MS in CS from GaTech

I've graduated from my second Master's degree—this time, an MS in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology #YellowJackets in Fall 2024.

It’s such a moment of relief to reach the finish line. I started the program in 2020, during a time when many of us started work from home. Some might say it was the perfect moment to invest spare time in something gainful, and I couldn’t think of a better way to use my time than to systematically pursue graduate-level education in computer science.

My Journey

My career took a detour after I finished my first Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in February 2016 #FightingEngineers. I found myself increasingly drawn to the growing field of Data Science. Back then, everyone was excited about the fields potential and applications across industries. I transitioned into the field but soon realized the vast corpus of material one needs to master to be productive and provide real value.

Data Science is an ever-evolving field, and I found myself constantly trying to keep up. MOOCs were just starting to gain traction at the time, and I became addicted to platforms like edX.org, Coursera, Lynda.com, YouTube videos, Medium blog posts, and O’Reilly books. While these resources were helpful, I realized that filling the gaps in my understanding—and more importantly, pursuing a structured pedagogy—required systematic education rather than random MOOCs.

Coming out of a grueling Master’s thesis program, I didn’t have the appetite to pursue another on-campus Master’s program. That’s when I discovered Georgia Tech’s Georgia Tech OMSCS program. It was fully online, affordable compared to other programs, and offered courses highly relevant to my career. Most importantly, it was a legitimate MS in CS degree. After some deep research and conversations with current students, I was convinced of its value and decided to take the plunge in Spring 2020.

The Challenges

My first class was Software Analysis and Design (SAD), which was entirely Java-based. It was more than I could handle at the time, so I withdrew and switched to the Database class in Fall 2020, which was easier for me as I was already working as a Data Engineer. Despite having lot of experiance working with Databases I found myself getting B in the exams, which exposed the gaps in my knowledge. This experience taught me a valuable lesson: working in a field every day doesn’t automatically make you an expert, and academic knowledge is indispensable for becoming truly well-rounded. It took me a little while but I was able to re-enroll in SAD and get a A in the course.

Doing a fully online Master’s in early 2020 was still a relatively new concept. To get some camaraderie I felt the need to connect and network with other OMS students in Toronto. That’s when I connected with Cesar Osorio . He was finishing his last course (GA) while I was just starting the program. Cesar and some pioneering students in Toronto had started meeting in person once a semester, sharing stories on semster struggles, projects and jobs, and this ritual has helped grow the Toronto chapter into a strong network over the years.

Building Connections

While I connected with students in Toronto, I also needed to find and engage with my coursemates for support and accountability, so I'd reach out to folks that I knew who were enrolled in the same course. Over the semesters that snowballed into the GaTech Indian Group. This was a happy coincidence with connections across the world given the global nature of the OMS classroom. Along with doing the courses I was having fun getting to know new classmates from various walks of life; Many were juggling jobs, kids, mortgages, career transitions, health issues, and more—all while tackling the demanding coursework and exams. Some were looking to transition into IT, while others were already in senior positions but still wanted to stay updated with the field and took to OMS. It was inspiring to see so many motivated individuals pouring their time and energy into this rigorous program and gave me immense motivation to keep going till I reach the finish line.

Reflections

Getting out of the OMS program, I am in awe of the profound impact this program has had—not just on my life, but on the lives of so many others. The rigorous coursework pushed me to expand my intellectual horizons, while the inspiring stories of my classmates motivated me to grow both personally and professionally. The memories I’ve made—through sleepless nights, challenging weekends, and moments of triumph and failures— all that I will cherish far beyond the program.

This program allowed me to bridge gaps in my understanding in foundational areas such as Computer Networks, Software Architecture, Databases, Software Development, and Graduate Algorithms. It also introduced me to fascinating new topics like Health Informatics and AI Ethics and Society. More importantly, I had the chance to focus on ML related subjects like Machine Learning, ML for Trading, Deep Learning, and Knowledge-Based AI.

The program’s rigor ensures that those who have the grit to reach the finish line emerge stronger, more knowledgeable, and more resilient than when they began. Like any intellectual pursuit, you get out what you put in and that definitely applies for OMSCS courses as well. I may have completed the OMSCS prgram but will be lurking around as GaTech continues to add Era relevant courses to its catalog like quantum computing, NLP, social and ubiquitous computing and many advanced courses.

Gratitude

I thank my coursemates for making this journey awesome:

coursemates: Aniket Sharma , Pallavi Kotturu , Akhila Abraham , Nukta Bhatia , Satish Suresh Kumar , Ratan S. , Mitesh Modi , Ritesh Raj Singh , Ganga Ramya S. , Nandhakumar Thangavelu , James Montgomery , Berkekmekci , Edward Boykin , Juandiego Marquez , Nathan Maynes , Priyank Agrawal , @jigar patel, Kirankumar Kulkarni , @Tom Nguyen, @janani chandrasekar, Joydeep Bhattacharjee , Tanishq Sandhu , Chuangxin Lin, Ph.D. ,Joel Foo

to awesome alumni like Chenyang Shi , Vinod Seshadri , Jim Lohse , Pushkar Shrivastav , Saritha G, Harkirat Virk and Prashanth Aditya Susarla

to my advisor Angie Zuniga Morgan

to Prof David Joyner for being awesome and providing leadership to the OMSCS revolution

And finally, to Sathya Subramanian , my friend and copilot throughout this journey for being a great accountability buddy.

And as we say at GaTech:

The revolution will be online!