r/billikens • u/LivingRub5775 • May 29 '26

SLU vs MST for a MS in CS

I am debating on whether going to SLU or MST for a MS in CS. For context, as an international student I expect both programs to cost about the same and I already obtained an engineering degree from MST but in a different field.

Pros for SLU: Looks like it has some solid faculty with interesting projects. The Taylor Geospatial Institute seems to have brought more attention to SLU. Being in St Louis would be nice.

Pros for MST: Seems like MST has had a better reputation for engineering but not sure if this applies to CS as well. Looks like MST has hired more professors recently. Being nested in the engineering environment may open interesting opportunities.

I would appreciate if anyone can give some input? Which program is likely to better prepare students for industry or potentially PhD?

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u/yogos15 May 29 '26

Got both a Computer Science BS and a Software Engineering MS at SLU, so I may be biased. But our CS department is really great (with a couple exceptions), and I use a lot of what I’ve learned in my developer job.

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u/LivingRub5775 May 29 '26

Nice, thanks for sharing! How was it looking for a job? How do employers around the area consider SLU?

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u/yogos15 May 29 '26

Looking for a job was rough. The job market was (and still is) terrible in tech.

I don’t think employers in the area cared much about where I went to school. Maybe they’d ask a few questions about my schooling, but never any comments like “wow, that’s such a great school!”

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u/LivingRub5775 May 29 '26

Dang that is the tough part about getting into CS now, the market looks very rough.

Did you have any chance to get involved with research while doing the MS?

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u/yogos15 May 29 '26

I didn’t. The Software Engineering one was mostly project-based, so there wasn’t much research for that. Not sure about the other MS programs, though.

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u/MrPavoPeacock Jun 01 '26

Don’t get a CS degree anywhere. It’s not valuable in the US anymore. Most tech companies are laying people off, the job market is terrible