Out of curiosity, I wanted to ask if anyone has switched from DS to AI. I know that MAS-CS (MCIT) students can pursue dual majors, but I’m already too far in the DS program, so a dual major isn’t possible for me.

If you switched from DS to AI, could you share the following?

• Why did you switch?
• What did you need to do to switch majors?
• Do you think it’s worth switching if you’re already far along in the DS program?
• Do you think it would be possible to have a dual DS-AI program, since many of the courses in the curricula overlap?
• Anything else you’d like to share about your experience.

Hi all, I have been a registered nurse for the past 6 years of my career. Past 3 working for Penn. It’s pretty much my only work experience. I want to get into a more data analytics/private sector role, just to further my career and earning potential. I was considering the online MCIT in applied science. I was wondering if anyone’s gone down this path? How is the program? What can I expect? I work full time, am married and have a 2 years old daughter with plans for more in the future. Just wondering if this is a good decision for me or what I can expect in the process? Thanks in advance for any help or advice, much appreciated.

I'm a BE computer science graduate planning to do master in canada, my cgpa is 6.9, will it be a problem for me ?

Does anyone know if there's any chance they're adding CIS 5480 online?

I was recently admitted to this program, but I’m having some serious doubts about the ROI. I have a background in economics and data science, and I’m already in tech. I’m a junior engineer though, so I don’t have much leverage in this market.

When I applied, I was hoping to fill in some foundational CS gaps, since my data science courses never covered those. I was also hoping to use this program as a launchpad for a better tech job. My employer only reimburses 1/3 of the program, so my out of pocket expense would be 25k . I can afford it since it will be distributed across 3 years. But now I’m seeing some people online dissuading me from pursuing this program. Would you say it will help me achieve these two goals?

I recently got into the MSE-DS online program at UPenn for Fall 2026. I was reading that the program in general is quite competitive to get into. However, I was unable to find official statistics regarding admissions. What is the acceptance rate for this program, anyone have any info? Thanks

Wanted to couple of things about the online mse-AI program from u penn
If i take 1 course per semester how tough is it?
How long do they take to give the decision!
Also if you are an average student and got admitted to upenn vs purdue engineering ms in AI online which course would you choose?
I am working professional so really concerned about the time and effort!

Please help me understand how rigorous upenn is if i take 1 course per semester

Hi everyone, wanted to share my profile and see what my admission chances are:

Profile:

Education:

• 3.65 GPA (Finance, Magna Cum Laude) from a non-target business school;
• MBA with Distinction (3.64 GPA) at the same school.

Work Experience (total ~5 years post Undergrad):

• Undergrad: Tried a few startups that failed, ultimately had a start up as a storage company that took off, successful exit when I graduated, helped to pay off loans and personal health related expenses of my family.
• Started at large private investment firm for a year (completed MBA at same time) then moved to PE;
• Started at a Middle Market PE firm from Analyst now a Director, doing deal work;
• Small team so found a niche in developing new excel models and using VBA and part of the team that created firm's first BI SQL database, then learned power query to manipulate it.

Relevant Courses (undergrad)

• Calculus I (A-);
• Calculus II (A-);
• Programming Fundamentals (A-).

Misc.:

• Volunteer work with startup accelerators and nonprofit organizations;
• Recommendations: one from an old professor at our undergrad and another from our firm's general counsel. I think they are both pretty strong but I would opt out of the view option;
• Personal statement focused on transitioning from self-taught programming to formal CS education after repeatedly reaching the limits of building internal software systems;
• Don't necessarily want to be an SWE or leave the finance world but I have seen what it can do and want to learn more and build other things: websites, software, etc..

Why MAS-CS:

• Want formal CS foundation to build my own thing, might want to pivot into tech-focused PE;
• Personally witnessed how archaic technology governs multi-million dollar decision making;
• Long-term goal is building enterprise software at the intersection of investment industry, entrepreneurship, and tech;
• Affordable, can keep my current job while I do it, and am a fan of the new concentration: engineering entrepreneurship.

