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1. mym199+(OP)[view] [source] 2025-12-06 20:54:09
The OMSCS degree you get is equivalent to the in person one, so there is no way to make the distinction in an interview. I actually don’t see how people see that an experience like this brings no value, given the rigor of the assignments. One certainly would come out with a better knowledge of how things work, develop a better work ethic, and hopefully make some network connections on the way…
replies(2): >>coolTh+z >>t_mann+Do
2. coolTh+z[view] [source] 2025-12-06 20:59:47
>>mym199+(OP)
This is very debatable. The courses look like they were recorded in the 90s.

The DB course particularly sticks out. My undergrad's DB course was fathoms harder than this. This is what you'd expect a highschooler should be able to learn through a tutorial not a university course.

If it doesn't talk about systems calls like mmap, locking and the design of the buffer pool manager, it's not a university Database course it's a SQL and ER modelling tutorial.

replies(5): >>__loam+E3 >>rybosw+r4 >>Stefan+Y7 >>lingua+1g >>mym199+Nr
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3. __loam+E3[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-12-06 21:28:27
>>coolTh+z
DB is known to be a weaker offering.

https://www.omscentral.com/

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4. rybosw+r4[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-12-06 21:36:54
>>coolTh+z
Respectfully, I think you should do more research.

The OMSCS program is well known and well respected in the tech industry. It's a masters degree from the currently 8th ranked computer science school in the U.S.

The university make no distinction between students who take the courses online, vs in person. I.e., the diploma's are identical.

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5. Stefan+Y7[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-12-06 22:10:12
>>coolTh+z
Is this a common thing to have at university? I'm from one of top universities in Poland; our database courses never included anything more than basic SQL where cursors were the absolute end. Even at Masters.
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6. lingua+1g[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-12-06 23:17:33
>>coolTh+z
I’ve taken graduate-level courses in databases, including one on DBMS implementations and another on large-scale distributed systems, and I also spent two summers at Google working on Cloud SQL and Spanner. Database research goes further than DBMS implementation research. There is a lot of research on schemas, data representation, logic, type systems, and more. It’s just like how programming language research goes beyond compilers research.
7. t_mann+Do[view] [source] 2025-12-07 00:27:47
>>mym199+(OP)
> there is no way to make the distinction in an interview

Just ask?

Some online degrees state that they're equivalent, but interviewers may still have their own opinions. I would discourage anyone from failing to mention the online nature of a degree in their CV. You're really not doing yourself a favor. A rigorous online degree is something to be proud of. I see people with PhD's proudly announcing their online course certificates on LinkedIn. However, 'discovering' that an education was of a different nature than one had assumed based on the presented materials may raise questions.

replies(1): >>mym199+3r
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8. mym199+3r[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-12-07 00:50:15
>>t_mann+Do
This just reeks of you being insecure and thinking online education is of lower quality than in person education. Are you also pining for everyone to go back to the office? The degree GT gives you is literally the same thing as the in person degree. If GT does not make the distinction, why would I???

Here is a tip: maybe don't assume so much!

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9. mym199+Nr[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-12-07 00:58:30
>>coolTh+z
I don't think watching the lectures is the hurdle that anyone at OMSCS is trying to jump. The program has a pretty low graduation rate, and the tests are known to be fairly difficult, which essentially requires the student to do work outside of class or go to the resources available through GT to understand the material. I can look up the highest quality lectures on any subject on YouTube, it doesn't mean I will understand any of it without the proper legwork.

FWIW I meant the diploma is identical, the actual experience will obviously vary. Some people will get better outcomes online, some will get better outcomes in person.

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