbers from OIE (Office of International Education).  

30. How do I provide supporting documents; transcripts, etc? 

You’ll have the option to upload supporting documents with your application (documents should be pdf files). Note that if you do this you won’t need to mail your documents. However, if you are admitted, you will be asked to submit the official documents. Learn more by visiting the Graduate Studies FAQ page for supporting documents.

31. Whom do I contact with questions about applications, admissions process, test score, recommendation letter, and status checking?

 If you have any questions throughout the application process, please refer to Georgia Tech Graduate Studies Admissions frequently asked questions (FAQ) , and IF your question is not answered please contact the Graduate Studies staff by visiting their Contact Us page or call 404-894-1610

32. Do you offer financial assistance?  What types of funding are available? How are students funded?

The College does not offer financial aid to students entering this program. If you need assistance, please contact the Georgia Tech Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. Master's students are not guaranteed funding but frequently receive compensation after establishing a good working relationship with a faculty member. You are welcome to visit faculty members in your area of interest to ascertain if GRA (Graduate Research Assistantship) support is available. GRA is not guaranteed, but if you have a particular skill that a faculty member needs on a project, it can happen. Start looking as soon as possible. Often students find a GRA position during or by the end of their first semester. A few meet faculty during the “Admitted Students Visit” in the spring or use email and have one when they arrive in August, but very few students are able to do this. When working as a GTA (Graduate Teaching Assistant), you are required to have completed the course or its equivalent and scored an “A” grade. You should be prepared to cover at least your first semester as an out of state student. GRA and GTA positions provide a 12-credit tuition waiver, along with a monthly stipend based on percentage time worked) and a waiver of all but $25 of the tuition. With a GRA, students can expect to work 15 to 20 hours per week in addition to school work. Students are responsible for the mandatory fees and tuition supplement. 

33. Where do I view my admission decision?

Please view your decision letter on the  Applicant Status Portal , Once a decision has been made, you will receive a notification that an update has been made to your Application Status Portal.  Once you are logged in, you will be able to see the decision, whether you are admitted and any funding that you may have been awarded.

34. When will Georgia Tech’s Office of Graduate Studies make their final review of the admission decision?  

Acceptance into this program is not final until confirmed by Georgia Tech's Office of Graduate Studies. Once they have made their review of your application and noted any final documents needed, they will send you a notification. A  " Complete Your Decision" button will also appear in the CollegeNET portal where you can either accept or decline this offer of admission.

Georgia Tech Office of Graduate Studies receives a large volume of mail, and they process everything as quickly as possible. When an admission decision is made on your application, they will update Status Checking and note any documents they require from you. They will send you an email as soon as they review your application, and note any final documents needed. If you have any questions throughout the application process, please refer to Georgia Tech Graduate Studies Admissions frequently asked questions (FAQ) , and IF your question is not answered please contact the Office of Graduate Studies staff by email at  [email protected]  or call 404-894-1610.

35. I was admitted to MSCS.  What are the next steps?

Congratulations! We hope you are doing well and excited about starting your MSCS degree program at Georgia Tech!  

We will follow-up with an email to all accepted students. Both the College of Computing and the Georgia Tech Office of Graduate Studies will hold orientation events during the week before the semester starts.  New graduate students always register during Phase II of the term that they are starting. We will cover a lot of valuable information and answer all of your questions at an orientation which you will be invited to later this summer. You will also have an opportunity to meet with a College of Computing faculty member during orientation. Please visit the New Student checklist  for helpful information.

You may want to join a community on the web and communicate with current and former students.    There are fantastic resources to answer your questions. You can do your research to find a resource. 

36. I was admitted to a different degree program and would like to switch to MSCS.  Do you allow students to change majors?

Unfortunately, you are admitted only to the program to which you applied. If you want to switch to MSCS, you will have to apply again to the next available admit term.  We do not accept change of majors into the MSCS program.

37. I am currently pursuing an MS CS at a different institution and would like to transfer to your program. Do you allow students to transfer?

Students are not allowed to transfer to our program as they must apply with all other applicants.  L earn more at our MS CS admissions requirements page .

Georgia Tech Master’s students are only allowed to transfer in a maximum of 6 credit hours. 

38. I was denied admission. I am disappointed that I was not accepted into your program. I feel that my record is very good. Can I find out what was wrong with my application?

