Has anyone here graduated from this program? I'm curious about the instruction quality and career prospects in comparison to in-person programs from similarly prestigious schools.
I don’t know if my experience is considered typical. I worked as a TA in the algorithms course and then in Computational Photography while I was there. The algorithms professor was actually how I found the SV job I moved here for. I’ve seen it mentioned elsewhere already, but I can confirm that TAs run most classes—but it’s also worth pointing out that TAs in OMSCS are often comically overqualified, and 90% of the work in running a course is logistics (due dates, extensions, grading, etc.).
I think it’s as valuable as a resident program if you can’t justify leaving your current job or taking on debt to finance an advanced degree. Just make sure you try to learn everything you can while you’re in it.
Some of them are amazing, some of them are totally worthless.
Probably an in-person MSc will be a bit better than OMSCS, but it will cost 7x-8x and would require people to move around the country.
There were 1 or 2 of my earlier classes that did feel phoned in, though (but did have strong TA involvement at least).
Comparing it to my Master’s which has even less faculty involvement I doubt it. Watching videos and reading the textbook leads to the feeling you know something. Doing projects and preparing for exams, that leads to genuine learning. You learn far more working through past exam papers or doing all the questions in the textbook than you possibly could by trying to absorb information passively.
You would not get any of the class interaction, you would not get any of the projects, and you would not get any of the feedback from the projects. You would miss a ton of knowledge by missing those.
Also, the slack community makes the entire program -- you really learn a lot watching the people who know the material help people out through the projects.
I haven't interviewed or applied for jobs since graduating, but it's worth noting that the degree itself is the same as the one awarded in-person. If you get involved in the community, the network is also surprisingly good; the slack channel has hundreds of students at all sorts of places.
A quick plug for my writeup: http://writing.maxrosett.com/reflections-on-the-georgia-tech...
It's the hardest thing I've ever done, and well worth it.
The quality of instruction varies wildly. OMSCentral is a student-run review site that covers the courses well.
The logistics depend almost entirely on the quality of the TAs in the courses -- there are courses like AI4R where the professor is heavily involved and answers all student questions, but the majority I've seen the professors are very hands-off and the TAs handle all student interaction.