Non CS major applying to CS grad programs

[jackdacker]

Does anyone have any experience applying to CS grad school without undergraduate course work in Computer Science?

I majored in Business (Econ and Finance) as an Undergraduate.

I've worked for a couple years since college as both an IT consultant and web developer and recently decided that I'd like to look into Computer Science grad school.

I'm particularly interested to know whether it would be better to get a post-bacc in CS before applying to graduate schools, or whether I should look for programs that would be willing to take non-traditional applicants.

I'm still at an early stage of researching my options so any advice would be great.

[hvasilev]

Its probably possible, but they might compel you to take some extra courses, depending on the university. .

[victor.s.andrei]

Its probably possible, but they might compel you to take some extra courses, depending on the university. .

Oh, they most certainly will.

[victor.s.andrei]

Does anyone have any experience applying to CS grad school without undergraduate course work in Computer Science?

I majored in Business (Econ and Finance) as an Undergraduate.

I've worked for a couple years since college as both an IT consultant and web developer and recently decided that I'd like to look into Computer Science grad school.

I'm particularly interested to know whether it would be better to get a post-bacc in CS before applying to graduate schools, or whether I should look for programs that would be willing to take non-traditional applicants.

I'm still at an early stage of researching my options so any advice would be great.

1. IT is not Computer Science, though there is some overlap.

2. You need the following undergrad courses: discrete mathematics, digital logic / computer architecture, intro software engineering, and data structures / algorithms. Strongly recommend calculus too.

[ssk2]

There are several Master's courses for people without a CS undergraduate degree, you might want to contact them and find out exactly what pre-requisite couses might be required.

E.g.

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/future/masters/mscs

http://www.cis.upenn.edu/grad/mcit/index.shtml

http://www.csd.cs.cmu.edu/education/master/index.html

[jackdacker]

Thanks for the advice guys.

[lookingandcooking]

Hello, is there any more information on this topic?

 

 

Are there other programs apart from the 3 already mentioned?

What are the job opportunities?

Does anyone have personal, or direct experience with this path?

Is the industry welcoming of such change in career / course individuals?

Is the economy favorable for such a switch i.e are tech companies, start ups etc willing to absorb slight older individuals? 

 

Please, anyone with some information, give some insight. 

[josefchung]

Hi lookingandcooking,

 

I think the most important (and almost prerequisite) thing that a non-CS major can do, aside from taking CS courses, is to do well on the CS subject GRE. The test is of pretty high difficulty and even CS majors have trouble doing well on the test. Doing well on this test is a very positive signal that you are prepared to do graduate work on CS. From what I have heard, many programs will take applications from non-CS majors with good scores on the CS subject GRE test. If you can couple a good CS GRE score with good grades on a few CS courses, then you should be in good shape for a lot of the programs!

 

As for the transition to CS, if you have a good math/stats/science background, then the transition will be easier than from a non-science major. If you are from a non-science major, it is important to get a good fundamental understanding of logic and discrete mathematics that will be used throughout CS topics.

 

As for getting into the industry, your skills matter far more than your pedigree or anything else. If you can demonstrate good skills and knowledge in grueling many hours-long technical interviews, then you should be in good shape.