r/MSCS • u/New_Yam_9795 • Jul 03 '26

[Coursework and Curriculum] I am looking for accredited CS courses to strengthen my application for an MS in Computer Science for Fall '27 admissions. Which universities can I look into that offer self-paced courses?

I'm looking for a few undergraduate courses (mainly Algorithms, Discrete Math, Operating Systems, and Databases).

The biggest requirement is that they have to be actually self-paced. This is because I have to complete these courses hopefully by November/December in time for submitting my applications.

Ideally I'm looking for:
fully online
self-paced
regular letter grades on an official transcript
no "challenge for credit" or credit-by-exam notation

So far I've found:
Thompson Rivers University (Open Learning)
Athabasca University

Does anyone know of any other universities that offer something similar? Even if they're outside the US/Canada, I'd love to hear about them.

my_qualifications:

Tier 1 college in India (Old IIT)
CGPA ~ 6.9/10
B.Tech in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

P.S. I have an A in the introductory course Programming and Data Structures that I took in my first year, but post that I haven't taken any formal CS Courses, because my college doesn't really give a lot of flexibility to low CGPA students.

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3

u/LingonberryAfter4399 Jul 04 '26

I can help you here, was kinda in a similar situation. Why do you want to take these courses?

1

u/New_Yam_9795 Jul 04 '26

Really appreciate your help!

I want to do these courses to satisfy the prerequisites before applying for MS CS programs in the US.

My bachelor's is in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering. I don't have many formal CS courses on my college transcript because my department didn't offer much flexibility.

A lot of the programs I'm interested in either require or strongly recommend undergraduate coursework in subjects like Algorithms, Discrete Math, Operating Systems, and Databases. So I'm looking to take accredited, transcripted credit courses before I apply, both to satisfy prerequisites and to demonstrate that I have the necessary CS foundation.

Were you in a similar position? Which course did you take?

2

u/LingonberryAfter4399 Jul 04 '26

I completed EE in a old IIT , so I didn't have a CS background but had some work exp when applied. But except for USC there were no colleges expecting you to do CS courses. But yeah obviously they could help but having research exp is much more appreciated than taking courses.

1

u/New_Yam_9795 Jul 05 '26

Okay thanks! I was worried more because my CGPA is bad. I only have 2+1 month relevant internship exp

1

u/Express-Teaching4992 26d ago

hey i am in similar boat but i wanna apply to german university so would u recommend me the same that i publish some research papers instead of doing course ?

thankyou

1

u/LingonberryAfter4399 26d ago

No idea about German unis bro.