This past March we were very pleased to announce our new MS Computer Science/MBA joint degree program. Our recent webinar on this program was a chance for participants from around the world to connect with admission staff from both the Graduate School of Business and the Computer Science departments, and get their questions answered.
You can now watch a recording of the webinar online (or read the pdf transcript), but here’s a look at one of the most popular questions: what if I don’t have a background in computer science?
Jay Subramanian, the director of graduate admissions at the Computer Science Department, recommends looking at the department’s foundation courses (listed at the bottom of the first page of this pdf), and then taking these courses at an educational institution near you or online. “These could help you in preparing to apply to the MSCS program, particularly those who do not have a CS background or do not have strong analytical and quantitative skills, and are coming from more of the humanities and sciences background,” she says. Want to learn more about each of the foundation courses? Search for them by course name or number on Stanford’s Explore Courses site, and read up on the course content and syllabus.
And if you do take computer science foundation courses, hang on to those transcripts. “Transcripts indicating that they [applicants] have taken these courses and done well would certainly give them a better edge,” explained Jay. Watch the webinar for more great tips on how to make your application as successful as possible. Good luck!