Online Master of Computer Science: My review of UIUC’s MCS-DS
My experiences with an online computer science (data science) degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
There are a lot of reasons why you would want to do an online degree. Computer science is a domain that requires very little interaction and naturally lends itself to online study. Especially if you don’t live in the US, online degrees offers a window of opportunity which you won’t get otherwise.
A while back, I wrote a brief article on my experiences with the MCS-DS.
I didn’t think it did it justice — it was short and rushed. Here I’m going to break it down into parts — explaining the different courses I took, various aspects of my experience and the overall recognition I received afterwards.
Part 1. Degree Details
You can skip this part if you’re not really interested in doing specifically a MCS degree from UIUC, but wish to pursue some form of online study. My experiences in online study are in Part 2 below.
I’m going to delve into the details of the program. Keep in mind I graduated right before the Coronavirus pandemic (I started in 2018), and since then the program has evolved some what. My experiences may not reflect what you would expect going forth. I enrolled when the MCS program was still in its infancy along with teething issues.
So what type of subjects are offered at UIUC’s online MCS program? Here’s the subjects I took, along with my comments.
Statistical Modeling in R
This is a reasonably basic subject, and coming from a math and stats background, I found this largely to be a waste of time. Nevertheless, it was a beautifully put together — well designed course. This course goes through regression models, variable selection and GLMs. The coding is done in R, and your assignments will be submitted in rMarkdown files. The course is loosely based on the following ebook. So if you want to get a head start, please, be my guest…
The weekly assignments are fair and would take approximately half a day to complete. There’s two online exams (one via ProcterU) and a group assignment — I was paired with three others, two in North America and one in India. Timezone differences proved to be a challenge, although it meant that at least one person could be working on it 24–7. Overall, 5/5 for content, structure and design; but just a little too easy for me. Needless to say, I received A+.
Data Visualization
To be honest, I don’t remember too much from this course, as it wasn’t my area of interest. Nevertheless, it was a mandatory course, which I did over summer. We covered the works of Edward Tufte quite a bit.
Two online exams, one assignment in Tableau and the final assignment in D3.js. A small percentage of marks were from peer evaluation. This caused a bit of chaos as some students were giving out unreasonably low peer marks. Overall, 4/5 — it was short and sweet. Also received A+.
Text Information Systems
One of the flagship courses of the UIUC program taught by Prof Cheng Xiang Zhai. This course comes highly recommended and you can get a teaser from Coursera.org. The prescribed textbook is:
Zhai, C. & Massung, S. (2016). Text data management and analysis: A practical introduction to information retrieval and text mining. ACM Book Series. Morgan & Claypool Publishers.
Advanced Bayesian Modelling
Coding was mostly done in R (RStudio), especially using the rjags package. This is a fantastic course. I rate it 5/5 — fully enjoyed it (also received A+).You can get an introduction to rjags and Bayesian modelling here:
One of the assignments required you to review the modelling an academic paper and to present it to you peers.
Applied Machine Learning
This subject covered Support Vector Machines, PCA and Neural Networks. Coding was largely completed in Python. Most of the course is in the link below, which is helpful if you want a head start. I rate this subject 5/5.
Cloud Computing Applications
The assignments involved some work in Hadoop, Redis and Spark. Subject content was very light and very broad. Overall, the course was 2–3 years outdated and somewhat slapped together haphazardly — 2.5/5
Theory & Practical Data Cleaning
This was a very easy subject, and I don’t fully appreciate it. The only practical aspect I got out of it was the OpenRefine tool. I received an A+ though I felt I shouldn’t have. Don’t get me wrong, data cleaning is very important for research purposes. I just felt the course was lacking in content — 2.5/5.
Practical Statistical Learning
PSL — or affectionately known as “Pumpkin Spiced Latte” by MCS students. I did this subject last. I was juggling a full time job and a toddler at the time, and it was a constant struggle to keep up with the weekly homework. Students could select either Python or R to complete homework (ten in total) and assignments (three in total). There were no proctered online exams — thank God for that!
4.5/5 — great subject, but too mentally fatigued to fully enjoy it. I received A- for it.
Part 2. The Experience
Exams via ProcterU
Basically someone in Birmingham, Alabama is staring at you whilst you do your exam.
A few things to note:
- You need to pay for your ProcterU exams
- ProcterU makes you do a video tour of your room to ensure you’re not cheating. Phones need to be placed away — but visible to the procter.
