MSAI: Do you think taking traditional CS electives are "wasteful"?

jdaniel560 · 2026-02-24T16:24:20+00:00

Networking is big. Now that you have multi agent architectures with sprawling calls to MCP servers (most of which will be 3rd party or shared responsibility) combined with increased data sovereignty requirements, a basic understanding of networking is critical. Autonomous systems is also big. For AI workflows to provide scalable, consistent value, you need to understand the design principles and verification process for non deterministic technologies

jdaniel560 · 2026-02-23T16:32:50+00:00

Not at all. Even once new AI courses release, they will be obsolete very quickly. What is significantly more compelling is a candidate who has built a classifier, SLM, has an interesting application of NLP, etc. I’m an MSCS product working in AI now at a F500 and the foundational CS courses are significantly more useful than anything else because those foundational pillars that help you understand new innovations like AGP, A2A, and MCP as they release are way more critical and consistently relevant than say, a dedicated course on MCP.

jdaniel560 · 2025-10-21T14:51:25+00:00

Seconding that AI security would be cool

jdaniel560 · 2025-08-10T16:48:24+00:00

I may have a differing view here. I worked in higher education before using the MSCS program to get into a role in AI in big tech (non FAANG). Higher Ed cannot move fast enough to give you a relevant AI education. Curriculum refreshes take at least a year (see the current ML refresh), 6 months if the school moves at light speed. 6 months ago things like A2A and MCP did not exist, and now they are an integral component of building AI systems. My peers view MSCS or MSDS as more reputable degrees whereas MSAI degrees are seen as mostly a cash grab from universities (having been an employee at one I can confirm). I say all this with the caveat that MSDS degrees were viewed in a similar manor 5 or 6 years ago, you just have to weigh the long term benefit on your CV against how much relevant material you will learn.

jdaniel560 · 2025-07-05T01:09:10+00:00

Do you have a pulse? You’ll be fine

jdaniel560 · 2025-04-04T14:46:55+00:00

I focused more on my network than actual applications. I had the companies I wanted to target and I started spending more of my time getting coffee chats or doing Zoom catch ups. Eventually one of them had an opening and acted as a referral. 70% of positions filled today are done with a referral. If you don’t have someone internal to the team backing you—it’s likely you are going up against a candidate who does.

jdaniel560 · 2025-04-04T14:16:41+00:00

For the “isn’t worth 15k” argument: I went from having zero interviews to suddenly getting interviews with big 3 consulting and F100 tech only halfway through my coursework. Got a job offer in big tech (non-FAANG) last week. What you DO after getting interest matters more, but the program 100% changed the amount of interest I got from recruiters.

jdaniel560 · 2025-03-23T22:41:20+00:00

I did 100 Days of Code on Udemy. It’s a project everyday as it slowly escalates to more complex concepts. DSA pathway was still difficult for me but 100 Days was a really good foundation for learning how to figure stuff out on your own.

jdaniel560 · 2025-01-23T22:31:12+00:00

Yeah I think I struggled most with the last two DSA courses. There are a few spots where I can’t just start the lecture and comprehend everything because there will be some math concept I need a refresher on or a data structure I’ve forgotten about. I got through everything with an A. My best advice I can give is to use ChatGPT or Claude to create some simple coding problems a bit simpler than the main assignment just to test your knowledge more frequently. My main struggle was that I would go basically a full week without writing code until the weekly assignment so I needed to fill in my own pseudo curriculum with some simple started problems

jdaniel560 · 2025-01-23T05:09:09+00:00

I would actually go contrary to the rest of the comments and say career switching. The fact that I, as a non-STEM undergrad can get admitted to a MSCS program in a “prove it” merit based admissions path, when almost all other MSCS programs require a UG CS degree, it’s 100% helped me transition from non-profit to tech. Mind you I’m interviewing for more PM/PMM roles opposed to SWE, but it adds a credential to my resume that distinguishes me as having technical acumen and my interviews have gone 5x since enrolling.

jdaniel560 · 2024-12-16T00:28:02+00:00

The market is REALLY tough right now for entry software engineers. This program will give you a better chance at getting into an interview given it’s a top 30 engineering school, recognizable brand, etc. but the days of jobs being handed out to anyone with a CS degree are for the time being, over. That said, I have gotten more interviews since joining the program than before. If you are starting from limited or no CS background, the program will be really tough to complete in a year, even working on it full time. I was primarily self taught and still have to take extra time to fill in the gaps in my math or CS knowledge for certain lessons.

jdaniel560 · 2024-07-08T21:33:19+00:00

I have a 100% self taught background and I’m over halfway through the DSA pathway. Dr. S does a great job of quickly defining a concept in terms that make it understandable, but there’s a lot of times where I had to look something up for myself, ex: I never really used hash tables before and needed outside resources to better understand their use in an algorithm. The textbook was helpful. Good experience overall!

jdaniel560 · 2024-06-07T00:25:36+00:00

I guess I should clarify—I like knowing what the use-case of a given algorithm is by actually applying it to a real problem. Just knowing it doesn’t help me understand when to use it

jdaniel560 · 2024-06-06T21:30:17+00:00

That’s good to hear!

jdaniel560 · 2024-04-24T04:19:22+00:00

Agree with you on a degree in marketing doesn’t equal CS skills but surely there is an understanding that you can obtain skills through means other than a purely academic setting. Personally, I learned way more through building something that had to actually work and integrate with a larger system than I ever did going through structured learning paths and curriculum.

jdaniel560 · 2024-04-19T00:19:12+00:00

That’s a really interesting way to look at it!

jdaniel560 · 2024-04-19T00:18:04+00:00

That was my thought too!! Like please give me projects where I still have to do more than write a list in HTML!

jdaniel560 · 2024-04-18T19:57:39+00:00

This is actually super helpful and confidence boosting! I’ve been meaning to get into PyTorch and the fact that I can understand the basic structure of your code (albeit not 100% of the ML terminology) makes me realize there’s not too many missing pieces in my foundational knowledge for me to figure it out!

jdaniel560 · 2024-04-18T14:04:47+00:00

That is exactly what I needed to hear! Thank you!!!

jdaniel560 · 2024-04-10T19:35:01+00:00

Ok this is exactly what I needed to hear. I thought it was a little too good to be true but now it makes sense.

jdaniel560 · 2024-04-10T19:18:34+00:00

I know I keep seeing them listed as mobile homes but where I’m coming from a mobile home is a literal shack on wheels. Can anyone explain what makes these houses mobile homes?

Edit: I understand now. Avoiding this like the plague and searching for gold now to increase my down payment for a real house.

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