r/OnlineMCIT

Hey everyone - I was recently admitted into the MCIT/MAS-CS Online program and am excited to get started! My background is in biotech (bench science and an MBA), and my goal is to pivot into Venture Capital in the SF Bay Area, specifically evaluating early-stage tech and biotech startups.

I chose this program because I want to build a stronger technical foundation in computer science to complement my business and life sciences experience. Being able to credibly assess a startup's technology stack, AI/ML capabilities, or computational biology pipeline feels increasingly essential for VC, and I see the Penn CS credential as a way to close that gap.

Has anyone here successfully leveraged the MCIT or MAS-CS degree to break into VC, join an early-stage startup, or move into a more technical investing role?

I would love to hear how the program helped (or did not help) with that transition, and whether the online format was a limiting factor at all in recruiting.

Appreciate any insights. Thanks in advance!

I was hoping people enrolled in the program can be brutally honest with me. Quick background, I applied to MCIT last summer and got rejected. Ended up doing another online program instead. Cost is about the same. I really enjoyed my first Intro to Java course. Had a great teacher. It was challenging but I learned a lot. Now I am wrapping up my Data Structures course and I have to say, I’m extremely disappointed with the caliber of this class. The teacher hardly explains shit in the lecture videos and the readings are more just definitions and small examples, then the homework assignments are tenfold the level of difficulty of anything we learned. Consequently because of all this I do not feel I’m walking away with a very good understanding of data structures and algorithms, which I’ve heard is one of the more important CS classes. I also just found out I will have 2 more fundamental bridge courses with this teacher — which has me very upset. It’s one thing to power through one poorly taught class, it’s another to say 60% of your bridge courses were taught by that same person.

Now that I have 2 online CS courses with good grades under my belt, I considered re-applying for fall entry and just taking the L on one semester. However, I don’t want to find myself in a situation of thinking it wasn’t worth it if I did get accepted and transferred. I’m just trying to get a solid CS education in one of the most competitive times of this field.

So my question is — how do you feel the quality of classes has been in this degree? Do you feel like the lectures and assignments are in line with each other? Do you feel like the teachers explain things well or is it a lot of self learning? How long do you spend each week on lectures and assignments? Do you feel confident at the end of each class? Are classes a full semester or are they 2 classes split in a semester? Do you feel like you’d be marketable in the CS field with what you’ve learned? Do you feel the rigor of the program is paying off compared to doing more basic programs?

And for any alumni’s who didn’t already have a tech job going in, do you feel it a helped you transition into the field with success?

Lots of questions, I know. I’m sorry. I have about a week to make a decision on this and just trying to weigh my options.

My goal is to move into entrepreneurship. It’s my dream to build something from the ground up. But if that doesn’t work, AI, SWE, aerospace, or development (apps, smart contracts, full stack/front-end).

Any input would be super appreciated. Thanks

Hey guys looking for some feedback on how many classes I can do max.

I don’t work in the fall so I was planning to do 3 in a semester while I’m not working. Is that doable?

Hi everyone,

I’m down to the wire and need to make a final decision soon. I’ve been admitted to UPenn’s MSE-AI Online program and Columbia’s MS in Artificial Intelligence via CVN.

I’m currently a Junior Software Engineer at a MedTech company, working on MRI/CT-related software systems. I’ll be studying part-time while working full-time.

My long-term goal is to become a “bridge” talent between AI engineering and AI governance/policy, especially in areas like healthcare AI, trustworthy AI, and responsible deployment of AI systems.

I recently had the chance to visit both Philadelphia and NYC on business trips, and I really liked both campuses/cities. That made the decision even harder.

My main questions are:

1. Research access:

For online master’s students, how realistic is it to get involved with faculty, labs, research groups, or independent research? I’m especially interested in AI ethics, governance, trustworthy AI, and healthcare AI.

2. Career/networking value:

If I’m open to eventually relocating near the school, which ecosystem gives a better long-term edge for someone interested in MedTech + AI engineering + AI policy/governance?

3. Online student integration:

For students/alumni familiar with Penn Engineering Online, MSE-AI Online, or similar online graduate programs, how included do online students feel in campus resources, networking, career events, and faculty access?

I know both are strong options, and I’m not expecting a perfect answer. But if you were choosing mainly based on research access, online student support, and long-term networking value in the NYC/Philly corridor, which would you pick?

Any honest insight would be really appreciated~

I recently got accepted into the Online MSE-DS Program that I plan to complete part-time alongside my full-time role as an engineer (which would require me to work 9-10 hours per day). I have my undergrad in Industrial Engineering, so I want this degree to pivot me into a Data Science career.

