Online MSc Computer Science with Data Analytics at University of York

Hello,I am wondering if you finally attended the online programme at university of york. I am just about to apply for it and would just like to know what your experience has bee so far.Thanks

What do people think of the Open University MSc Computing as an alternative option? Obviously not as prestigious as York and not full Computer Science but if York and the other conversion MSc’s don’t seem to be working very well would it be an option or too vague to satisfy recruiters? (Bath MSc seems good but I don’t have good enough grades for that)

For those who are specifically looking for an Online course, why do you want to do it Online instead of traditional brick uni?

It depends on what you plan to do with it. Looking at the curriculum, I don't think the OU course would help much if you want to be a software engineer, but if you want to work in IT support, cybersecurity, or on the business side of things (such as project management) then it looks okay-ish. What makes you think you don't have the grades for Bath? It's probably worth applying as I don't think they're being too fussy about who they admit, although the tougher modules will filter out less able students.

Thanks for that. Bath said they were inundated with requests so limiting number and not accepting less than 2:1 and I had a 2:2. From the reviews I’ve seen of all the conversion courses they all seem to suggest you actually learn very little practical and are just good for the piece of paper. Have accepted that will need to do separate practical exercises on top of course work so was thinking Open University as the lower work level would leave me more time for separate learning. Just wondering if an MSc from Open would be looked on as ok or if better to go with York even with the poor reviews

Thanks for that. Bath said they were inundated with requests so limiting number and not accepting less than 2:1 and I had a 2:2. From the reviews I’ve seen of all the conversion courses they all seem to suggest you actually learn very little practical and are just good for the piece of paper. Have accepted that will need to do separate practical exercises on top of course work so was thinking Open University as the lower work level would leave me more time for separate learning. Just wondering if an MSc from Open would be looked on as ok or if better to go with York even with the poor reviews

Oh, bad luck! There weren't many people in the earlier cohorts but there were ~100 in the last cohort so perhaps they're going to use that as a limit moving forward. There's a fair amount of practical work at Bath although I would like to see more (I'm probably biased though as I love maths and programming but hate writing essays!). But yeah, whatever degree you take isn't going to be enough alone and you'll still need to produce a portfolio of work and practice data structures and algorithms for interviews, etc. The flipside of this is that it gives people the opportunity to prove themselves and gain work in the industry without holding a relevant degree.

Have you consider this course? https://www.coursera.org/degrees/bachelor-of-science-computer-science-london. It's not a Masters and may be longer than you were intending to study, but you could probably just complete some of the course if you wanted to and leave with a CertHE or DipHE. The curriculum looks better to me than other online CS conversion Masters like Essex, Sunderland, Herts, Keele, and Glyndwr.

That UoL course is meant to be amazing according to the students on it, I’m thinking of doing this myself after York to fill in the gaps.

What do people think of the Open University MSc Computing as an alternative option? Obviously not as prestigious as York and not full Computer Science but if York and the other conversion MSc’s don’t seeI km to be working very well would it be an option or too vague to satisfy recruiters? (Bath MSc seems good but I don’t have good enough grades for that)

You work on assigned projects in the language-based modules. I.e. in my Java project we had to build a Poker game as our coursework for the end of term. For Python we also had to build a mini-game, this was more flexible (you could make up your own or do the assigned one). The module I am currently doing in C# (Software Design in Programming), part of our assessed coursework is a pairs project (to practise pair programming). So it varies really. Then you have the main one which is 30% of the whole course (i think, don't quote me on that haha).

We focus on OOP programming and design but also cover other types of programming, just not in detail.

All of my modules have lectures. The language-based ones are in IT labs, so you have a 'lecture' then cover exercises in the same sessions in the labs straight after. Most of these lecturers don't like to just stand and talk at you so they try and do practical stuff for as much time as possible.

They have recommended reading, and a lot of the lecturers will base the course on textbooks (my Computer systems one was pretty much straight out of a textbook which was useful when it cam to revision, but not so interesting throughout the year haha). You can get useful reasons from just being a student at the uni, i.e. access to safari books (so you don't have to pay for some books), licenses to lots of different software (mainly microsoft)

It sounds similar to the York one. My friend from gymnastics does the BA in Computing she's a Math's Teacher as her day job and she said she does a lot more Web development, stuff. But she said she learnt about data manipulation, networks, operating systems + algorithm data structure stuff and finds everything easy apart from the network/systems module. Hers is 3 years though and FULL time on top of her job...which is mad. I don't know how she finds time to do everything lol.

