I am an undergraduate student with a 3.87 major GPA in Applied & Theoretical Physics who will graduate in about a year. I want to get a masters in machine learning and need a sanity check on my career goals (especially since I am considering Georgia Tech's online CS masters program). I am also very interested in computer vision. Below are two sections: background about me and a list of questions I have. Feel free to skim/skip the first section.
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I have a certain wanderlust in me, and nothing to keep me from traveling (but money). My current plan is to teach English for a couple of years in South Korea after graduation, while enrolling in Georgia Tech's online computer science masters (machine learning specialty). That teaching position offers a strong compensation package and lots of free time. I would be able to put about 30,000 USD into savings in 2 years, even after the cost of the masters program.
My resume is interesting and getting stronger. I have 5 years experience teaching robotics and programming to middle & high school students. I worked as a (supernumerary) software engineer for a few months. I was president of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Club at my university and lead of a competition robotics team (for which I used OpenCV). I will be studying abroad in the fall (Norway). I am almost certain to get into a great robotics/computer vision undergraduate research position (REU) at a big-name school this summer (for once nepotism works in my favor!). I have done a number of self-directed programming projects including: computational fluid dynamics, simulation of plasma shocks in the interstellar medium/solar wind interface, motion planning, extended Kalman filters, electromechanical control systems, basic FPGA design, etc.
I am a self taught programmer, but I have a much stronger focus in algorithms and their analysis than that makes me sound. The only formal university courses I have taken are a first class on discrete structures, a first class on data structures, digital logic design (I built an 8 bit computer!), and a graduate level GPGPU computing course. I got an A+ in each, and switched majors when I realized the computer science and computer engineering programs at my university were diploma mills and not at all challenging. They have basically nothing to offer me, even at the graduate level. Thankfully, the physics program at my university is very mathematically intensive (even compared to other physics programs), despite not being very highly ranked.
I have taken online classes through MIT OpenCourseWare, Coursera, and elsewhere in machine learning, artificial intelligence, scientific computing, linear algebra/statistics, GPGPU computing, and many other things. My ability to self-teach as my strongest strength. I am really focusing the next year on developing an even stronger independent work ethic: where I can not just self-study a subject, but actually work my way through the problems in the standard literature on a subject without any outside direction.
I am particularly interested in computer vision and machine learning. I have read a few books on the subject, and am trying to put together a curriculum for myself to prep for grad school. I will be getting a PhD. I say this because I am chasing erudition, not because I believe it is strictly a good return on investment. I don't really care for money, beyond financial security and the freedom to travel.
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Is a masters in computer science taken online worth anything? I am only considering it because of the name of the school attached (Georgia Tech). If your answer is "it is what you make out of it", then I have no worries. I am driven, and extremely studious.
What other online masters programs are worth considering?
By unfortunate happenstance the two weakest areas in my undergraduate transcript are linear algebra and probability/statistics. I have been, and will be, doing everything I can to fix this before graduation. Specifically, I have done a lot of independent study, I will take upper-level electives not required for my degree program, and I will get high marks in them. What else can I do to prove my mathematical preparation?
Searching through /r/machinelearning I see Kaggle brought up frequently. Any other ideas on what I can do to prepare myself for graduate school?
I am doubtlessly missing some of the background of someone with a CS/CPE degree. What can I best do to fix this; what are the most important things to take away from an undergraduate degree? I will also be talking to the people at Georgia Tech asking them specifically what they would like to see on my transcript.
What are the biggest questions I am not asking? What general advice do you have? What are the best resources for me to know about?
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