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Online MSc Computer Science with Data Analytics at University of York

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Reply 80
I hope all people starting next Monday will have the time to report back their experience on this forum!
Out of curiosity, can the course be done in one year instead of two?
Reply 82
Original post by TCA2b
Out of curiosity, can the course be done in one year instead of two?


I have been let known that it's not possible to complete the course under two years.
Reply 83
Well I have signed up for the June entry of CS with Data Science

Would be great to have more details on the actual topics covered in the modules

As I understand it the vanilla, data science and infosec curricula only differ by about 1-2 modulesI asked if I could take electives outside of the curricula however is not possible

People that start in april please report on the experience
(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 84
Original post by TCA2b
Out of curiosity, can the course be done in one year instead of two?


I have asked this too but is not possible because of how it is structured. Quickest path is one module after the other 7 weeks + 1w for assessment/exam
Reply 85
Original post by Holsy312
I've accepted my offer for the April start. My background is a philosophy degree and a job with small amounts of data analysis.

Has anyone else started the pre-reading for the first module? The java stuff's fine, but I'm struggling with the 'Introduction to Algorithms' by Cormen. Is anyone in a similar position, or else have any pointers for the stuff on algorithms that they've found helpful?

Check out https://teachyourselfcs.com/

Recommended book https://smile.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena/dp/1848000693/

Online lectures from the author http://www3.cs.stonybrook.edu/~algorith/video-lectures/
Waste of money, you will be much better off with Udacity and Coursera
Original post by z0mgSoCool
Hi everyone!

Was wondering if anyone has heard of or know of someone who is doing this MSc offered by the University of York and its roughly just over £7000 for the entire course. Its a 2 year part-time MSc which can be extended to a total of 4 years after having spoken with the recruiter. Im really interested in hearing opinions other than the recruiters about the MSc for obvious reasons, and any input would be very much appreciated!

Just a little information, im considering studying it because currently, I dont enjoy my career as a Pharmacist and hope to switch to an alternate career. I can say that coding has been quite interesting and stimulating thus far to study through part time online courses, but looking at some of the jobs available for software developers etc , they do prefer a degree in Computer Science although I have noticed this isnt always needed. I guess im more interested in the MSc for sake of completeness in that I hope to have a good foundation in coding. Although im unsure as to whether all the MSc's ive seen will provide the same quality, and if some are better than others.


Thanks!
Reply 87
Instead of trolling this forum, please enlighten us as to how you came to that conclusion. Different people have different aspirations and objectives. What’s considered by you as a waste of time might not be the case for others. Some people for example might want to complete this programme to study CS further in a PhD, others don’t have the motivation as you seem to have to study CS without structure, others want to take the opportunity to study a specific subject in depth by completing a dissertation, some might want to do it for self accomplishment. There are many valid reasons to do this masters, it all depends on what do you want to get out of it.
Original post by CommanderKeen
Waste of money, you will be much better off with Udacity and Coursera
First, you do not need a Msc to go to Ph.D programme nor he indicated any interest in doing so, that also makes writing a dissertation a meaningless waste of time.
Second, MSc in CS simply means 2 weeks of lectures with curriculum from around 2012 with some random feedback from a part-time TA and nothing more. Stretched into 1 or 2 years for just £7000. How does this suppose to help him with anything? He is a chemist so it fair to assume that he is not a moron and purpose build courses like Nanodegrees from Udacity are vastly superior to any MSc from anywhere.
What do you study 'in depth" in conversion Masters? It's an overpriced intro course.

