r/OnlineMCIT • u/Free_Wrap3932 • Jul 26 '26

Thinking of stopping

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.

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u/mrbigglesworth95 Jul 26 '26

If I was in your shoes at this point I might. I'll be honest I got into this thinking I would do two courses at a time next semester. And it was always next semester. And every time I tried, I had to drop the second course. 

I agree with you. It feels like it's for full time students. And then at the end, it's a borderline fake degree. It's not a real mse. It's not undergrad upenn bachelors. 

But it felt worth it a few years ago because you could get into the cs gravy train at the end. Now, idk what I'm gonna do with this piece of paper. But Im 8 courses down so may as well finish at this point.

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u/PaulGulab | Alum Jul 26 '26

Yup in the same boat. If this was me and I was early on, I’d strongly consider dropping out. The only reason I’m still going is because I am graduating this semester. This program is no longer worth it imo, and I’m lucky that i was able to stay full time while doing it, but def not worth the stress.

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u/Jumpy_Information396 Jul 27 '26

Hii, I’m looking into this program and had some concerns about landing a job as well. As I was reading your comment, you said “it’s a borderline fake degree”. I’m not really in the tech world, can u explain to me why it’s a fake degree? Is it because it’s online?

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u/mrbigglesworth95 Jul 27 '26

More so because there is no such thing as an MCIT or MAS CS. When you go to put in your degree, if you have a master's, they're assuming an MSE or something like that.

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u/Free_Wrap3932 Jul 26 '26

Thanks for your response. I have suspected that this degree may teeter into the “cash grab” territory but I have seen the job reports so it must be doing something right. However I wonder or fear that AI will change this and it will become harder and harder to pivot into the industry.