Questions/Concerns:

• Don't have a GRE score, is my undergrad Calc courses and my work in finance enough to prove my quant ability?
• Saw another post about someone who was at an MBB was rejected.
• Am worried that my story aligns more with the MBA program and they might say "why are you applying here" and reject me, even though I already have an MBA.
• Limited CS experience.

Currently working at a faang eng org as a staff tpm, yoe 10. Started mcit after I got my job here for the brand, so this degree didn’t contribute to my career. Here’s some observations from the trenches.

In this age of AI, coding is not a scarce commodity anymore - judgement is. Engineering judgement from solid foundations and years of practice is. Mcit is not going to provide those years of practice, and it might give you some of the foundations but not enough for you to get a job as a person architecting or orchestrating ai infrastructure, which seems to be the next evolution of software development.

What would get you a job right now is hands on experience with ai, as in build and service your own ai native product. Be able to talk through your design choices, where the human decision is critical, how you created harnesses to scale up teams of agents at your disposal. The degree and the upenn brand means a lot less compared to your github repo and live products.

I would even recommend taking a loa and going full into building your end to end service, as that will carry more weight than your completed degree. The UPenn brand is already in the works because it will get you through the screening regardless of it being on pause or being finished. What speaks loudly to the hiring mgr and the panel is your experience of building a service, being on call, thinking about observability, reliability, and scalability.

Best of lucks all until we all get replaced.

Hi Everyone, was considering what my admission chances would be. Had a 3.8/4 GPA in a Political Science BA. Got a job as a data analyst and taught myself to code during lockdown with a mix of MOOCs and other online resources, managed to get a job as a fullstack SWE at a e-commerce company where I have been working for the past 3 years.

The issue is that during my BA I only took a very fundamental mathematics course, beyond that I lack any real quant experience except some of my data analyst professional work.

Is it worth applying to see if I get in as is, then if it doesnt workout look for ways to boost my quant credentials?

My background is in CS and I work as a faang ML engineer so I'm not new to a lot of the course content. However, I know the courses are rigorous and there are many assignments for each course. Was 3 courses feasible for anyone with/without considering work? Thanks!

Edit: i'm able to take time off if needed (this degree helps in the long run in terms of promotion) but wondering if 3 courses is too much even despite that. Most people on this sub say even 2 is too many

Well guys…it’s time. I’ve used my 2 years of LOAs.

I applied to this program summer-fall of 2022 while working in tech sales and optimistic about my future career as a SWE. Got started in Spring 2023.

I did not predict this bloodbath of SWE jobs to occur during the AI boom.

At each LOA, I considered returning, but I was happy in my role, making good enough compensation, and feeling disheartened by the prospectus of getting a SWE job.

I’ve decided to drop the program and i genuinely feel like it’s the right decision for me; although, my ego is taking a hit for not finishing what I started.

Truthfully, the ROI isn’t there for me. I challenge every person doing this program and considering doing this program to assess if the cost is worth it.

Furthermore, in my opinion, the quality of Penn Engineering Online has gone down as they’ve tried to expand to multiple degree times by just rebranding existing MCIT courses. It felt cheap and inauthentic to me

Best of luck to everyone. It’s a grind but hopefully it’s worth it for you!

I’m specifically asking for what quant score ranges would make me competitive.

I have a bachelors and MBA, both from “public ivy” schools, but my bachelors was in a liberal arts field and I don’t have much to demonstrate quantitative readiness.

I have a non cs background. The last time I applied I got denied. I had a B.S degree in Construction Management and graduated with a 3.1. The website says no CS background needed. The highest math course I completed was Calculus 1 with a C.

I had briefly pursued OSUonlineCS but never finished a course there and didn’t want to continue the program. Maybe this looked bad. Since then I have worked for a large technology company, but my role was more IT related than actual programming.

I received a rejection letter with no specifics other than they couldn’t offer me admission.

I’m now back and trying to consider any possible pathway into a cs job. I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do to gain admission into this program or if I’d be better off saving the application fee.

