Columbia Business Analytics vs. Michigan Data Science?

[ansdPdms]

Hi all,  I'm deciding between Columbia's Masters of Science in Business Analytics and University of Michigan's Masters of Science in Data Science program. Since they are in different industries, I'm very conflicted. I got waitlisted from NYU and UW Data Science, got accepted to Cornell's MPS in Applied Statistics (Data Science), ORIE at Cornell Tech, and Georgetown Analytics. Still waiting from Brown, PENN, LSE Data Science.

Economics major and Statistics minor at a top 3 liberal arts college, with some cs background. I think my end goal is working as a data scientist at a consulting/finance firm, but I'm open to other data science roles. Not interested in PhD. I was leaning towards Michigan because of technical complexity, so I'll have a wide variety of career options, but everyone's telling me to choose Columbia because of its name value, resources, and geographical advantage (i.e. recruiting and networking). I have a week to decide - any advice/input would be appreciated!!! Thank you!

[Coconutgirl]

Hi! Congrats on all your acceptances! Apologies in advance as I can’t help.

I saw that you got into ORIE as well as Cornell’s Tech. Can I ask why it’s not in consideration? Is it because it may not be technical enough? Asking because I’m trying to decide between NYU Data Science and that program, and since it’s so new, I can’t find much info on it.

Thanks in advance! Didn’t mean to hijack your thread.

[juilletmercredi]

I work in the tech industry and we employ a tremendous number of data scientists. Michigan has enormous name value and resources; I'd be willing to bet that my large tech company employs more Michigan alum than Columbia alum (probably by sheer numbers, but their alumni network is very, very strong!). The geographical location of Columbia is a huge boon when it comes to internships or part-time jobs or networking, but lots of companies come recruiting at Michigan.

I think the important thing is the actual education you'd get. I don't know about Columbia's business analytics program, but some business analytics programs are less technical and more about understanding the basics - you get a little business and a little statistics/CS, but not enough of the latter to be a full data scientist unless you do a lot of additional work. So I'd look into the curriculum and ask about post-graduation placement at the program to understand what kinds of roles people do afterwards.

[ansdPdms]

1 hour ago, juilletmercredi said:

I work in the tech industry and we employ a tremendous number of data scientists. Michigan has enormous name value and resources; I'd be willing to bet that my large tech company employs more Michigan alum than Columbia alum (probably by sheer numbers, but their alumni network is very, very strong!). The geographical location of Columbia is a huge boon when it comes to internships or part-time jobs or networking, but lots of companies come recruiting at Michigan.

I think the important thing is the actual education you'd get. I don't know about Columbia's business analytics program, but some business analytics programs are less technical and more about understanding the basics - you get a little business and a little statistics/CS, but not enough of the latter to be a full data scientist unless you do a lot of additional work. So I'd look into the curriculum and ask about post-graduation placement at the program to understand what kinds of roles people do afterwards.

1

 

Thank you so much for your reply. I wish I could know about post-graduation placement, but I'm the first batch of Michigan's Data Science program and second of Columbia's. Columbia's first batch hasn't graduated, unfortunately. Could you look into this Columbia's curriculum (https://msba.engineering.columbia.edu/content/curriculum) and let me know if it would be technical enough? I am planning on doing double-concentration in fin tech and algorithms, or just take more technical classes in algorithms/cs department if a more technical background is needed. Everyone I have talked to (and my guts too) is telling me to go to Michigan, but somehow Columbia's name value and opportunities (name value, friends, networking, life quality, or maybe I can get a data science internship during school) are hard to let go. Michigan's program is extremely technical, half of the curriculum being from statistics and the other half from eecs. But Columbia's program seems more like from Operations Research (IEOR), and I am curious to know if this coursework would be enough (I will definitely work hard to look into internships etc) to get a job as a data scientist. Thank you so much!

[ansdPdms]

On 4/4/2019 at 5:11 PM, Coconutgirl said:

Hi! Congrats on all your acceptances! Apologies in advance as I can’t help.

I saw that you got into ORIE as well as Cornell’s Tech. Can I ask why it’s not in consideration? Is it because it may not be technical enough? Asking because I’m trying to decide between NYU Data Science and that program, and since it’s so new, I can’t find much info on it.

Thanks in advance! Didn’t mean to hijack your thread.

 

Regarding Cornell's Applied Statistics, I'm not a big fan of Ithaca. But I heard Cornell's ORIE department is prestigious and if you're interested in PhD it would definitely be a better option. Cornell Tech's ORIE is really interesting, and they offered me a merit scholarship (10k). But I somehow liked Columbia better, and honestly, I don't know why. Probably operations research vs. business analytics, and Columbia's concentration in financial technology. I want to do something at the intersection of finance and technology. Hope this helps!

