Fall 2019 Data Science/Analytics Master Applicant Thread

[Ryan7]

9 hours ago, Tcrista said:

Got admitted to UPenn Data Science & Columbia Data Science. How should I choose between these two?

Personally, I would choose UPenn, for its program is much smaller than that at Columbia. Although UPenn DS is relatively newer, according what I heard about, it is well-designed. 

[nyan_cat]

17 hours ago, IvyBlack said:

I wasn't able to find the page you mentioned. Can I PM you for it?

@IvyBlack PMed you!

[esmebil]

Hey guys. How likely it is to get accepted to NYU off the waitlist? I know it is impossible to tell but if anybody has any opinion based on maybe past application cycles, I would appreciate. I have no idea how long the waitlist is, where I am on the list or when they will finalize decisions. Really making me nervous.

[IvyBlack]

Does anyone have any opinions on choosing between Brown and Columbia? Brown's program is very new so harder to judge, and I've heard mixed reviews of Columbia. This is a really hard decision and Columbia only gave admitted applicants a week to decide

[ds2019]

Hi everyone! I've been silently reading this forum. I just got the digital interview invite from Columbia today. Can anyone share what kind of questions they ask? I've been rejected to almost all other programs, but Columbia is my dream school so I would love to be accepted there. Any help is appreciated! Congrats to all who got their acceptance so far!

[nyan_cat]

26 minutes ago, ds2019 said:

Hi everyone! I've been silently reading this forum. I just got the digital interview invite from Columbia today. Can anyone share what kind of questions they ask? I've been rejected to almost all other programs, but Columbia is my dream school so I would love to be accepted there. Any help is appreciated! Congrats to all who got their acceptance so far!

@ds2019 PMed you.

[IvyBlack]

6 hours ago, ds2019 said:

Hi everyone! I've been silently reading this forum. I just got the digital interview invite from Columbia today. Can anyone share what kind of questions they ask? I've been rejected to almost all other programs, but Columbia is my dream school so I would love to be accepted there. Any help is appreciated! Congrats to all who got their acceptance so far!

Also PM’ed you

[nick_brown16]

18 hours ago, IvyBlack said:

Does anyone have any opinions on choosing between Brown and Columbia? Brown's program is very new so harder to judge, and I've heard mixed reviews of Columbia. This is a really hard decision and Columbia only gave admitted applicants a week to decide

Hey @IvyBlack.  I went to Brown for undergrad, but I actually chose not to apply for grad school.  (I noticed @nyan_cat was asking about this too.)  Part of the reason was that I wanted to experience a new school, but I also had some concerns about the program.  I graduated in 2016, so some of what I'll say might no longer apply.  

For starters, the newness of the program definitely made me hesitate.  When I was there, the "DATA" department did not exist.  The available data science coursework was limited and not always what I was looking for.  I took the machine learning course in 2015 (CSCI1420 -- offered to both undergrad and grad students).  Despite being listed as a CS course, it was taught by a professor in the Engineering department, all of the lectures were just math on the blackboard (heavy on theory, light on application), and the programming assignments were in MATLAB.  I also took the "Data Science" course in the CS department, which was sort of crash course in a bunch of different topics.  It was a good high-level overview of the field, but the professor who taught it is no longer at Brown.  Overall, I felt Brown lacked faculty who were excited about data science -- there wasn't really a prevalent data science initiative in the computer science, applied math, or economics departments.  That's clearly changed to some extent with the DS degree now being offered, but I imagine the program is still in a developing stage given that there wasn't much of a DS foundation before its existence.

I'm currently considering Columbia, and part of its appeal to me is the breadth of opportunity.  In addition to the course curriculum (which allows for more electives than Brown), there seems to be a lot of cool projects and research going on.  I'm potentially interested in research opportunities, and several of the data centers are doing work that interests me.  On top of that, there are the data science student clubs, lots of DS events on the DSI calendar, and NYC probably has more to offer in terms of industry partners for projects than Providence.  I expect the data science community is richer at Columbia than at Brown, unless there's been a lot of progress since I left.