Original post by elideli
Instead of trolling this forum, please enlighten us as to how you came to that conclusion. Different people have different aspirations and objectives. What’s considered by you as a waste of time might not be the case for others. Some people for example might want to complete this programme to study CS further in a PhD, others don’t have the motivation as you seem to have to study CS without structure, others want to take the opportunity to study a specific subject in depth by completing a dissertation, some might want to do it for self accomplishment. There are many valid reasons to do this masters, it all depends on what do you want to get out of it.
Reply 89
Anyone assuming that by only completing this MSc would make him a CS superstar is wrong, of course, you'll have to supplement your studies with practical work such as participating in Kaggle competitions or even take additional courses such as those from Udacity. This course is excellent to learn the foundations of CS and as you are wrongly suggesting, the fundamentals haven't changed since decades. The ROI of an MSc is measured through a lifetime where the ROI on courses such as those from Udacity is only good for the short term. You are not wrong in saying that Academia is terrible in preparing people for the job market and assuming you'll get a job by only doing this course is wrong. Everyone has to take ownership of their future and all roads lead to Rome.
Original post by CommanderKeen
First, you do not need a Msc to go to Ph.D programme nor he indicated any interest in doing so, that also makes writing a dissertation a meaningless waste of time.
Second, MSc in CS simply means 2 weeks of lectures with curriculum from around 2012 with some random feedback from a part-time TA and nothing more. Stretched into 1 or 2 years for just £7000. How does this suppose to help him with anything? He is a chemist so it fair to assume that he is not a moron and purpose build courses like Nanodegrees from Udacity are vastly superior to any MSc from anywhere.
What do you study 'in depth" in conversion Masters? It's an overpriced intro course.
Unfortunately in some ways he's right, I'm doing the herts comp science conversion MSc at the moment and I've used udemy courses that've taught me far more than the module itself which subsequently made me question the purpose of doing an £8k+ course when i can get more for £11.99 on udemy. I think the only real advantage of the MSc is he certification and perhaps the structure, but yeah, don't expect to actually be taught anything, in fact you will most likely find yourself using udemy throughout the course just to pass it.
Original post by elideli
Instead of trolling this forum, please enlighten us as to how you came to that conclusion. Different people have different aspirations and objectives. What’s considered by you as a waste of time might not be the case for others. Some people for example might want to complete this programme to study CS further in a PhD, others don’t have the motivation as you seem to have to study CS without structure, others want to take the opportunity to study a specific subject in depth by completing a dissertation, some might want to do it for self accomplishment. There are many valid reasons to do this masters, it all depends on what do you want to get out of it.
Well no doubt the quality varies a lot by university. I'm considering doing one of these at Glasgow uni, and the feedback on it is generally very positive. Wouldn't spend more than a year on it, though. Also considering an MSc in Data Analytics, which has a work placement in lieu of the usual dissertation - honestly, I do wish more universities offered that as an option.
(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 92
We can say the same thing for any academic degree, I don’t think it’s the university job to prepare people for the job market, this is a debate in itself and not the purpose of this forum, I have been working in tech for the last 10 years and I can tell you most of software is built like crap. For people looking only to become code monkeys, I think they would be better served elsewhere. I see this programme as a gateway to develop and reinforce research skills, creative/critical thinking skills, communication skills (dissertation), problem-solving skills and other skills that you don't get to learn in a £10 udemy course. You basically learn how to learn which is extremely important in CS as fancy technologies come and go, the fundamentals stay always the same, you will be better equipped to deal with the changes in the future. These are the reasons why I'm pursuing this programme and for £8K, I see a lot of value. I can always pick up the latest tech trend on my own.
Original post by Yourmainmancj
Unfortunately in some ways he's right, I'm doing the herts comp science conversion MSc at the moment and I've used udemy courses that've taught me far more than the module itself which subsequently made me question the purpose of doing an £8k+ course when i can get more for £11.99 on udemy. I think the only real advantage of the MSc is he certification and perhaps the structure, but yeah, don't expect to actually be taught anything, in fact you will most likely find yourself using udemy throughout the course just to pass it.
(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 93
Original post by elideli
We can say the same thing for any academic degree, I don’t think it’s the university job to prepare people for the job market, this is a debate in itself and not the purpose of this forum, I have been working in tech for the last 10 years and I can tell you most of software is built like crap. For people looking only to become code monkeys, I think they would be better served elsewhere. I see this programme as a gateway to develop and reinforce research skills, creative/critical thinking skills, communication skills (dissertation), problem-solving skills and other skills that you don't get to learn in a £10 udemy course. You basically learn how to learn which is extremely important in CS as fancy technologies come and go, the fundamentals stay always the same, you will be better equipped to deal with the changes in the future. These are the reasons why I'm pursuing this programme and for £8K, I see a lot of value. I can always pick up the latest tech trend on my own.


