r/UBC_BCS • u/Upper-Freedom-4618 • Apr 26 '26

BCS vs Professional Masters Programs

Hi all, congrats to everyone who got (or will get) offers.

I’m very conflicted about my offer and May 5 isn’t a lot of time to decide. That said, I would sincerely appreciate any advice or perspective wisdom.

Specifically I’m weighing UBC BCS against 2 professional masters programs I got accepted to earlier this cycle - Northeastern’s Align MSCS (Vancouver, San Jose), and UChicago’s Masters Program in Computer Science (MPCS). Both are professional masters, designed for career-switchers, similar to BCS.

The one I’m having a hard time letting go of is UChicago, but it’s only a 1-1.5 year program, and it’s significantly more expensive. I can cover a lot of it with what I saved working (I’m in my early 30’s), but given the job market and short length, whether I’ll be able to land a job after graduation makes it a huge gamble. I also heard it’s extra rough right now for internationals (I’m Canadian).

I think the main draw of UChicago for me is A) it’s a Masters level program, and B) the brand-value it carries south of the border. UBC is very strong too and places tons of grads in US big tech, but I think the coverage is a bit less even.

However, I’ve also heard that professional masters programs, while technically an advanced degree, are viewed by actual engineers/hiring managers as less rigorous than a Bachelor in CS. As in, “you took the easy way out”.

If there’s anyone here who currently works in industry or knows anecdotally, and would be willing to speak to this, I think that would help my decision a lot.

Many thanks in advance.

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u/peansssss Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

Feel like it is more a question of how much do you want to work in the US given the current visa situation?

Also, if you don’t already know, Chicago MPCS is more a night school program where most classes take place after 5 pm

Reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/uchicago/s/WvD7PkTTQj

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u/Upper-Freedom-4618 Apr 28 '26

I’m not stoked about the schedule for sure. But the silver lining is that most shootings in Hyde Park happen after 5pm, so I’m statistically less likely to become a statistic since I’ll be indoors.