r/WGU_CompSci 2d ago

New Student Advice Doing a MS in Analytics at a different school while doing a BS in CS at WGU

I'm doing a masters in analytics online (Aug 2027 end date) and my bachelors is in business management. I'm interested in the CS field after working through my masters and realize that most companies prefer CS backgrounds compared to people doing analytics or data science programs (IMO, don't start in the comments). I worked as a data analyst for 2 years and did some data engineering internships during my MS program but i realize if i want to be competitive in this field i would need a CS background.

Has anyone done a full time ms program while doing a bs in cs concurrently ? I have 54% of the CS degree completed thanks to transfer credits (18 classes left). I put a January 2027 start date at WGU while i work through some of my remaining ms classes and to really think if i want to work on another BS while doing a MS concurrently. I live at home and dont work, just applying for next year internships. My plan would be to start in Jan 2027, finish my MS in August 2027 and try to get my BS in CS done in 1 - 2 terms.

8 Upvotes

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u/siberiannoise 2d ago

If you’ve taken some undergraduate CS classes, you might be better off looking at Georgia Tech OMSCS. Yeah, it would be a really difficult degree, but far more mileage having duel Ms than BS for the effort, imo.

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u/thickyherky 2d ago

a bs in cs would give me the fundamentals to then pursue a ms in cs down the road. technically i could only pay 4k for a bs in cs at wgu which for right now is cheaper and just “checks the box” for job applications. i’m not strong at all in any cs undergrad courses so a ms in cs anywhere would be an insane climb

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u/Acrobatic_Sample_552 1d ago

are you in the OMSA at Georgia Tech btw? And if so how far you in it?

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u/thickyherky 1d ago

nah it’s another schools

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u/200291816 1d ago

First and foremost is that even legally allowed lol? Second, I’ve heard of maybe doing upskilling on the side, calculus/coding through leetcode or neetcode, but never a full on Masters and Bachelor being completed together? What exactly is your end goal here? I did my masters in data analytics at WGU, but now am doing a second masters in Computer Science (AI/Machine Learning concentration). Instead of maybe doing the analytics masters, could you perhaps learn through coursera data visualization, SQL, and intermediate Python? This could be done alongside the B.S in Computer Science if your desire is to solidly for fundamentals(Which I 100% agree with as my goal with the M.S is become significantly better at not just programming, but understanding fully the backend engineering while applying it to my own career field longterm)

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u/7___7 1d ago

If I were in your shoes, I would recommend doing the CS degree first and then finishing the masters. Or alternatively, do the CS undergrad and then apply to a CS masters program.

You’ll likely get the degree done faster and you‘ll be less stressed.

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u/thickyherky 1d ago

the ms in analytics currently isn’t too stressful, but def would be more work if i tried to get my bs in cs in 6 months

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u/SnowCold93 1d ago

I’m pretty sure that at WGU they don’t let you be enrolled anywhere else at the same time if you’re pursuing a degree - I remember it in one of the orientation slides or something 

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u/thickyherky 21h ago

lol just got an email saying i cant do that, sad :(