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SaltyNuts

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Posts posted by SaltyNuts

  1. 13 hours ago, Ramen_Shop said:

    Hey guys, my chances aren't looking that great tbh lol. I want a more applied/professional/career focused curriculum and so I'm trying to decide between the following:

    Accepted:

    • USC Marshall Business Analytics

    Rejected:

    • UPenn MSE Data Science
    • Harvard MS Data Science
    • MIT Sloan MBAn (Was really hoping to get into this one but didn't even get an interview so hey, I'm just not good enough. It is what it is)
    • Stanford ICME MS Data Science Track

    Waiting/Applied:

    • UChicago MS Analytics
    • Columbia MS Data Science
    • UCLA MS Business Analytics

    I honestly think my chances are looking bleak and USC was never a school I really wanted to go to but needed an insurance anyway. But based on what I want (mentioned above) and assuming I'm accepted to all the remaining 'waiting/applied' schools, which option should I go for? From what I've read I think UCLA might be the best choice (because they make you do an internship + capstone project and have very good network connections) but UCLA's acceptance rate was something like 6.6% for Fall 2020 (Might get rejected from this too :( ) and UChicago's web page really lacks an substantial professional/career information so idk about them. I've also read/heard things about Columbia's programme that its not as a tight knight community as other schools like MIT MBAn. Any advice for which is best for my professional/career development?

    Hmmm... You didn't apply to NYU's MS in Data Science and Northwestern's MS in Analytics? I believe those two are in the same league as Columbia's MS in Data Science. But since you have only applied to Columbia, I would advice you to pack your bags and head to NYC if you get accepted. All the best!

  2. @KMickey There was an event called "Admitted Students Day" on 16th February 2021. Basically, admitted students were briefed about the curriculum and allowed to interact with the program director and current students/alumni. It was quite awesome!

    Anyway... only about 12 or 13 admitted students were present. So my best guess is that Northwestern will definitely be accepting more students during the February/March period. The target cohort size is ~40 students, and I believe that only the first round of intake has been completed so far. Again, I have no way of verifying this. But I still feel reasonably certain. 

    Either way, wish you all the best! I'm sure you'll make it :)

  3. 2 hours ago, Guest123 said:

    @dsscreenameah okay, I applied to MIDS. I took a quick look, I must say I should've applied to this one instead of MIDS lol. I've read on random forums that a CS or Stats degree holds more water than Analytics or Data Science so take that for what it's worth. 

    Same here. I also strongly considered MIDS but entirely overlooked Duke's Statistical Science program :(. However, I have applied to UC Berkeley's MA in Statistics program. Still not quite sure how Berkeley MA Stats compares with NW MSiA and Columbia DS (Any opinions?).

    You mentioned that CS/Stats degrees hold more water than DS/Analytics, and that is true. But I must point out that Stats students spend a lot of time learning theoretical concepts, which implies that the onus of acquiring programming skills lies entirely with the student. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you must be highly motivated to first go through the rigor of graduate Stats and then also teach yourself the most relevant technology to make yourself attractive for recruiters. If that level of commitment seems impractical, I suppose Data Science/Analytics MS programs provide a neatly packaged all-encompassing route for those who wish to enter industry. 
     

  4. 1 hour ago, hoops77w said:

    I am deciding between Northwestern Analytics (MSiA) and Columbia Data Science; this decision will be tough to make. Appreciate any perspectives or thoughts you may have. Thanks! 

    Hey! Congratulations on getting acceptances from both schools. I also received my NW-MSiA acceptance earlier this month, but I still haven't heard from Columbia so far. As a natural consequence, I have slowly started to mentally prepare myself for a situation wherein I eventually join NW's program.

    The reasons that I have given myself to feel happy about attending NW (instead of Columbia) are as follows:     
    (NOTE: I am explicitly stating my bias for NW here in case it wasn't clear enough)

     

    1. MSiA has a smaller class-size (~40 students), so that should allow for more individual attention. Columbia has a class-size of 150+ students.

