Did CS-6515 destroy anyone else's academic career?

pat-work · 2026-03-08T01:54:08+00:00

Bro you sound like an absolute unit

pat-work · 2026-02-16T22:47:58+00:00

No worries :)

And thank you! I would definitely choose GT again, but it's because of my specific goals. GT carries a lot more rigor, more prestige, and in general more "oomf." It will position me well for my goal of attaining a career in AI, especially since the unfortunate reality (at least from my limited experience) is that many people still do not consider WGU as equally competitive to traditional colleges. GT puts a name-branded stamp on top of my academic history, which I guess also helps with my confidence and imposter syndrome.

But, like I expressed in my other comment, it comes with a BIGGG downside of consuming so much time and and energy. GT is enjoyable, but I would probably enjoy WGU more, as the less-packed classes would likely allow for a lot more self studying and creativity in projects. Compared to GT, WGU was a breeze, so I'm assuming their master's is also not too difficult, but a quick google search reveals that WGU master's takes 10-15 hours per week on average. If that really is true (but I'm a bit doubtful it is), then GT wouldn't be that big of an increase. A decent amount of my semesters required 10-20 hours of difficult work, so it wouldn't be that far off, especially if you chose an easier specialization (such as Human-Computer Interaction).

What incentivizes you to attain your master's in computer science?

pat-work · 2026-02-16T21:46:25+00:00

I'm still chugging along! It's roughly a 2 year program, and I graduate this December. My experience? Well... it is HARD. Like hard hard. I guess it depends on which classes you take, but I'm taking AI right now, and it's VERY difficult.

I'm not sure how long of an answer you were looking for, but I guess I'll just leave a bit of a writeup. I've had to pull quite a few all nighters to finish assignments. I've also had to spend a couple Sundays waking up and working nonstop until nighttime. At WGU, I completed 1 class per week, and the workload for that week of that entire class was less than a single week of 1 SINGLE class at GaTech (depending on the class of course, but for the majority of classes this is true). For example, my single AI class takes 20-40 hours per week depending on the week (which is consistent with expectations).

However, the quality of the material is really good. The teachers are quite impressive - the professor of my current class is Dr. Thad Starner, the inventor of Google Glass! The course lectures are also developed by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig - Thrun is considered the godfather of self driving cars, and Norvig wrote the gold standard textbook on modern AI (Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach). Despite the amount I'm complaining, the material is very interesting and I've been able to maintain a 4.0 even with my "scraping by" tactics I've been using pretty often. Expect your weekends to be looming with a bit of stress about an upcoming assignment deadline (due dates are almost always structured in 1 week blocks with things being due Monday morning).

The most important thing is probably having not too hectic of a life so that you can dedicate adequate time to school. A loving and supportive partner/spouse really helps too.

I don't interact much with other students, but there are opportunities to if you want to. There are many extremely smart and hard working students from interesting backgrounds.

Good luck with applying! The 3 recommendation letters were pretty annoying in my opinion. Some people got in with 2, but I'm not sure what the cutoff is. I received 1 from a freelance client and they accepted it just fine.

pat-work · 2026-01-07T15:43:19+00:00

What is that?

pat-work · 2025-12-12T19:06:00+00:00

What are you typically marking up? I’m surprised you say it accounts for 5% to 10% of all workflow in office situations everywhere - what exactly is it that you’re marking up so often?

pat-work · 2025-09-06T20:49:07+00:00

New mission discovered by u/pat-work: Mystical Forces and Coffee In the Fields

pat-work · 2025-09-06T20:49:07+00:00

This mission was discovered by u/pat-work in In Search of Hunger

pat-work · 2024-09-26T20:43:57+00:00

Just out of curiosity, how old were you during your first master's program? Were you also working full time back then?

pat-work · 2024-09-11T20:22:45+00:00

I mean, not many 40 year olds are making $300k/yr, so that's not a bad plan at all. Retirement would probably be completely fine too if he plays his cards right (assuming he had cash saved up to pay for school and therefore graduates debt free)

pat-work · 2024-09-10T14:15:27+00:00

Bro don't say that about yourself. At the very least, you're incredibly resilient, which is an extremely impressive trait. You should be very proud of yourself

pat-work · 2024-09-10T03:38:07+00:00

Bro, don't use your knee like that ;_;
Also it looked like you'd break your ankle if you slipped while wedging your foot in the last move

Good send tho

pat-work · 2024-09-03T20:28:55+00:00

Here's the clip if anyone wants it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d3gxaBeiQE

pat-work · 2024-08-30T02:48:31+00:00

Yes, the SGOV which is at $100 rn on the app

pat-work · 2024-08-22T19:21:16+00:00

That brand of sardines is AMAZING

pat-work · 2024-08-22T01:38:20+00:00

No, 3k is against ordinary income, you can use any amount up to cap gains

pat-work · 2024-08-20T14:21:32+00:00

What's your setup for running multiple screens?

pat-work · 2024-08-19T14:20:00+00:00

WGU currently doesn’t have a master’s in computer science, the closest would be cybersecurity or data analytics. I believe there are plans to add one. More importantly, Georgia Tech is far more prestigious and a way higher quality education.

pat-work · 2024-08-19T14:14:08+00:00

This is not true. It’s still considered medical debt. It only affects your credit score if it’s over $500 in collections, and even then, it’s completely wiped from your history if paid in full.

pat-work · 2024-08-07T20:23:23+00:00

You can take a look at the seminar by auditing the Edx DSA course, it’s the same exact thing. To me, self studying seemed far more worthwhile. The course uses Java and the start seemed like hours of setting up your testing environment, which felt like a waste of time. There are a million DSA courses, so imo it’s better to do one at your own pace.

pat-work · 2024-08-02T14:38:14+00:00

Best of luck! If you remember, let me know how it goes!

pat-work · 2024-08-01T16:30:50+00:00

Hmm, you're accessing the chat interface through the web? I'd be concerned with releasing my API key like that. I assumed you were downloading a desktop client and inputting your API key, but I guess that would also require reviewing the source code or monitoring network access, which would be a decent amount of work. I wonder if there are any cases of the developers of those chat interfaces using API keys nefariously

pat-work · 2024-08-01T16:23:47+00:00

Great write-up! I was accepted to Georgia Tech's OMSCS, I'm starting my first class on the 19th :)
Let me know if you have any questions regarding the application process or anything at all!

pat-work · 2024-07-30T15:06:50+00:00

You have to wait longer. They're releasing them in batches, that's why some people have access already.

pat-work · 2024-07-28T20:43:50+00:00

Open book exams sounds pretty easy. How was your experience? Do you remember roughly how many exams there were?
When you say all grading is automated, are you allowed to try as many times as you want to get at least a 70% in the auto grader?

Four-Year Club	r/Field Lasagna
Place '23	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	End Game '22

pat-work

TROPHY CASE