So I graduated from Georgia Tech in 2020 under the OMSCS program in Computer Science (Specialization: Computing Systems) while working full-time and seeing my newborns become toddlers. It was one of the most demanding and yet rewarding phases of my life. I made many mistakes and still learned a ton along the way. Most importantly, I survived and I got out. Thus I wanted to share my OMSCS learnings to help others avoid some of my mistakes. With that said, here are a few things you should or should not do in OMSCS:
- Your mileage may vary but for most of you if you have a family with kids and full-time job to take care of then never take more than one course.
- Go above and beyond to get an A in each of your OMSCS courses. Because once you start getting complacent with B, you may easily get a C and that will mess your overall GPA.
- Don’t forget to make use of the grade calculator for each class. Nowadays all the OMSCS courses use Canvas but that was not the case for my first 5 courses. Canvas has an inbuilt calculator that lets you predict your final grade of your current class as you submit the assignments and receive the grades. So make use of that calculator and always make sure that you are on track to get an A.
- Don’t worry about getting the letter W on your transcript. If you are not confident that you will be able to get an A or if you have the slightest hint that you may not be able to do well in the current course then just drop it before the withdrawal deadline. Only side effect of that would be that it would leave a grade of W for that course on your transcript. But the good news is that it won’t impact your overall GPA.
- Don’t enroll in a course either because of its hype or some technology buzzword. Use OMSCentral and Reddit to research courses and to read the course reviews. Also, take courses by going from easier to harder instead of taking it randomly.
- Don’t forget to use the class support forums on a daily basis like Piazza and Slack (if available). Actively participate in these forums multiple times a day.
- Don’t begin a course without some prep work. Most OMSCS courses should list the syllabus along with the prerequisites and the required readings/books. Also, during my enrollment OMSCS course videos were available on Udacity. So if that is still the case then at least watch the lecture material before the course begins. That will also give you a hint if you will enjoy the course and whether or not you should take the course.
- Have a clear end goal in mind i.e in how many years you want to complete the program and which courses you want to take for your specialization. The longer you drag the more difficult it would get to reach the finishing line.
Go Jackets!