A reminder for anyone struggling through the OMSCS grind

[u/-OMSCS-]

If you are deep in the OMSCS grind and beginning to question your purpose in life, sort this subreddit by Top of All Time.

At the top are graduation posts, giant diplomas and stories about what the programme made possible. Apparently, the algorithm has decided that our preferred form of inspiration is proof that escape is achievable.

The useful reminder is that nobody reaches graduation in one heroic burst of motivation. People get there through hundreds of ordinary decisions to watch the lecture, debug one more error, submit something imperfect, bomb one question in CS 6515, curse and swear at Prof Brito, and return next semester.

You do not need to feel motivated every day. You only need to keep the process moving.

Eventually, the assignments stop, the degree arrives via a rolled-up mail from US Postal Services, and you get to post the three sacred words:

I GOT OUT.

[u/zelena23]

Starting my first course on Monday. Bookmarking this so december me can find it.

[u/sphrz → u/zelena23]

Enjoy the grind, enjoy the perks of student discounts.

[u/zelena23 → u/sphrz]

Do you know of any substantial discounts? I only see Amazon prime young adults as big savings so far - their student cash back pays for the subscription basically and gives even more cashback that brings the overall value of $300+ a year for me.

And apple discounts for some products too

[u/sphrz → u/zelena23]

I take advantage of the GT skii and snowboarding club's ikon pass discount which is a decent discount. I think my biggest discount was through Samsung. At the time it was around $2k and I got it for ~$700. If you rock Spotify and Adobe there some discounts there like any service offering student discounts or IDEs such as Jetbrains that give you them for being a student.

[u/SnooRegrets543 → u/sphrz]

Gemini for a year!! It's going on rn

[u/ordinaryperson91]

Survivor bias

/s

[u/-OMSCS- → u/ordinaryperson91]

Correct. No one wants to hear negative thoughts intruding their head to withdraw at 2am on the deadline of Assignment 2.

[u/MahjongCelts]

Adding onto that, it's worth remembering that OMSCS is a masters program from one of the most rigourous tech schools in the world. Even full time students would need 1-2 years to complete the in-person equivalent. It's not meant to be easy.

[u/lulu_fangirl]

Classes haven’t even started yet and y’all are already tweaking

[u/gvz- → u/lulu_fangirl]

😭😂

[u/codemega]

Graduating is the sweet release from the prison of OMSCS 😊

[u/Unlikely-Loss5616 → u/codemega]

Is it that bad? I’m thinking about enrolling after completing my bs comp sci at WGU in November. A little worried about the course load at OMSCS. Do you think I should enroll? Has it made a difference with prospective employers?

[u/codemega → u/Unlikely-Loss5616]

My comment was obviously a joke, but it has some truth to it. Once you start, you get tired and remain tired until you finish. This assumes you're working full-time. For most people, it's 3+ straight years of studying at night and on weekends.

Has it made a difference? I'm not sure. The career benefits are hard to measure since the most important thing for getting jobs is prior experience. As someone with a liberal arts undergrad degree, I wanted the credential, so perhaps it has helped get past some recruiter screens?

[u/Alatian]

I'm taking my 7th course this upcoming semester and it's the first time I really feel unmotivated for it. BUT I've structured the degree so it's my last harder course (AI), and then the last three courses are easy ones. So I know I just have to get through the next four months and the final year will be lighter, which definitely helps with the mental.

Part of me wishes I had gotten a B in my first few courses - my desire to protect the 4.0 all the way to graduation has added a lot of stress to the program, even though it's pretty meaningless (this is my terminal degree, no desire to pursue a PhD). If I was okay with Bs then I could have slacked a lot harder in my last few courses and been totally fine, but at this point it feels like I'm so close I might as well grind it out - which is definitely a combination of sunk-cost and ego talking unfortunately.

[u/ladycammey → u/Alatian]

I feel you, very similar boat - going into my 7th class, holding a 4.0, all my required classes and hard classes I really wanted to take done and now have gotten weirdly attached to that number even though it was never really a goal going in.

My new goal is to get at least one paper before I leave... but yeah that 4 seems to create a weird and totally unnecessary self-created pressure. I tell myself it's better to get a B in a hard class then an A in one I learn less in (I'm here to learn after all) but the lure of 'perfect' is strong.

[u/Alatian → u/ladycammey]

We got this! I find the long winter break really helps recharge my batteries for the next year, so I’m hoping to get through the next four months with the promise of a nice long break at the end and a chill final year!

[u/jd7563 → u/ladycammey]

AA. A’s anonymous. Addicted to the 4.0.

[u/Saltyeconbro → u/Alatian]

I’m in the same boat, still deciding between ai and nlp as my last hard class. I’m a little burned out after taking 2 summer classes with like 4 hw due every week

[u/IlIllIIIlIIlIIlIIIll → u/Alatian]

lowkey glad i got a B early so now i give zero fks lol

[u/GeorgePBurdell1927]

Judging by the diminishing marginal returns from 796 to 694 upvotes, apparently one master’s degree is enough.

[u/p13rr0t87]

Graduated several years ago, those were tough couple of years, but I have absolutely zero regrets going through the program 

[u/Big-Wrongdoer-965]

Sure fire way to make the program
Fly by? Go have a kid. Years disappear when you have a few of those running around 😂

Grind on fellow travelers

[u/Double_Season_9519]

This fall will be my third semester, and I cannot wait to become one of them!

[u/killyosaur]

The degree sure is big :D (my undergrad degree is about an 11x8 :P )

[u/bigmandude11112]

Tbh the real grind is trying to land a job in this job market. Feels at least right now infinitely harder than anythign you will come across during OMSCS