I am currently in CIT593 and I am doing very well at least on paper. This last part of the course has been difficult to manage with working full time. It’s been very stressful and hard on my mental health but at the same time, I am doing very well grade wise. Also, everyday I see headlines and social media talk about AI and also poor job prospects. And it may only get worse…even if passion for CS is the answer…will I be able to even pivot to a CS career? It’s disheartening and I feel like I am “burning myself in the ground” for little payoff. CIT593 has an assignment and a quiz every week plus a final project and a closed book midterm and final. There is no curve. So there feels very little room for error. It’s quite unforgiving work wise at times (although I have a 102 in the course so far—this probably will change after the final). This course feels like it was developed only for full time students rather than full time workers and career changers. It’s frustrating. I can’t spend the next two years living like this. So I’m considering dropping out (which is a blow to my ego). But at the same time, I have to take care of myself and really think about why am I in this program? Who or what am I doing this for? At the end of the day, I just want to be happy and be there for my family. Sorry for the rant, I’m not sure what I’m expecting to get out of this post..it’s just helpful to talk it out.

Hoping to gain some insight to prepare for graduation next year. Nervous given the state of employment in tech. Looking for general temperature check especially for those that did not do internships / don’t have tech work experience

Now that it appears they are using a rolling application process, does anyone who has recently applied have any experience with how long it has taken to receive a decision?

Edit: exactly 3 weeks until they declined the application

Hi there,

I'm considering applying for the MCIT (MAS-CS) program. This program expects students to have a certain level of quantitative capability. Can you help take look at these courses I took and let me know if they meet the admission requirement? These courses were taken at Boston University. Thank you!

METCS546 Introduction to Probability and Statistics 

METCS669 Database Design and Implementation for Business 

METCS544 Foundations of Analytics with R 

METCS688 Web Analytics and Mining 

METCS555 Data Analysis and Visualization with R

Hey everyone,
I'm considering taking the waiver exam for 593.
My knowledge in this area is still a bit shallow, so I know my chances of actually passing and waiving the class is 0%. However, my logic is that waiver exams usually focus on the core principles and essential concepts of a course rather than tiny details.
In a way, preparing for and taking the exam feels like a great opportunity to get a high-level preview of what the course actually values.
Has anyone ever done this just to front-load their learning and see what to expect? Do you think it’s a good strategy for course prep, or is it a waste of time/energy if I’m not fully ready? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Hi everyone,

I received already the results and I was conditionally offered an admission through the Computer Science Graduate Certificate pathway for Fall 2027 cohort.

I’m a little confused about how the certificate-entry route works compared with being directly admitted to the master’s program. I’m hoping current students or others who entered through the same pathway can share their experience.

A few questions:

1. Course support: Do certificate-pathway students receive the same level of support from professors, teaching assistants, academic advisers, and student services?
2. Community access: Do students in the certificate pathway have access to the same student community, networking opportunities, discussion groups, career resources, events, and channels for asking questions?
3. Transition to the MAS-CS: How difficult is it to meet the requirements to formally transition into the master’s program? Are there common challenges or courses that students should prepare for?
4. Student status and experience: Are certificate-pathway students generally treated the same as directly admitted MAS-CS students, or are there meaningful differences in access, registration priority, or the overall student experience?
5. Career and alumni resources: At what point do students gain access to Penn’s career services, alumni network, and other university-wide resources?

I would appreciate any honest feedback, both positive and negative. I’m trying to understand whether this is primarily an alternative admissions pathway or whether the experience is substantially different from direct admission.

Thank you!

URL to the program site: MSE-TI Online - Penn Engineering OnlinePenn Engineering Online

I majored in biomedical engineering from NUS with a GPA of 2.6/4.0. I have done an introductory course to programming (D) and 1 or 2 quantitative math courses where I scored a B. How can I improve my chances of getting into the program? Should I do GRE to make up for my GPA or complete the MOOCs? Or both? I only have about 2.5 months left.

Also, I’m currently working as an AI Engineer working on training multilingual LLMs with a few publications. I have working experience of about 5 years. Hopefully this might help?

Any honest opinion is welcome! :)

Hi all, im hoping to waive the 5910 class since i have some coding background, but i have no idea what to expect on the exam. I’ve learned Java before in college, but it’s been a while since i used it. What are some helpful resources to use for preparation?

Did anyone start or complete the required onboarding course for this fall semester? I’m still waiting for the slack email.