This is indeed very true.. I taught myself the basics of C++ and Python just following two books, does not mean I would not enrich myself by obtaining a degree.

I have a MSc Biology and that hasn't taught me how to use lab technologies when I got out of it..Any lab technician was more proficient than me at practical skills, however my learning shaped how I think around problems involving life sciences questions...ultimately allowing me to give a purpose to look for answers with the tools available....and later on progress at higher levels of complexity and positions within the sector...

So, it really depends what you want to do, and the skillsets are complementary and certainly not mutually exclusive...
I completely agree with what you are saying. However i think i expressed myself badly. I don't really mean that i expect to be spoon fed, however some of these conversion courses literally don't teach you anything, like at herts one lecturer didn't go past unit 1 and we were left to not only learn the course for ourselves but essentially make our syllabus. Personally i would expect a bit more for my money than that. However like you said this is York University which has a great computer science faculty so it's bound to be far better than Hertfordshire anyway. so yes the degree will be of great value, specially to those who want to enter new fields like AI.
Original post by elideli
We can say the same thing for any academic degree, I don’t think it’s the university job to prepare people for the job market, this is a debate in itself and not the purpose of this forum, I have been working in tech for the last 10 years and I can tell you most of software is built like crap. For people looking only to become code monkeys, I think they would be better served elsewhere. I see this programme as a gateway to develop and reinforce research skills, creative/critical thinking skills, communication skills (dissertation), problem-solving skills and other skills that you don't get to learn in a £10 udemy course. You basically learn how to learn which is extremely important in CS as fancy technologies come and go, the fundamentals stay always the same, you will be better equipped to deal with the changes in the future. These are the reasons why I'm pursuing this programme and for £8K, I see a lot of value. I can always pick up the latest tech trend on my own.
I think it kind of depends on how you see the degree, some people such as myself see it as a commodity and a means to an end ( that end being a job). Where as others seem to see it as an academic exercise to gain key research skills. There is nothing inherently wrong with either. However if you just see it as a commodity that will directly teach you the skills, then an MSc is probably going to be inferior to Coursera or Udemy.
Original post by PTCS
This is indeed very true.. I taught myself the basics of C++ and Python just following two books, does not mean I would not enrich myself by obtaining a degree.

I have a MSc Biology and that hasn't taught me how to use lab technologies when I got out of it..Any lab technician was more proficient than me at practical skills, however my learning shaped how I think around problems involving life sciences questions...ultimately allowing me to give a purpose to look for answers with the tools available....and later on progress at higher levels of complexity and positions within the sector...

So, it really depends what you want to do, and the skillsets are complementary and certainly not mutually exclusive...
I accepted it before posting here. The actual module starts in on the 29th April.
Original post by KittensAndCakes
I thought the April start date had already passed?


I've just got a detailed(ish) breakdown of the first three modules. For the first one (Algorithms and Data structures) there are summative assessments every fortnight! Probably a good thing to get stuck right in, but definitely a little daunting.
Every fortnight??!? sounds a bit hardcore, what are the next three modules after the algorithms module if you don't mind me asking?
Original post by Holsy312
I accepted it before posting here. The actual module starts in on the 29th April.


I've just got a detailed(ish) breakdown of the first three modules. For the first one (Algorithms and Data structures) there are summative assessments every fortnight! Probably a good thing to get stuck right in, but definitely a little daunting.
Original post by Holsy312
I accepted it before posting here. The actual module starts in on the 29th April.


I've just got a detailed(ish) breakdown of the first three modules. For the first one (Algorithms and Data structures) there are summative assessments every fortnight! Probably a good thing to get stuck right in, but definitely a little daunting.

I'm not looking forward to the exam in week 8!

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