I would appreciate any advice on how the courses in MSE-DS are structured, are they integrated with consideration to AI, how easy/difficulty are assignments/exams, time consumption, and if they would be doable alongside a job. I am debating between this program and UT Austin MSDS - so any input is really appreciated!

For anyone who graduated from the program, what was your cumulative GPA and do you think it made a difference when applying for jobs?

Hi everyone — I hope you’re all doing well! 🙂

Over the past few months, I’ve been building a web app called CourseRadar to help make the UPenn Online experience more transparent, data-driven, and community-oriented.

The idea started from wanting a better way to:
- compare courses beyond scattered Slack/Reddit messages,
- plan future semesters more strategically,
- understand workload and difficulty trends over time,
- and preserve useful knowledge/resources from previous students in a structured way.

Some of the current features include:

• Anonymous course reviews (after verifying your .edu email)
• Semester-by-semester course planning to map out your graduation timeline
• GPA tracking + cumulative GPA projections
• Course comparisons across difficulty, workload, ratings, and grading trends
• Historical trends showing how courses evolve over time
• Community-submitted grade data points to better understand grading distributions
• AI-powered course recommendations based on completed coursework
• Professor and TA ratings/leaderboards
• Curated course resources (syllabi, YouTube videos, notes, URLs, etc.) recommended by past students

The long-term goal is to create something that genuinely helps current and future students make more informed academic decisions and reduce some of the uncertainty around course selection.

I’d genuinely love your feedback, suggestions, and feature ideas — especially from people currently in MCIT, MAS-CS, MSE-AI, or other Penn Engineering Online programs.

If you’d like to try it out:
CourseRadar.io

Thanks everyone — and I hope it becomes a useful resource for the community!

p.s.: all the mymcit and mcitcentral reviews have been migrated over to CourseRadar!

Has anyone received their final grade for EAS 5170 on Path@Penn? The semester finished over a week ago and I still don’t see my final grade for the course.

Hey guys, so I recently got into admission to MCIT online program. My background is undergraduate degrees in Nursing/ Health sciences with 2 years of nursing experience. I wanted to transition myself to the tech side and that’s where I found this masters. I’ll be honest, I’m not a 100% sure what I want to focus on. I know it would beneficial for me if I did something with healthcare and technology but I also have a strong interest in cybersecurity. Do you guys think this masters would be beneficial for someone with my background and how long would it take if working full time?

I'd really appreciate if someone could review my profile for either MSE DS (not MCIT) as I'm very interested in attending if I got accepted

Profile:
- math major at a not well known uni, 3.85 GPA, CS minor (took systems, discrete, python, programming fundamentals, etc)

- math valedictorian (ie valedictorian of the math school at my uni)

- founded a technical organization at my undergrad that is still operating + partnered with national tech orgs

- 3 years as a SWE intern at NASA

- did a research internship at Stanford

- data science research at UPenn (this is also a reason I'm super interested in this program)

- I have a coding project that makes money/pays my tuition but I'm not sure how much this matters

- LORs from math department chair of undergrad and NASA group lead

Cons
- no publications yet

- I'm currently in a master's program and I am switching programs (to an online one) which may make me seem like a risk

- I also transferred during the pandemic in undergrad from a completely different non-stem major with a low gpa

- I'm realizing maybe it wasn't wise to only have 2 LORs versus 3?

Thank you for any reviews!

Edit: I originally put MSE AI here but it requires a CS undergrad

Hi all,

I’m looking to transition into AI-focused roles from a cloud and IT background, and the MSE-AI program at Penn is my primary target.

Here’s my profile:

Bachelor’s in Cloud Computing from Western Governors University (pass/fail model – no official GPA, but typically evaluated around ~3.3–3.5 equivalent)

Microsoft Certifications:
AZ-305 (Azure Solutions Architect Expert)
AZ-104 (Azure Administrator)
MS-900, SC-900

CompTIA Certifications:
A+, Network+, Security+, Project+, Cloud+

ITIL 4 Foundation, Linux Essentials

Currently working as an Information Systems Analyst in public safety

Experience supporting enterprise systems, identity/access, networking, and infrastructure

Built a small AI-related project using AWS Lex (call intake system)

Some prior math exposure (including calculus I and statistics), but not recently

No formal CS coursework like data structures, algorithms, or discrete math

No GRE

My main concern is my lack of formal CS fundamentals and that my math background isn’t recent.

I’d appreciate any honest feedback on:

How competitive this profile is specifically for MSE-AI
Whether certifications + experience help offset lack of CS coursework

If I should expect to be redirected to a certificate/bridge pathway

Thanks in advance—really appreciate any insights.