Chooby wrote:
Hey,
First of all congrats if you have gotten into all these programs! That's a huge accomplishment. I'm a current CT student and can give you a little more color on the program. The reason i chose CT is because i too worked in Tech before but wanted to enrich my education in the sector. I really liked the fact that CT is heavily focused on product management with the ex CTO of twitter helming the curriculum and passing on the tools you need to make your own start up.
Unlike other programs we work with top real companies throughout the first semester on challenges they provide and team up with engineers on campus to take on those challenges. Its real world experience in an academic environment so you have a chance to get feedback from peers and mentors on work that actually matters.
Then in our final semester we work with the founder of Techstars NY to form our very own start up teams with any engineer we choose from the Computer Science masters program on campus and go through an incubator type process with mentors from Google, Twitter, Etsy etc.
In terms of community while the school is still new, there is a big feeling of camaraderie at the school. Since everyone shares a love of technology it and the whole experience has to really be defined, the program has drawn in an interesting mix of tech enthusiasts and self starters.
In terms of drawbacks, CT is a new institution that has yet to establish itself fully in the city. While i believe the school and alumni community will have a huge impact in the technology space, you have to be willing to take a leap of faith and be willing to put in the work yourself in making the school what it will be. This is definitely more of a program who are entrepreneurial and are willing to put in as much as they are getting out of this new institution so if you just want to settle in to a place that has completely structure with lots of traditions then this might not be the place for you.
Hope that helps!
Ron
Thanks so much for the input, Ron! I love the idea of CT, but am a little worried that I'll be taking a step back. I'm currently a Senior Project/Product Manager with about 8 years of experience.
Do most students seem to want to become a PM or entrepreneur? Or something else?
Also, do you think the cost is worth it? My other biggest worry is that I will be giving up my salary for a year and incurring debt. The EMBA is definitely more expensive, but at least I would have an income. Any thoughts?