I definitely don't mean to be totally dismissive of my alma mater.  I had an amazing undergrad experience overall.  Brown is a great community, and I found incredible faculty in so many departments who were caring and approachable for students.  I'm sure that culture extends to the new DS program.  Providence was a fun place to live, and of course much more affordable than NYC.  

Take this all with a grain of salt.  I've been away from the school for 3 years now and don't know much about how things have progressed.  Good luck with the decision  

[nyan_cat]

1 hour ago, nick_brown16 said:

Hey @IvyBlack.  I went to Brown for undergrad, but I actually chose not to apply for grad school.  (I noticed @nyan_cat was asking about this too.)  Part of the reason was that I wanted to experience a new school, but I also had some concerns about the program.  I graduated in 2016, so some of what I'll say might no longer apply.  

For starters, the newness of the program definitely made me hesitate.  When I was there, the "DATA" department did not exist.  The available data science coursework was limited and not always what I was looking for.  I took the machine learning course in 2015 (CSCI1420 -- offered to both undergrad and grad students).  Despite being listed as a CS course, it was taught by a professor in the Engineering department, all of the lectures were just math on the blackboard (heavy on theory, light on application), and the programming assignments were in MATLAB.  I also took the "Data Science" course in the CS department, which was sort of crash course in a bunch of different topics.  It was a good high-level overview of the field, but the professor who taught it is no longer at Brown.  Overall, I felt Brown lacked faculty who were excited about data science -- there wasn't really a prevalent data science initiative in the computer science, applied math, or economics departments.  That's clearly changed to some extent with the DS degree now being offered, but I imagine the program is still in a developing stage given that there wasn't much of a DS foundation before its existence.

I'm currently considering Columbia, and part of its appeal to me is the breadth of opportunity.  In addition to the course curriculum (which allows for more electives than Brown), there seems to be a lot of cool projects and research going on.  I'm potentially interested in research opportunities, and several of the data centers are doing work that interests me.  On top of that, there are the data science student clubs, lots of DS events on the DSI calendar, and NYC probably has more to offer in terms of industry partners for projects than Providence.  I expect the data science community is richer at Columbia than at Brown, unless there's been a lot of progress since I left.

I definitely don't mean to be totally dismissive of my alma mater.  I had an amazing undergrad experience overall.  Brown is a great community, and I found incredible faculty in so many departments who were caring and approachable for students.  I'm sure that culture extends to the new DS program.  Providence was a fun place to live, and of course much more affordable than NYC.  

Take this all with a grain of salt.  I've been away from the school for 3 years now and don't know much about how things have progressed.  Good luck with the decision  

@nick_brown16 Thank you for sharing your insights! 

[IvyBlack]

10 hours ago, nick_brown16 said:

Hey @IvyBlack.  I went to Brown for undergrad, but I actually chose not to apply for grad school.  (I noticed @nyan_cat was asking about this too.)  Part of the reason was that I wanted to experience a new school, but I also had some concerns about the program.  I graduated in 2016, so some of what I'll say might no longer apply.  

For starters, the newness of the program definitely made me hesitate.  When I was there, the "DATA" department did not exist.  The available data science coursework was limited and not always what I was looking for.  I took the machine learning course in 2015 (CSCI1420 -- offered to both undergrad and grad students).  Despite being listed as a CS course, it was taught by a professor in the Engineering department, all of the lectures were just math on the blackboard (heavy on theory, light on application), and the programming assignments were in MATLAB.  I also took the "Data Science" course in the CS department, which was sort of crash course in a bunch of different topics.  It was a good high-level overview of the field, but the professor who taught it is no longer at Brown.  Overall, I felt Brown lacked faculty who were excited about data science -- there wasn't really a prevalent data science initiative in the computer science, applied math, or economics departments.  That's clearly changed to some extent with the DS degree now being offered, but I imagine the program is still in a developing stage given that there wasn't much of a DS foundation before its existence.

