Aurora15

I bought the North Face Surge backpack last Fall for my first semester as a grad student. It has a really nice, padded area for your laptop in a completely separate zipper compartment. I highly recommend it!

Look further into the Computer Science forum here at the Grad Cafe. There are a few MS programs out there for students that do not have a bachelors degree in CS or a related field, including the University of Chicago, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Pennsylvania. I am a student in one such program, the University of Pennsylvania's MCIT program. I have a Bachelors degree in Photography and a Masters in Secondary English Education. After having some serious hardships finding a job and realizing how much I loved computing, I applied to the program. After 2 semesters, I can code in 4 different programming languages and I'll be starting my summer internship as a junior software engineer tomorrow! It's an excellent program and I know a number of graduates who have very steady, fun, well-compensated jobs because of it. You might also want to consider going to one of the many coding schools that have popped up in recent years. They don't have the clout and prestige that a master's degree from a university will give you, but they may help you get your foot in the door. There's a full list of them here: http://bootcamper.io/t/type/in-class

Congrats for committing to MCIT! You'll really like it! Feel free to send me a message here if you have any questions!

No, in my experience, employers really do not care about the title of your degree. What they care about is the skill set you acquired through your education.

I am in the MCIT program. There is one other thing that's great about Penn - the summer internship. I'm not sure if Chicago has this, but a majority of MCIT students do a summer internship (after their second semester). Interning is optional -- you find it on your own, you get no credits for it, but it will give you a some great experience (and a paycheck). Many of my colleagues are interning at very prestigious places - Amazon, Goldman Sachs, etc. I am interning at a start-up in Philadelphia. There's a decent amount of start-ups in Philly. I applied to many start-ups in the area and got quite a few interviews. Penn's Career Services is great - lots of good resources, advice, and organized career fairs (including a Start-up Fair). MCIT is excellent. In September, I didn't know how to code at all. I didn't even think I could ever get an internship 9 months later. But here I am, able to program in at least 4 languages, able to recognize the right data structures and algorithms to use for a particular problem, ...it's incredible.

I am really excited and nervous! Classes start in 2 weeks and I am feeling unprepared for the huge change in schedule. I've been a "housewife" for the past 9 months and now I'm going to have to go to class, juggle assignments, in addition to my regular tasks. I've been actively stalking my professors' websites to find out what books to buy. It drives me crazy that some of them still haven't posted this information. I'm really looking forward to my campus tour next week. And the food trucks. Yum!

I hear you. I graduated 5 years ago with a masters in education. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said and is still claiming that there's a huge demand for teachers. There's not. I could not get a permanent position after 5 years of putting in my time as a substitute teacher. Now I have 2 useless degrees and nothing to show for it. I'm heading back to grad school in a few weeks for yet another degree...this time in computer science. Hopefully I haven't been lied to about the job prospects in that field. If it gives you any hope, many businesses do hire non business majors. I was hired as a brokerage assistant for a major financial company with my degree in photography! Why? Because they wanted someone who could type fast. So if you are worried about your debts, try looking for jobs in other areas. You'll be surprised what you can do. Good luck to you.

I can't believe I'm starting Penn in less than 3 weeks! Anyone else doing the graduate campus tour on August 21st?

I'm starting my Master in CS in the fall and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what computer is best. My program is one of those designed for non-CS undergrads. I know that I will be programming in Scala, Java, and Python. The lab at school is a Linux lab. My only portable computer is a Lenovo Ideapad S12 - a netbook - and I don't think it will have enough memory for what I'll be doing. I guess the question is - should I buy a Mac, Windows, or Linux laptop? What do other CS grads use? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

You have a good chance of being accepted to Penn's MCIT program. The MCIT program is specifically meant for people who do not have a Bachelor Degree in CS. There are other similar programs like MCIT at Carnegie Mellon and Brandeis University. It doesn't matter if you have absolutely no programming experience. Your undergrad GPA, your GRE scores, your personal statement, and recommendation letters will determine whether you get in.

I've lived in and around Philadelphia my entire life. This is my take of the area: University City: You need to scope out the area before you rent. There are good areas and bad areas. 40th - 43rd St. between Walnut and Spruce are pretty nice, but see the homes/apartments before you rent. The upkeep of many places depends on the property owners. Some are good. Some not so much. Bad areas include 38th and Market on up. You can easily tell by the boarded up homes, trashed lots, and dark passageways that this is not the area for you. Powelton Village is okay. Lots of Drexel students live there. But stay only a block or two away from Powelton Ave. and between 34th and 32nd Streets. Beyond that, things will be shady and there are still reports of violent robberies in that area. Center City: It's really not as expensive as you may think. University City has become rather gentrified and the property owners have raised rent quite a bit in recent years, which means prices are almost comparable to things in Center City. Walking across the bridges isn't too bad to get to campus (Drexel or Penn). At least in Penn's case, you can get a pass to take Septa for a discounted fee. Both Drexel and Penn have some free shuttles that go into Center City, so you might also want to consider that. However, being in CC can disconnect you from the activities on campus, so you'd better be willing to make the trek to your apartment and back a few times per day to really participate in campus life (or cramming in the library life, or sitting in the lab life, etc.). Manayunk: Manayunk is considered one of the safest areas in Philadelphia, according to Philadelphia crime maps. Robberies are generally the most common, so get an alarm. The homes are excellent and Main Street has an amazing bar and restaurant scene. The train station is right there which will give you easy access to any point in the city. Many Temple students live in Manayunk due to the train being there. The cons of living in Manayunk are loud drunk college students walking around the neighborhood at night on the weekends. Parking on the steep sloped roads can be rather insane. Be prepared for your bumpers to be tested by your neighbors. Hope this info helps!

Brandeis University also has a program similar to Penn's MCIT program. There are two routes. One seems to allow you to just take courses without any real "degree" at the end of it. The other route gives you a Masters of Arts in Computer Science. You can check it out here: http://www.brandeis.edu/programs/computerscience/postbac/standalone.html http://www.brandeis.edu/programs/computerscience/postbac/masters.html To answer some other questions on this thread, Penn's MCIT program definitely holds some weight with employers. I have two friends who both completed the MCIT program after their liberal arts degrees didn't get them anywhere. They had jobs lined up (position titles: web developer; software engineer) before they graduated due to on-campus recruiting. If you want to see where the Class of 2012 ended up, how much they made, where they became employed, you can review all that info here: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/files/SEASM_CPSurv2012.pdf FYI: I am currently enrolled in the MCIT program.