I know this is going to get a ton of downvotes, but I'm trying to leave this post at least for the people who are considering this program. Please do not take this post down; this is a genuine concern.
So as someone who enrolled in this program to genuinely learn the topics that I'm interested in, make a career pivot and apply that knowledge, I've taken a mix of some easier and some harder courses (a mix of systems and ML), but all of them were courses that I deemed necessary for my career goal.
I know some people here claim that there is no concrete evidence of OMSCS negatively impacting the value of the degree. But, of the very few people I know already (I'm an introvert), I recently came across a number of hiring managers/recruiters saying that they had issues with OMSCS students/grads (it's a small sample yes, but ratio-wise it's concerning to me). Apparently, these people don't have any CS background whatsoever other than OMSCS, only take easy courses or don't even register and never graduate, put GT on their resume/profile, and keep applying until they get an internship/job. Because of this, apparently, they are now trying to be more cautious with OMSCS grads.
I did some research on this and I was shocked at how the courses that some people took to graduate almost had no resemblance to any CS coursework whatsoever. I did not know you could just graduate taking only courses like that. I personally don't care what courses you take or what spec you are in. I don't care if you coast just to get that paper while I'm pulling all-nighters coding. But why should I, who took relevant courses in systems and ML for a career pivot, possibly get thrown into the same bucket as these people and be at a disadvantage in the job market?
Bottom line is this. I hate elitism too but it's reality. Recruiters/hiring managers not caring about your spec/coursework is also reality. But because of these people, it seems like I might be at a disadvantage in the job market too without given a proper chance to prove myself. If this issue is just swept under the rug like it is right now, I genuinely am not sure I can recommend this program for people with similar goals as me. Yes, school is for learning. But for me, it was also for a career pivot. And if people who are genuinely passionate, talented in CS do not select this program for the reasons I described above, that itself will be a negative impact to the value of this degree.
I'm not saying everyone needs to take GA, but some of these people's coursework do not resemble any type of CS coursework, let alone that of a T5-10 graduate level coursework. And I was able to find several examples within a short amount of time (I had to look elsewhere because I cannot find these type of people in the courses I take). And yes, I took GA and I'm graduating soon. I'm not telling you what else I took.