I'm currently considering Columbia, and part of its appeal to me is the breadth of opportunity.  In addition to the course curriculum (which allows for more electives than Brown), there seems to be a lot of cool projects and research going on.  I'm potentially interested in research opportunities, and several of the data centers are doing work that interests me.  On top of that, there are the data science student clubs, lots of DS events on the DSI calendar, and NYC probably has more to offer in terms of industry partners for projects than Providence.  I expect the data science community is richer at Columbia than at Brown, unless there's been a lot of progress since I left.

I definitely don't mean to be totally dismissive of my alma mater.  I had an amazing undergrad experience overall.  Brown is a great community, and I found incredible faculty in so many departments who were caring and approachable for students.  I'm sure that culture extends to the new DS program.  Providence was a fun place to live, and of course much more affordable than NYC.  

Take this all with a grain of salt.  I've been away from the school for 3 years now and don't know much about how things have progressed.  Good luck with the decision  

Thank you so much for the perspective. I'm probably going to pick Columbia based on available info on both programs. Mind if I PM you some questions about Brown?

[BL250604]

I turned down all M.S. admissions offers earlier in the week. Good luck to those still waiting!

[nick_brown16]

15 hours ago, IvyBlack said:

Thank you so much for the perspective. I'm probably going to pick Columbia based on available info on both programs. Mind if I PM you some questions about Brown?

Of course!

[phd4lyf]

Hey guys! I applied to a bunch of data science programs and have been rejected by Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Berkeley (Statistics), Stanford (Statistics), USF, Michigan (MIDS), and CMU (Statistical Practice) where I was on the waitlist. I am still waiting to hear back from NYU (waitlist) and USC.

If I don't get in this year, I will apply again next year. Before I do that, I would love to better understand all of your backgrounds and scores so that I can better structure my application :)

Here are my details:

1. Undergrad degree: Econ, Chinese double major

2. Undergrad GPA: 3.4

3. GRE scores: 163 Q, 162 V, 4 AW

4. 4 years of experience working on data science projects in renewable energy, video recommendations and micro-finance

 

Look forward to hearing from you all!! Thanks!

 

[nyan_cat]

7 hours ago, schop said:

Hey guys! I applied to a bunch of data science programs and have been rejected by Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Berkeley (Statistics), Stanford (Statistics), USF, Michigan (MIDS), and CMU (Statistical Practice) where I was on the waitlist. I am still waiting to hear back from NYU (waitlist) and USC.

If I don't get in this year, I will apply again next year. Before I do that, I would love to better understand all of your backgrounds and scores so that I can better structure my application 

Here are my details:

1. Undergrad degree: Econ, Chinese double major

2. Undergrad GPA: 3.4

3. GRE scores: 163 Q, 162 V, 4 AW

4. 4 years of experience working on data science projects in renewable energy, video recommendations and micro-finance

 

Look forward to hearing from you all!! Thanks!

 

@schop Good luck with the rest of the admissions process! Happy to share my details (see below). I'm an older candidate, so I have a lot of work experience. :-)

1. Undergrad: Economics and Political Science double major at top 10 liberal arts college; post-baccaulaureate coursework in Computer Science and Math

2. Undergrad GPA: 3.63 

3. GRE 164Q, 167V, 5 AWA

4. 5 years of experience working in research w/8 publications; additional work experience as a software developer and econ consultant

My statement of purpose was about health data science applications, since that is where I want to focus after completing my Master's degree.

Accepted: Columbia, NYU, Brown, USF, Berkeley MIDS, Tufts, Harvard School of Public Health (health data science)

Rejected: MIT Business Analytics, Harvard SEAS

Edited April 16, 2019 by nyan_cat

[autechre]

19 hours ago, schop said:

Hey guys! I applied to a bunch of data science programs and have been rejected by Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Berkeley (Statistics), Stanford (Statistics), USF, Michigan (MIDS), and CMU (Statistical Practice) where I was on the waitlist. I am still waiting to hear back from NYU (waitlist) and USC.