- ProcterU also makes sure there’s no additional monitor attached to your laptop/PC (every time I did my exam, I had to disconnect my monitors)
- Make sure you have a steady internet connection!
Every now and then you hear about ProcterU nightmares, but I’ve always found them pretty good.
Group Assignments via Piazza, Zoom, Slack and Github
My group assignment experiences have been generally very positive. The average age of MCS students were 30+, so I have to say… the level of maturity was pretty high. Timezone differences between group members sometimes made it hard to schedule Zoom meetings.
The UIUC student community on Slack was very collegiate and friendly.
Getting Assignment Feedback
This is probably the most frustrating aspect of my online learning experience. It really did lead me to believe that the quality online is indeed a few notches below the on campus experience. Assignment feedback from tutors were slow, often at late. Group projects have deadlines towards the end of the course. By the time you get your feedback, the course has ended.
I got the feeling that the program was a little under-staffed. With university teaching experience myself, I completely understand that no faculty member was going to put online teaching as first priority. Nevertheless, as a paying student, I expected more timely feedback.
Grades
My personal opinion is that grades err on the generous side. Coming from a British / Australian system of grading, it seems US grading is considerably more generous. I’ve had my hunches comfirmed by anecdotal evidence, but I still can’t conclusively say whether the generosity comes from the fact that it is an online degree, or an American degree. But yes, I was pleasantly surpised.
Juggling it with family and friends
I cannot stress this enough. You need — absolutely need — a supportive family or network of friends. Often it’s super lonely doing an online degree. However, too many social events on your calendar can cause you to fall behind on videos (even if you watch videos at 2x speed). It’s good to have friends and family to constantly ask you about your progress.
Time Spent on Study
I suggest you need at least one weekend day fully devoted to study and at least another three weekday nights to do well. When I say ‘weekday nights’, I mean a solid 3–4 hours study after dinner.
Spend at least 15 hours a week to review lectures and to do assignments
Study space
Many people have said, “have a designated study space.” I say, have at least two designated study spaces — one at home and one outside.
Have a quiet room at home where you can study, away from the distractions of your kids or your cat. A designated study room is also useful for exams. You want the room to be reasonably clean and clear — so that it doesn’t raise suspicions from your ProcterU procter, else you might find yourself wasting 15 minutes, video camera in hand, showing your online examiner every inch of your study room.
Have also a designated ‘study’ cafe — your favourite Starbucks or something. This is important if you just want a change of scenery. My study room doesn’t have much of a view, so this is important.
Part 3. The Recognition and Stigma
The recognition you get from a UIUC CS degree is significant.
Rankings
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a great reputation in Computer Science. It’s ranked in the top 5 in US News and top 3 in CSRankings. Overall, its a top 50 global university and a strong “state-ivy” contender.
A few things I want to set straight:
- MCS is not MS in CS — a master of computer science is a professional masters by coursework and not a master of science majoring in computer science with a thesis component. The latter is more prestigious than the former as it prepares the student for a computer science PhD.
- Having said that, the UIUC MCS online is exactly the same as the MCS on campus. You get the same degree.
Stigma
There is a certain stigma attached to online degrees. Although universities such as Illinois and Georgia Tech have always maintained that the degree is the same whether it be on or off campus, recruiters and the general public haven’t yet grown accustomed to that way of thinking. Traditional on-campus degrees will still be preferred.
This was also one reason why I wasn’t keen to fork out 50,000+ USD for an online Masters of Science in Computer Science degree from the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at the Columbia University.
“Oh so you went to Columbia. How was your experiences in New York?”
“I did it online actually.”
“Oh…”
The initial sense of admiration and then the quick subsequent let down… 50,000+ USD for that conversation? No, thank you.
Covid19 has meant the stigma attached with “working from home” or “studying from home” has eased somewhat. This is great for those of us keen on pursuing an online degree. Online degrees will eventually become the norm. But until then, be realistic — there will be raised eyebrows and negative feelings towards your newly acquired online degree.
New Opportunities
For me at least, adding UIUC MCS on my LinkedIn profile has definitely increased headhunter invitations. If you’re already an experienced programmer, it does give you that extra layer of sheen on your CV.
Conclusions
Is it worth it?
This really depends on where you are at life and in career, but under any circumstance, considerable sacrifices will need to be made:
- The monetary sacrifice — probably the easiest sacrifice (and its also tax deductible)
- The time sacrifice — remember, you need at least 15 hours a week! This will impact your sleep habits and your relationships with family and friends
Tips for effective online learning:
