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prospectiveCS44

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  1. Well it's for a couple reasons but I think maybe our preferences are different. CMU is ranked above Cornell so that's definitely a plus. To me, it seems like Cornell Tech has a greater emphasis on the business and entrepreneurial side of tech, which I'm not really interested in. I actually like that the CMU program is longer. Both program's are a sizeable amount of money and I'm hoping both will lead to high paying tech jobs so I'd rather get the opportunity to take more classes. Also to be honest I'm not rushing back to the work force and am excited to take the opportunity to spend some time learning. Since the CMU program is on the main campus it has a lot more classes to choose from where the Cornell Tech one seems to only have a handful of classes available. Cornell Tech is in NYC and I love NYC and there are a lot of good companies in NYC so Cornell Tech might have better relationships with them. But I think any tech company would know of CMU and respect the name even though it's not in NYC. Also I get that Cornell is an Ivy which is cool, in 20 years rankings may shift but Ivy's will probably always keep their prestige. I think though that while our masters degree has an effect on jobs, ranking will matter more than Ivy or not Ivy. By the time rankings shift (if they shift) job experience will matter more than the school you got your masters from.
  2. Let me know if you commit, I'm also leaning heavily towards CMU but finding it difficult to pull the trigger.
  3. I'm also in the exact same dilemma, but with CMU MCDS vs Brown MS CS (UCSD and Columbia are actually the only two school that haven't given me a decision yet). I share the same concerns as you both but I don't have any background in Data Science. I'm very much undecided but here are some of my thoughts. I think a lot of employers aren't going to be familiar with specific programs and value your degree based on the school without factoring much into the program. A lot of SWE roles like to slap the Big Data/Data Science buzz words into their job descriptions whether it is actually true or not. When I interviewed for my current role, which is a SWE, they had Big Data in the job description. Having worked there I can say it has very little to do with Big Data, but knowing the people in charge of hiring they would look favorably on people with Data Science experience. A more traditional MS is probably more highly valued in academia, because most of the programs leave room for or even emphasis research, if you want to be in academia this is probably the better choice. On the other hand the MCDS program has a 4 semester track where you take a lighter course load to leave room to do research. As meesuni88 said in their post, I'm also very concerned that the specialized nature will force me down a specific path without leaving room for exploration. Many traditional MS CS programs allow you to take a much broader set of courses and you may discover a passion in an area outside of data science that you didn't know you had. On the other hand many MS CS programs make you select a focus early on and you end up taking the majority of your classes in one specific area anyways. For employers, If you don't have a PhD then a professionally focused masters (like MCDS) may actually be looked on more favorably then a non professionally focused one like an MS in CS. The employment destinations of MCDS graduates are very impressive: https://www.cmu.edu/career/documents/2017_one_pagers/scs/Combined_SCS_MS_2017_Final.pdf. Many companies encourage mobility and if you think Data Science roles aren't for you, they may pay to train you in a different area and allow you to switch roles. Essentially the MCDS program may be good for getting you a foot in the door in a top company. I'm not sure if this one matters but I've heard from a couple people that attended different programs that CMU is very intensive and very difficult and that you should be ready to be stressed/anxious for the next 2 years. Ultimately I think it's too hard to say no to the #1 ranked school.
  4. I think (and this is just my guess I don't actually know) that jobs probably won't care if you wrote a thesis or not. So if you know you're going to be looking for a job then you probably don't need to spend the time writing a thesis. On the other hand if you ever want to continue on to a PhD (again this is just my guess I don't actually know) a thesis will probably help your application. Also ignoring jobs and PhD, if the point of going to grad school is to learn, then writing a thesis will definitely cause you to learn about a subject in a lot more depth than you would have if you skipped the thesis. Anyway yesterday I got into the MCDS program at CMU, so that changes my options up a lot. I'm still not sure about NYU MS CS vs CMU MCDS, it's basically the same dilemma (academic vs applied) but switching out Cornell with CMU.
  5. While not required, you can write a thesis at NYU as a masters student, https://cs.nyu.edu/home/master/current_research.html.
  6. I got into the MS CS program at NYU (GSAS) and the M Eng CS program at Cornell Tech. I'm not sure which to pick honestly. I do enterprise development at a bank currently and hate it. I definitely want to continue programming but I want to do something more technical and interesting, preferably at a tech company. I figured getting a Masters would be a good way to do that. Cornell Tech seems like it may be a little too professionally focused and an M Eng may not be as valuable as an MS. On the other hand Cornell is more prestigious/ranked higher, and maybe a more professionally focused curriculum is valued more by tech companies. Also it'd be nice to have the option to pursue a PhD after (even though I probably won't do one), and it seems like an M Eng doesn't provide that option. Any advice would be appreciated, especially from people who have done either program.
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