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violagzy

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    2019 Fall

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  1. Hey guys, I am having ~1 yr before graduating my from current grad program and (May 2021) am looking for advice on further development thereafter. I major in linguistics/finance during undergrad (in a famous international uni) and now studying policy/data science in the US. I know these four fields can make some interesting combinations, e.g. studying unfairness in granting loans (Finance/Data/policy), or NLP applications in policy (Ling/Data). Still, I do find my study experience was too mixed so that I did not formally have a field of expertise. In my current major, I learn a lot of the state-of-the-art data skills, statistical analysis, ml (although I have learned many of the contents during undergrad), but I believe a traditional tech company (FLAG) would not consider a double major student in Data Science like me. I am an international student and my practical experience was predominately abroad, e.g. consulting intern, equity research intern, market research intern, and some RA work. I came straight from undergrad so I do not have any full time working experience so far. Here in the US I can only do some on-campus research work (in the first year) because of the visa requirement. Therefore, apart from major requirements, sponsorship is also a big concern of mine. I target myself at some quantitative researcher positions at NGOs in the US. and plan to use my three years OPT. I know with increasing competition, some ds students are also looking at positions in the non-profit sector. Still, i want to give it a try given my mixed background especially my policy experience. Also, I heard that working in NGOs has less concern for H1B sponsorship. SO---- do you guys think that my plan work? (It seems that I did not think twice before accepting the master offer. Actually, my initial plan was to do a 2020 summer intern and another part-time job (2021 spring) during my 2-year master study then find opportunities to transfer into fulltime after graduation. But our academic advisor only allows us to do one internship in the US using CPT(preferably in spring 2021) and we did not become aware of that before we came here. Also, our program had been more tech-oriented with courses from CS/DS dept but only until we get here, we were informed of a curriculum change and these courses were instead taught by our own policy school, which seems to be less solid in terms of hard skills. And the coronavirus.. A lot of unexpected things happens)
  2. Update - rej from WWS + ad from SAIS may still make decisions between SIPA and SP2
  3. Hi all. I applied for the 2019 fall and have already heard back from SIPA, SP2, and some others (Sanford $, McCourt $, Wagner, etc). There are still many others to come (SAIS, CIPA, Luskin, etc.). But since my only reach school WWS has basically sent out the offers (while I did not receive one), I think I may make my decision between SIPA's MPA program and UPenn SP2's MS in Social Policy +Data Analytics program (with $). I'm an international applicant and am interested in poverty alleviation or broader development issues. I came right from my undergraduate studies, double-majoring in English and Finance. Most of my former experiences are as a research analyst in some research institutions, or as an intern in some private sector companies (technology consulting, and investment banking). At this moment, I am still not so sure about which sector to go into upon finishing graduate studies. So I kind of tailor my experience to fit in the strengths of both programs: for SIPA, I stress my preparations and devotion to enter an international organization to solve global poverty challenges; while for SP2, I write more about my data analytics skills and propose to use Fintech to help microfinance practice in alleviating poverty. Although they actually do not contradict with each other, there are certainly some differences. Also, I visited both cities and schools 3 years ago and can see they are indeed very different. My current pro-con list is below, but I'd love to hear others' thoughts or if there are some other things I should be considering! Pro-SIPA: - location! NY is truly a vibrant city and is close to the UN and many private companies - having the chance to select from tons of classes and some electives in other schools - flexibility in changing concentrations and specializations (while I am currently very satisfied with the EPD concentration) - reputations of SIPA (it is more prominent if I would return to my country) Con-SIPA: - no scholarship; total costs ++ - one score away from their international 110 TOEFL score requirement; may be required to attend a language school before or during the fall semester - just too biiiiig for a cohort (MIA+MPP = 400? /year) - increasingly hard to secure long-term contracts with international organizations these years, more in the form of 1-2 year consultants Pro-SP2: - STEM-designated! - may work in US NGOs - data analytics track: I might be more competitive since I may be more "tech" than many other policy graduates and most policy-eligible in comparison to those with a pure Data Science/Computer Science degree. - with $ (however, it seems that this year people are getting less than last year? ); may negotiate for more - small cohort (15-20?) Con-SP2: - very new program, especially with the DA certificate - not sure about the placement for international students (especially when this year's cohort is expanding) - only one elective available Thanks for your advice!
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