Admission decisions are final. Our degree program is extremely competitive and due to space and financial limitations we can only enroll a small number of students and must decline many qualified applicants. The decision to accept is based on many factors including the GPA, letters of recommendation, GRE, area of interest of the student, TOEFL, available funding for students who want to pursue a Ph.D., specific faculty interest in the student, and available space. Many of these factors are not visible to students. Unfortunately, due to the volume of applicants, we cannot give specific feedback for any one student.

Dean's Messages

Gt computing helping stories.

Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS)

College of computing, additional application guidelines.

It is VERY easy for the OMSCS Admissions Committee to ascertain whether an applicant has read and followed the guidelines given here. You will save yourself time and effort if you read this carefully and follow the advice provided.

Use these suggestions as guidelines for preparing a stronger application for the OMSCS program. Following them does NOT guarantee that you will be accepted. Focus on documenting and substantiating your computer science knowledge, and on explaining why you are capable of rigorous, graduate-level computer science coursework. These guidelines are presented in no particular order.

• Include a transcript from EVERY college/university you have ever attended for academic credit! If you don't, processing your application will be delayed.
• Answer all questions succinctly and to the point.
• Upload into the Professional Development area of your application any supporting documents (except transcripts, which should be uploaded into the Academic History area).
• Ask professors and/or work supervisors who have direct, specific knowledge of your Computer Science capabilities to write reference letters—AND ask them to comment specifically on your CS knowledge .
• Include a résumé —your application will NOT be evaluated if you do not submit a résumé.
• Make sure that you have truthfully answered the 9 "Yes/No" questions in the OMSCS Supplemental section as "Yes" . If you answered "No" to any one of these 9 questions, you should  NOT  submit your application until you have corrected your application so that ALL nine of the questions can truthfully be answered "Yes."
• DO NOT describe your motivations or experiences prior to college.
• DO NOT list your coursework—it is on your transcript (unless you need to describe how a course encompassed Computer Science concepts).
• DO NOT  ask work peers, current or former classmates, spouses, in-laws, siblings, parents, children, religious leaders, friends, etc. to write letters of recommendation.
• DO NOT  describe or list hobbies, personal interests, or other areas of your life irrelevant to Computer Science.
• DO NOT  list non-graded, non-academic-credit MOOC-type coursework. 
• DO NOT  list any background prior to your undergraduate work (e.g., secondary or high school)—it is irrelevant to graduate school.

Common Application Problems

The most common problems we see are:

• Transcripts for in-progress degrees that are out-of-date (meaning >30 days older than the application date).
• Transcripts that are tens of pages long because they are web downloads. Applicants submitting transcripts longer than 10 pages will be notified to re-submit those transcripts, and their applications will be put on indefinite hold.
• Transcripts for claimed, completed degrees which do not show the conferral date of the earned degree.
• Failure to explain poor undergraduate and/or graduate GPA.
• Inclusion of "experiences" prior to your undergraduate life (we do not care that you started using a computer at age 5, etc.).

Tips for Letters of Recommendation

What you should ask the writers of your Recommendation Letters to address in their letters:

• Do NOT have work peers, spouses, in-laws, siblings, parents, children, religious leaders, friends, etc. write letters of recommendation.
• Your personal characteristics (e.g., punctuality, a "thirst" for knowledge, being a great team player, leadership skills, etc.) are NOT important.  Your technical Computer Science skills ARE important!
• Since you are applying to an academic program, you should have at least 1 (preferably 2) academic reference.
• For an academic reference, ask a professor/teacher who had you as a student in a Computer Science-related class. If you have a non-Computer Science or related background and took few or no Computer Science classes, ask a professor who taught you in a challenging, technical course. Regardless, ask them to comment specifically on your technical abilities—how did you meet the challenges of their course? How did you solve problems? What skills, knowledge, and tools did you bring to bear on the problem or project?
• For a work reference, it should be a supervisor who has DIRECT knowledge of your TECHNICAL Computer Science-related skills . A high-level executive who doesn’t understand the technical details of your work cannot write a good letter of recommendation. The reference should specifically comment on projects or tasks that you undertook—What was the problem? What was the result? How were your Computer Science skills utilized to achieve the result? Ask the reference to state their credentials as they relate to Computer Science, i.e., why are they competent to comment on your Computer Science skills?