If I don't get in this year, I will apply again next year. Before I do that, I would love to better understand all of your backgrounds and scores so that I can better structure my application :)

Here are my details:

1. Undergrad degree: Econ, Chinese double major

2. Undergrad GPA: 3.4

3. GRE scores: 163 Q, 162 V, 4 AW

4. 4 years of experience working on data science projects in renewable energy, video recommendations and micro-finance

 

Look forward to hearing from you all!! Thanks!

 

(I've been lurking here for weeks)

Undergrad degree: CS major from India

Undergrad GPA: 3.84 if I scale it down to 4

GRE: 170Q, 167V, 4AWA

No work experience, but I've had a couple of good internships and a lot of relevant coursework. No publications.

Accepted: Columbia, Georgia Tech, USC, UVA

Rejected: CMU, NCSU, UPenn, NYU. Waitlisted by Northwestern.

[phd4lyf]

20 hours ago, nyan_cat said:

@schop Good luck with the rest of the admissions process! Happy to share my details (see below). I'm an older candidate, so I have a lot of work experience. ?

1. Undergrad: Economics and Political Science double major at top 10 liberal arts college; post-baccaulaureate coursework in Computer Science and Math

2. Undergrad GPA: 3.63 

3. GRE 164Q, 167V, 5 AWA

4. 5 years of experience working in research w/8 publications; additional work experience as a software developer and econ consultant

My statement of purpose was about health data science applications, since that is where I want to focus after completing my Master's degree.

Accepted: Columbia, NYU, Brown, USF, Berkeley MIDS, Tufts, Harvard School of Public Health (health data science)

Rejected: MIT Business Analytics, Harvard SEAS

@nyan_cat thank you so much for this!! Congratulations on the admits - have you decided where you're going?

[phd4lyf]

On 4/17/2019 at 10:09 AM, autechre said:

(I've been lurking here for weeks)

Undergrad degree: CS major from India

Undergrad GPA: 3.84 if I scale it down to 4

GRE: 170Q, 167V, 4AWA

No work experience, but I've had a couple of good internships and a lot of relevant coursework. No publications.

Accepted: Columbia, Georgia Tech, USC, UVA

Rejected: CMU, NCSU, UPenn, NYU. Waitlisted by Northwestern.

@autechre thanks for this!! And congrats on your acceptances!

[data_psych]

Hey Guys, i am having a hard time deciding between uiuc stats program, cornell tech orie and duke mids(30% aid) . I ve been working in data science for about 4 years.

Im a little inclined towards duke due to a smaller batch size, and faculty seems too dedicated. But i believe uiuc has a better reputation in quantitative sciences. What are your thoughts?

[regressionist]

On 4/16/2019 at 2:49 PM, schop said:

Hey guys! I applied to a bunch of data science programs and have been rejected by Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Berkeley (Statistics), Stanford (Statistics), USF, Michigan (MIDS), and CMU (Statistical Practice) where I was on the waitlist. I am still waiting to hear back from NYU (waitlist) and USC.

If I don't get in this year, I will apply again next year. Before I do that, I would love to better understand all of your backgrounds and scores so that I can better structure my application 

Here are my details:

1. Undergrad degree: Econ, Chinese double major

2. Undergrad GPA: 3.4

3. GRE scores: 163 Q, 162 V, 4 AW

4. 4 years of experience working on data science projects in renewable energy, video recommendations and micro-finance

 

Look forward to hearing from you all!! Thanks!

 

Hi!

1. Undergrad degree: major in Math (with Statistics track) and minor in Econ (Western-style university in Kazakhstan)

2. Undergrad GPA: 3.54 

3. GRE scores: 167 Q, 152 V,  3 AW; IELTS 7.5

4. 1 publication (first author) in NLP,  1 research internship in South Korea, 1 working internship but no real work experience (just graduated from the university).

I applied to only three universities in the US. 

