absracto

WOW, thanks! I had no idea that option was even available. I can't thank you enough for this valuable advice. Here is my new plan sketch after feedback from your post and the others: * Take UCSC extension courses in computer science / programming (brush up on skills, try to get A's to help offset previous low GPA) * Take the CS GRE (with lots of preparation) * Attempt to enter grad program as NON-DEGREE student, complete a few courses, apply for regular status. * Before doing any of this, speak to an admissions officer and ask them to help refine my plan and offer advice.

Kudos for the informative post! That's crazy you are even going to the same school I want to go to. Congrats + I'm jealous Yeah, I should probably talk to the admissions department before jumping into this and get a feel of their "impact factor" rating for certain online schools. Yeah, I hear ya. That is how I bootstrapped my career actually. My degree was nice to have, but was really only useful in order to make it past the "must have a bachelor degree, period" employee filters, and what landed me my first solid programming job was an app that I built and released on the internet. Maybe I could do a project that was "brainy" enough to impress the admissions people and/or faculty for a CS Masters degree program. OTOH, I do actually want to brush up on my CS skills before attempting to enter grad school (on a part-time basis). Maybe a combination of some UCSC extension classes with good grades (I hope they give grades for those courses), and publishing interesting/challenging open source project... that might be the ticket. Thanks for the ideas!

I got a bachelors in Math from a good UC school in 1999 and have been working as a professional programmer ever since. Unfortunately, my upper division major classes GPA was a 2.5, the absolute minimum needed to graduate. To make things worse I pretty much bombed the Math section of the GRE. My goal: I want to get a Master's in CS. Part of it for enhancing my career, and the other part for when the day comes that I'm too old to be a programmer, I can teach CS in a university. That seems a lot better than trying to take a management/executive track, since I dislike that stuff. I realize I'm in no shape to apply to any decent grad school with my current academic record. But, now I have a plan! (watch out people, he's got a plan) Actually, before going any further .. if you are reading this and thinking to yourself "Hmm, I know what I'd do in that situation", please post it before having your thoughts skewed by my plan. So, uh, here's my plan: I'm gonna RAISE my GPA by taking more undergraduate courses, and get it as close to a 3.0 as I can (the grad school I'm currently aiming for, UCSC, requires a 3.0 minimum). I will take undergrad CS courses, and am confident I will do very well since I'm a professional programmer and I already have a good feel for the material. Either I'd take these courses outside of any degree program, and just "average them in" to my first degree. Or, possibly do a complete 2nd undergraduate degree. Depends on: * Can undergrad classes taken after a completed degree, in a different but highly related subject, just be "averaged in" to raise the GPA of the first degree? Does it really depend on the admissions officer how they will subjectively treat it? * If I did a 2nd undergrad degree, could a I use classes from my 1st degree to satisfy pre-reqs and avoid re-taking certain classes? (I guess I should just ask the prospective schools) * If I did a 2nd undergrad degree, would I have to re-take general education? Or could that be transferred over from my first degree? (ditto) * What's a better overall approach -- "average in" or whole new 2nd degree? For these classes / undergrad program, I was planning to enroll at Regis (http://www.regisuniversity.org/degrees- ... cience.php) or something equivalent. I want to do this online if possible, since it would be way more convenient. Not sure how much clout / impact factor these schools have though in terms of being recognized by grad schools. Any tips on finding a good online program that will be at least moderately esteemed by grad schools? Oh and I would retake the GRE. This time in CS, not Math. I would prepare for it and would expect to do much better. After looking at a few practice questions, it didn't look horrendously difficult (like math was). So does this plan have any sliver of chance of getting me into a CS Masters @ UCSC? If not, what is the recommended path?