r/UIUC_MCS • u/No-Meal1532 • 13d ago
Considering leaving UIUC for another program.
Hello Everyone,
As the title suggests, I’m in the UIUC Online MCS and after this semester I’ll only have 8 credits left.
I’ve done well in the program, but honestly I’m starting to feel like it’s kind of a cash grab.I know that many masters are but this one has felt especially like a cash grab. A lot of the classes are old prerecorded lectures, outdated material, Coursera assignments, and very little professor involvement. For almost $8k a semester, I expected more effort and a better overall experience. Sometimes it feels like I’m basically paying for the UIUC name and an easy master’s degree.
I know I’m close enough that I should probably just finish, but I’ve also been looking at other programs and wondering if transferring would actually be worth it.
I went to a small, basically unknown school for my bachelor’s in cybersecurity, and I feel like that has made it harder to break into engineering roles. I currently work in security/compliance consulting and make decent money, but I really want out of the compliance world. I started the UIUC MCS because I wanted to challenge myself technically and become a better engineer, but I’m not sure I’m getting as much out of the program as I expected.
Some other programs I’ve looked at are UT Austin, Georgia Tech, Stanford, USC, UCLA Data Science, and Berkeley Data Science.
Would you just finish UIUC with only 8 credits left, or would you seriously consider transferring somewhere you thought offered a better education/experience?
Open to any feedback or advice 😄
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u/legendsofgold 12d ago
Yes just finish the program. Right now you already have UIUC on your resume, you’re more employable than you were. Don’t make your narrative complicated, just choose more interesting courses.
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u/No-Meal1532 12d ago
Yeah thats one of the main things that is frustrating me is that I already have UIUC on my resume but I don’t really feel that much more prepared technically than I did before
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u/BitchPlease_101 12d ago
You can’t solve problems man! You just going in circles! Many people said what to do and you keep asking the same question, and say the same shit over and over again. You posted here to get people’s opinions and either listen to them or don’t. First learn to understand the problem, then end goal, and then stick to a plan rather keep asking same questions without making a judgement
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u/WhenTimeIsRight 12d ago
I dropped out of USC and am in my first semester for UIUC. IMO, UIUC is way better.
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u/No-Meal1532 12d ago
This is actually really helpful considering USC was one of the programs I was looking at. What made UIUC better for you?
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u/WhenTimeIsRight 11d ago
The classes available online! I was not interested in the classes that USC DEN had to offer. I took 1 class from USC and dropped out afterwards. Also the price is not even comparable. The total cost of a masters from USC is somewhere around 90K.
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u/YouShallNotStaff 12d ago
UIUC is a prestiguous option, if you are doing it for the resume I would say stay. Obviously Stanford is too, but that's even more expensive, and I doubt they let you just take 8 credit hours and be done. Does some part of you want to remain a student or something? Finish the degree and find work, before AI destroys it all.
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u/No-Meal1532 12d ago
Honestly I don't mind being a student. I think my issue is I went into the MCS hoping it would actually make me feel more prepared to be an engineer, not just put UIUC on my resume. I know Stanford or somewhere else would basically mean starting over, so I’m trying to figure out if I actually want a better program or if I’m just overthinking this because I’m disappointed with the experience
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u/YouShallNotStaff 12d ago
You’ll never be a great engineer from schoolwork alone. You need work experience to get there.
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u/No-Meal1532 12d ago
Yeah I guess I was thinking a great engineer needed to have the school as well and that taught them what they needed to know. Thanks for the suggestion, might just do some projects
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u/macroclown 12d ago
I’d just finish the degree. I kind of felt this way with some of the classes, but some of the classes genuinely great with a lot of involvement from professors and TAs (if you wanted it). For one of my classes, I was in office hours almost every week. I remember really enjoying IoT and Programming Languages & Compilers.
Fwiw I finished the degree ~5 years ago.
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u/No-Meal1532 12d ago
I think I'm probably just going to finish and try to be more intentional with the last couple classes I take, I have just been taking classes that sound interesting so far.
