Masters in Computer Science with work experience but bachelor's in different area

[imdevin567]

Hello everyone. I am very interested in getting a Masters degree in Computer Science, however my Bachelor's degree is in Sports Management. That being said, I have 3 years of programming experience and am have been working as a Software/Systems Engineer. I am not interested in a second Bachelor's degree since I do not want to start from the beginning, but more or less expand on my current knowledge. 

I have read similar posts but most do not have much work experience in the industry and they are trying to just get started. With a few years of experience under my belt, this situation is slightly different I guess (or is it not?). 

I am also fully prepared to take a few undergrad classes before admission to get up to speed a bit--possibly Discrete Mathematics, an algorithms course, and basic theory. I am also not dead-set on the degree being Computer Science--I am open to Information Systems, Information Technology, Software Engineering, etc. Online programs are a big plus too.

I am currently leaning heavily on Harvard's ALM in Extension Studies, Information Technology with a Software Engineering speciality. I like that admission is based on preliminary courses rather than Bachelor degree courses. The caveat is the usual for the ALM--it's actually a degree in Extension Studies, not a Master of Science. That being said, the program itself looks great and I could look past that! 

My questions: 
- What programs out there would be a good fit for me based on my background?
- Many MBA programs are big on work experience and require a resume--are there similar programs for computer science/engineering?
- Has anyone else been through a similar scenario? What did you do?

Thanks in advance!

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I'm in a somewhat similar situation. I didn't have the 3 years programming experience you have, however. I wanted to go from a liberal arts/social science field in Linguistics to a computation-heavy field in Computational Linguistics. Now, the majority of people in Comp Ling have a bachelor's in computer science. I'm one of the few without one. That being said, I still ended up going for a minor in comp sci to add to my linguistics BA. 

 

Discrete Mathematics didn't require any math prereqs aside from basic College Algebra. My master's program required a Probability and Statistics for Comp Sci course (which was equivalent to Stochastic Methods at my school). The prereqs for that class were Calculus 1 and Calculus 2. In order to take Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis, I needed to take Intro to Programming in C and Foundations of Comp Sci (with lab). After all those classes, I ended up taking three more upper division comp sci electives (Automata Theory, Data Mining, and Software Engineering). 

 

I guess the moral of the story is, if you plan on taking a few undergrad classes to catch up, you need to plan on spending at least a year doing so. Most classes have prereqs. I spent 5 semesters playing catch-up (2 summers, 2 springs, 1 fall) since I didn't have some of the math prereqs. 

Edited August 23, 2013 by JoeyBoy718

[juilletmercredi]

I think if you are willing to take the undergraduate classes for prerequisites, then you should be able to get into a CS program - but as the above poster has already said, plan to take a few semesters to account for sequenced courses.  Generally speaking you'd probably have to take at least 5-7 CS courses to get into a CS master's program.

 

That number might be fewer at management information systems (MIS) and IT type programs.  They also tend to emphasize work experience more than coursework.  A lot of them are online and designed for professionals.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Yeah, 5-7 sounds right. And that's not including the math prereqs you need to take those classes. You need Calc 1, Calc 2, Probability + Stats, and Discrete Math to take most upper division CS classes. The minor in CS at my school is those 4 math classes plus 6 CS classes. 3 of the 6 CS classes are the prereqs for every upper division CS class. The major at my school, I believe, is another 5-6 CS classes plus 2 physics classes and a few other science classes. It's not something you can do in one semester.