Accepted: NYU MS in Data Science, UIUC MS in Statistics-Analytics

Rejected: Columbia MS in DS

[ds2019]

Hey guys, anyone applied to UPenn and/or decided to go there? I was rejected on 4/5 but today I got this email: "After our initial decision, your application was selected for re-evaluation; we have chosen to reverse the decision and issue you a new letter." 

So they decided to re-evaluate my application and then offer me acceptance? What is going on?? Anyone else in this situation? I already put my deposit in for NYU. Now that I have UPenn, which one should I go for? I actually like NYU for all their resources and career development, but I can't really find anything on UPenn since its such a new program and the only things I hear from is that it is good without much evidence.

Any advice appreciated!

Meanwhile I am still waiting for Columbia lol...(had digital interview in mid April).

1. Undergrad GPA: 3.6 (math and econ degree from NYU)

2. GRE: 165 Q, 158 V, 5 AW

3. 2 years work experience in mid-size software firm as analyst/consultant. No research experience.

Accepted: NYU, UPenn

Rejected: Stanford, Northwestern

Waiting: Columbia (digital interview in mid April)

Edited April 22, 2019 by ds2019

[HarenB]

 

3 hours ago, ds2019 said:

Hey guys, anyone applied to UPenn and/or decided to go there? I was rejected on 4/5 but today I got this email: "After our initial decision, your application was selected for re-evaluation; we have chosen to reverse the decision and issue you a new letter." 

So they decided to re-evaluate my application and then offer me acceptance? What is going on?? Anyone else in this situation? I already put my deposit in for NYU. Now that I have UPenn, which one should I go for? I actually like NYU for all their resources and career development, but I can't really find anything on UPenn since its such a new program and the only things I hear from is that it is good without much evidence.

Any advice appreciated!

Meanwhile I am still waiting for Columbia lol...(had digital interview in mid April).

1. Undergrad GPA: 3.6 (math and econ degree from NYU)

2. GRE: 165 Q, 158 V, 5 AW

3. 2 years work experience in mid-size software firm as analyst/consultant. No research experience.

Accepted: NYU, UPenn

Rejected: Stanford, Northwestern

Waiting: Columbia (digital interview in mid April)

@ds2019 I recieved the same email! I was not expecting that at all but I was really hoping for Penn and was quite upset when I didn't get the offer. I will most likely be attending Penn, however if I were in your shoes it would be a tough choice. Firstly the program is a lot more established and has been going on for a longer time, as well as it is situated in NYU's own Data Science Institute, whereas Penn houses the course in the Engineering department. If you wish to work in New York then NYU has fantastic connections and will provide you with lots of assistance in getting a job at one of the top companies in the area. On the other side however the cohort at NYU is about double the size, and the course may feel more disconnected as a result. In all i'd suggest looking through the module options for both to get a rough idea of what the course of your studies would look like over the two years (or possibly 1.5 at Penn) and see which you prefer, as well as looking through the faculty and locations of both programs. Hope that helps!

[ds2019]

5 hours ago, HarenB said:

 

@ds2019 I recieved the same email! I was not expecting that at all but I was really hoping for Penn and was quite upset when I didn't get the offer. I will most likely be attending Penn, however if I were in your shoes it would be a tough choice. Firstly the program is a lot more established and has been going on for a longer time, as well as it is situated in NYU's own Data Science Institute, whereas Penn houses the course in the Engineering department. If you wish to work in New York then NYU has fantastic connections and will provide you with lots of assistance in getting a job at one of the top companies in the area. On the other side however the cohort at NYU is about double the size, and the course may feel more disconnected as a result. In all i'd suggest looking through the module options for both to get a rough idea of what the course of your studies would look like over the two years (or possibly 1.5 at Penn) and see which you prefer, as well as looking through the faculty and locations of both programs. Hope that helps!

Thanks for your input! May I ask which other schools you were comparing with Penn and what attracts you to Penn's DS program? I went to NYU undergrad and I agree they have great connections and provide good career development resources. Furthermore, they have their own DS center and have already established themselves as a top DS program in the world. I tried to do a lot of research on Penn but have not really found much tbh. The school's prestige overall is what really attracts me and I'd like to choose its program for reasons more than that alone.