My other friend went to Birkbeck for Computer MSc she just graduated last month tbh her one sounds epic she said for the first year they teach you a bit of everything then 2nd year you choose your pathway for that entire year which you use to focus learning in-depth for your final major project. Her project
She's choosing AI, ML and NLP and is combining that with her skills/job in marketing automation so it's helping a lot. She wants to build something to help marketeers predict what the next action is of their customers so they can tailor their journeys on a customer by customer basis instead of segmentation.

This is what she said about Birkbeck one (if she ever finds this or reads this - I will cringe loool)



Just use what you learn to cater to your portfolio... everyone's different there's bootcamps: Flat Iron, General Assembly.. etc etc now popping up and some may be discounted due to COVID.

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I think a bachelors degree is easier as it mainly focuses on the 'what' rather than the 'why'. I personally may only consider doing another bachelors if I could do it Online and it was from one of the top 5 UK universities. If it was Oxford, it would be very tempting. It would then be a question of if I could get to a better career-position with the Oxford degree by starting again than if I just continued on my current path.

You can do the Datascience UoL BSc by LSE, that name should carry a lot of weight.

I think the wording is "academic direction from LSE", which I don't think is the same as your degree will be awarded by LSE. I checked the details on the website and there is no information which university of London will appear on the transcript and certificate.

Guys, don't be dumb, come on! These are all f****** crap programmes. None of them is worth the paper it's written on! Sunderland, Keele, York and Wrexham programmes are all run by the same bas**** which is Higher Ed Partners (HEP). I'm sorry for the language, it is simply OUTRAGEOUS that these scums are profiting from naïve people. Their business model is to partner with universities ONLY to profit from the online learning gold rush. They are not looking to provide any value to students. The idea here is to maximize revenue and in the story you're a victim. Look at the landing pages of all programmes, don't they look ALL similar and have the same URL structure (online.universityname.ac.uk)? Look at each of their contact form, they all have disclaimers that reads like below. Don't get me wrong the university is actually delivering the programmes but YOU HAVE to understand that these programmes are all delivered using the same formula whether it's York or the crappy Wrexham, Sunderland or Keele. Think about it one second, if York has been this bad delivering their course with Higher Ed Partners, do you really think the crappy Wrexham, Sunderland or Keele will do any better? Higher Ed Partners is acting as consultant and the intention between all these university partnerships is clearly to maximize revenues at the expense of students. I don't understand why people still send me PMs asking me whether I would recommend this course? Listen I was in your position in the beginning, I have listened to others experiences and decided to move on and not spend a single more minute with this BS. Just read through all the bad experiences, they are valid and don't fall a victim of their scheme. Spend your hard-earned money elsewhere.

"The University of Sunderland and Higher Ed Partners (HEP) UK will use the details submitted on this form to contact you by phone and email, to understand your individual situation and requirements and to provide you with tailored information about our online courses. The data provided will be processed on the basis of the consent provided here. Calls may be recorded for training purposes."

"Keele University and Higher Ed Partners (HEP) will use these details to contact you by phone and email to provide you with tailored information about our online courses. For further information on how your data may be used, please read the HEP full privacy policy. You can alter your preferences at any time by emailing [email protected]"

"I agree to receive personalised information about University of York online courses by phone and email. University of York’s partner Higher Ed Partners will use the details submitted on this form to contact you by phone and email about our online courses, to understand your individual situation and requirements and to provide you with tailored information about furthering your education. The data provided will be processed on the basis of the consent that you have given on this form. Calls may be recorded for training purposes."

"Higher Ed Partners UK wants you to be familiar with how we collect, use and disclose information. This Privacy Policy describes our practices in connection with information that we collect through websites operated by us, through email messages that we send to you, as well as offline interactions you may have with us. Higher Ed Partners is a data processor, acting on behalf of Wrexham Glyndwr University, the data controller."

Hi all, i had a question about the research dissertation. Do you get to choose your topic? are there a list of topics? do you do it individually or in groups? I am interested in this course and want to do a MSc CS with data science or just the MSc CS on its own and research related to human computer interaction but not sure if that's offered as a research area or if the students get to pick their own research topic?