    2. Living in Evanston should be more economical than living in NYC, thus there's some monetary incentive to attend NW.

    3. There's a tremendous amount of data regarding students and their salaries on the NW website, whereas Columbia doesn't provide such details about their cohorts.

    4. The campus at NW is supposed to be spacious and beautiful (it is situated next to Lake Michigan). I'd prefer a spacious campus over NYC's crammed buildings. 

    5. Chicago is a 30min drive from Evanston, so I believe there will be ample opportunities to find noteworthy employers. NYC would've been great, but I can work with Chicago. 

    6. As other users in this forum have mentioned before me, Columbia's DS program has a reputation for being a cash-cow. 

     

     

    By the way, I hope someone creates a list of reasons why you should pick Columbia over NW just to balance things out lol. The obvious reasons would be Columbia's Ivy League tag, NYC's job opportunities, highly qualified faculty, teaching/research opportunities (TA, RA etc), and the curriculum's solid emphasis on core technical subjects.

    All the best and let me know what you finally choose! :)

  5. On 3/14/2020 at 3:27 PM, zomhud said:

    Travel bans are being imposed and consulates are being closed down in many countries. So, what's going to happen to international students? Are their admission and/or funding going to be cancelled if things don't get better? What can happen in worst case scenario? I am very anxious about the situation. 

    As an international applicant, this is making me quite nervous as well. I would be taking a significant portion of my family savings to finance my MS education, so if my program were to abruptly "shift online" in the middle, I would feel as though I had squandered all my parent's hard earned money on education that I could otherwise acquire via Coursera for a fraction of the cost. Moreover, new travel restrictions are also being imposed everyday, which makes me wonder how all the students admitted to the Fall'20 session will even arrive on campus and be physically present to attend classes. 

    Anyway, it just seems strange for my offer letter to not even mention the Coronavirus at all. I wish we had more time to accept/reject our offers because one month is not going to be an adequate timeframe to judge the severity of the situation. 

    I guess,we can all just be hopeful and try to remain positive here. Maybe the virus will be dealt with by September and we're overthinking it?

  6. On 3/12/2020 at 6:58 PM, mobytheggongnyang said:

    Hi all, I just got an offer from NW's MSiA program yesterday. This may be the 2nd or 3rd wave they sent out?  Super excited as this is a good program.

    I have not yet made my mind between few of the programs. Would you guys enlighten me with your thoughts on the options below? Thank you!

    @Scholarship, @swcb, @S_Ashleigh, @Haoyun, @superbored (tagging ppl who seemed to have applied to MSiA program)

    1) Northwestern MSiA vs NYU DS

    2) Northwestern MSiA vs U Chicago Master of Business Analytics 

    Hey! Congratulations on the result. I also got accepted to the MSiA program recently (international student).

    Since I didn't apply to NYU's program,  I can't comment on your first query.

    However, I did apply to UChicago's MS Analytics program (results still awaited). To be honest, I think NW's program is better than UChicago's for a few reasons.

    1) The most pertinent reason would be that classes in NW take place on campus, unlike in UChicago where classes take place in NBC Tower. Since I am an international student, I want my university experience to be as immersive as possible so NW clearly wins on that front. 

    2) There just seems to be so much more data available for NW's program on the website. You can look at each student's resume and determine for yourself whether you'd be able to fit within the same classroom as them. Overall, the amount of information and level of transparency just lends more credibility to NW. 

    3) Finally, NW strictly requires a GRE score whereas UChicago does not. That speaks volumes about the selectivity of both programs, in my opinion. If UChicago had a strong applicant pool to choose from, they would definitely not be relaxing the admissions requirement.

     

    These are just my personal opinions, so do take them with a pinch of salt. I do firmly believe that both schools are phenomenal and you should consider yourself lucky to get admitted in either of the two. Let me know your opinions as well.

    Oh and btw... Did you get any funding from NW?

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