Another thing about me is that I currently work in NYC, so I was previously considering staying at my full-time job and attending NYU part-time. If I were to attend Penn, I would have to be a full-time student (I believe) and I probably would like to find a part-time job in the area or some side hustle. Tbh money is not really a big problem for me - I just want to have a stream of income in the meantime to cover the living expenses. Again, not a big deal honestly but before Penn's acceptance I was set on continuing working in NYC while attending NYU part-time.

[HarenB]

4 hours ago, ds2019 said:

Thanks for your input! May I ask which other schools you were comparing with Penn and what attracts you to Penn's DS program? I went to NYU undergrad and I agree they have great connections and provide good career development resources. Furthermore, they have their own DS center and have already established themselves as a top DS program in the world. I tried to do a lot of research on Penn but have not really found much tbh. The school's prestige overall is what really attracts me and I'd like to choose its program for reasons more than that alone.

Another thing about me is that I currently work in NYC, so I was previously considering staying at my full-time job and attending NYU part-time. If I were to attend Penn, I would have to be a full-time student (I believe) and I probably would like to find a part-time job in the area or some side hustle. Tbh money is not really a big problem for me - I just want to have a stream of income in the meantime to cover the living expenses. Again, not a big deal honestly but before Penn's acceptance I was set on continuing working in NYC while attending NYU part-time.

I had also applied to NYU and Columbia for DS, both of which turned me down however. I had also applied for a few Business Analytics programs (before getting this Penn decision change I was set on UCLA MSBA) however in the recent weeks have realised that my preferences lean more towards Data Science than Business Analytics. The main reasons that I applied to Penn in the first place is due not only to the established nature of the college but also in recent times they have been invested very heavily in improving their masters programs, especially those that are technology related. While the course is very new (two years old I think), I believe Penn will be putting lots of resources towards making the program the best it can be. Also even though the program is new some of the modules inside have been taught for longer than the program, and seem not only quite challenging but also very rewarding. 

In terms of working and studying I think you would be very very busy, and while NYU does facilitate part time enrollment it's up to you if you'd want to be working and studying at the same time for two whole years. 

Edited April 23, 2019 by HarenB

[somethingofascientstmyself]

Hi everyone,

Any insights on the MS in Data Science at University of San Francisco? I see a few people in this thread applied.

I applied to NYU, Columbia, Brown and UPenn and was rejected from all unfortunately but made it into USF. Would you guys recommend the program? The curriculum and career placement seems strong but it doesn't have the name brand factor. Are there other programs somewhere between USF and Columbia/NYU etc. that I should try to apply to for next year instead based on my profile below?

Profile:

CGPA: 3.4 in Industrial Engineering from top 3 Canadian school (poor first year GPA, 3.6+ from 2nd year onwards)
GRE Q/V/A: 169/160/4.5
Work experience - 1 year business intelligence analyst, 2 years business analyst, 2 years senior data analyst using Python for operations research and other data analysis projects. Lots of work using pandas, numpy and dataviz libraries in Python. Some small ML projects at work, lots of online course work and self learning.
Weak points: CGPA kinda low, No research experience. nothing special in SOP - just about my interest and passion in the field but I imagine many people wrote something similar.

Thank you!

Edited May 4, 2019 by somethingofascientstmyself
Added details

[Choho]

I saw that you guys all got some great offers .... 

Undergrad degree: Communication major in LA 

Undergrad GPA: 3.12

I screw up at GMAT: 550, MATH 49,  4AWA, 7IR

6 years work experience, 3 years involving website analysis and SEO

Got rejected from most U like UCDavis, UCIrvine, UCSD....etc and I applied UMiami late that they refer me to MSF

I know it's hard for my GMAT score and lack of CS background 

but didn't know it would be that painful....

right now I only got CSU East bay Business Analytics offer 

still waiting San Jose State ... 

Any bay area newbie?