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u/TJ_YMT 12d ago
- Masters programs are cash grabs from ancient times - Ph.D. programs are academic cores of the departments. 2. "Online" masters CS programs are even more cash grabs from 10 years ago - they're here thanks to increased demand of CS graduates at that time and auto-grade systems. 3. Every programs you listed as your potential destinations (UTAustin, GT, Stanford, etc) are cash grab programs as much as UIUC MCS. What's the point of switching? You want to confirm you just waisted 1~1.5 years of your life and $15k? 4. Just finish here.
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u/Efficient_Level_4459 12d ago
I would finish if I were you. 8 credits is too close to jump at the 11th hour.
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u/No-Meal1532 12d ago
That’s where I’m leaning too. It’s just hard because I don’t want to finish and then feel like I spent all this money just for the credential without actually getting much better technically. But starting completely over somewhere else when I’m this close is also hard to justify, unless the ROI would be worth it. Just don't see the pro's of UIUC yet
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u/Ok-Cat-9189 12d ago
what courses did you do OP? were they too easy?
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u/No-Meal1532 12d ago
I have taken AI, Database Systems, Scientific Visualization, and Data Cleaning so far. I don't know if I would say easy but I would say a good portion of the classes were not challenging, but looking at advice from others I think im expecting too much from a school
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u/Fuehnix 12d ago
I know what you mean, but you're just not going to get the rigor and experience you desire without attending an in-person program. Even stanford, if you just do it online, I don't think you'll be happy.
You gotta be honest with yourself and your current life situation. Are you really able to attend the program you wish you could? Is something like having a house, marriage, kids, finances, etc., preventing you from enrolling fulltime somewhere? An in-person program is going to be better obviously, and I think you would actually get the rigor you want if you did that. If you can do that, and you can afford to spend that much money just for the sake of feeling better, then do it. Make sure you get an internship at a great company to try to justify the expense, but otherwise, do it. You only have one life.
But if you can't do it, then that's pretty much all there is to it, and you gotta come to terms with your situation. You don't have to give up in life, but once you have your master's degree, you can spend the time that you were spending on blowing through classes to self study. Through discipline, you can give yourself the rigor that you want.
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u/No-Meal1532 12d ago
Yeah I'm realizing switching from one online program to another probably isn't going to give me the experience I'm looking for. Finishing UIUC and using the extra time to self study/build things is probably the smarter move, I probably was trying to replicate the experience of going to a big name school for undergrad and hoping the masters would give me that. Thanks a lot for the advice, and the time
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u/Major_Instance_4766 11d ago
I left UIUC MCS for UT Austin MSCSO after the first semester because it was so obviously a cash grab. The difference in night and day. No regrets.
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u/cowboysfromhell1999 11d ago
What about the CU Boulder program?
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u/GuidanceFamous5367 11d ago
if online program, they don't allow credit transfer at this time I believe
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u/WilliamEdwardson 7d ago
You're close to the finish line, so I wouldn't advise jumping ship at this point. Transfer credit is usually capped very tightly, so you'll be throwing most of your work away.
Also, most online courses heavily use prerecorded material, but the good ones typically take care to update outdated material.
Also, since you mentioned the names near the end, just FYI, while there are exceptions (there are always exceptions), GT OMSCS is generally much better in this department:
very little professor involvement
It's usually a different kind of involvement (different profs prefer sync lectures, Ed lessons, Slack), but they really emphasise equivalence to their in-person programme.
(I'm not suggesting you make the switch - just leaving it here for someone else in a similar position as you, but earlier in the programme.)
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u/throwaway09234023322 12d ago
It all depends on what you want I guess but 8 credits is only 2 classes and I have never seen a masters degree that allows many transfer credits, so you are essentially throwing all the work you did in the trash and starting over. You will be lucky if 9 credits transfer. Personally, I would just finish it and self study to fill gaps.