[Coconutgirl]

8 hours ago, ansdPdms said:

Regarding Cornell's Applied Statistics, I'm not a big fan of Ithaca. But I heard Cornell's ORIE department is prestigious and if you're interested in PhD it would definitely be a better option. Cornell Tech's ORIE is really interesting, and they offered me a merit scholarship (10k). But I somehow liked Columbia better, and honestly, I don't know why. Probably operations research vs. business analytics, and Columbia's concentration in financial technology. I want to do something at the intersection of finance and technology. Hope this helps!

Thank you! That was helpful! I too was offered a merit scholarship which makes the offer a lot more appealing- considering it is a one year program and the debt load would be a lot less. I don’t think I want to be a data scientist post grad but think that knowing the technical skills could be super useful for someone that wants to be a product manager of some sort (which is what I want to do) and which is why the studio part of Cornell’s Tech appealled to me.

Something to look into might be to see if Columbia/Michigan’s classes are degree specific or if they have students take classes from other schools. That might give you a sense of how organized the programs are. I have heard in the first years, there have been some kinks that took a few years to iron out, as expected (two other DS programs).

[ansdPdms]

On 4/8/2019 at 12:37 AM, Coconutgirl said:

Thank you! That was helpful! I too was offered a merit scholarship which makes the offer a lot more appealing- considering it is a one year program and the debt load would be a lot less. I don’t think I want to be a data scientist post grad but think that knowing the technical skills could be super useful for someone that wants to be a product manager of some sort (which is what I want to do) and which is why the studio part of Cornell’s Tech appealled to me.

 Something to look into might be to see if Columbia/Michigan’s classes are degree specific or if they have students take classes from other schools. That might give you a sense of how organized the programs are. I have heard in the first years, there have been some kinks that took a few years to iron out, as expected (two other DS programs).

Thanks, I'll look into it!

I also considered PM at some point - if you want to become a product manager, I think Cornell Tech will be a better fit. Their curriculum looks like they're teaching right enough technical stuff for PMs but has an emphasis on entrepreneurship and products. From what I heard from my PM friends, knowledge about product development etc. seemed more important than cs/statistics, and you'll gain just enough amount of technical materials from the program while being involved in projects/studio classes!

[Coconutgirl]

10 hours ago, ansdPdms said:

Thanks, I'll look into it!

I also considered PM at some point - if you want to become a product manager, I think Cornell Tech will be a better fit. Their curriculum looks like they're teaching right enough technical stuff for PMs but has an emphasis on entrepreneurship and products. From what I heard from my PM friends, knowledge about product development etc. seemed more important than cs/statistics, and you'll gain just enough amount of technical materials from the program while being involved in projects/studio classes!

Thank you!!

[cykie]

On 4/4/2019 at 1:34 AM, ansdPdms said:

Hi all,  I'm deciding between Columbia's Masters of Science in Business Analytics and University of Michigan's Masters of Science in Data Science program. Since they are in different industries, I'm very conflicted. I got waitlisted from NYU and UW Data Science, got accepted to Cornell's MPS in Applied Statistics (Data Science), ORIE at Cornell Tech, and Georgetown Analytics. Still waiting from Brown, PENN, LSE Data Science.

Economics major and Statistics minor at a top 3 liberal arts college, with some cs background. I think my end goal is working as a data scientist at a consulting/finance firm, but I'm open to other data science roles. Not interested in PhD. I was leaning towards Michigan because of technical complexity, so I'll have a wide variety of career options, but everyone's telling me to choose Columbia because of its name value, resources, and geographical advantage (i.e. recruiting and networking). I have a week to decide - any advice/input would be appreciated!!! Thank you!

Hi andsdPdms,

Congrats on your admissions.

Just wondering did you apply to UMSI 's MADS program, the online one?

If you don't mind, may I ask when did you apply to the program and when did you heard back from them about the decision?

I applied end of May, and not sure if they have already sent out all the admissions. :( 

[okonomilicious]

On 6/5/2019 at 10:35 PM, cykie said:

Hi andsdPdms,

Congrats on your admissions.

Just wondering did you apply to UMSI 's MADS program, the online one?

If you don't mind, may I ask when did you apply to the program and when did you heard back from them about the decision?

I applied end of May, and not sure if they have already sent out all the admissions.

Did you hear back yet from the MADS online program? I got notice yesterday.

Edited June 29, 2019 by okonomilicious

[cykie]

On 6/29/2019 at 12:25 PM, okonomilicious said:

Did you hear back yet from the MADS online program? I got notice yesterday.

Hi, 

thanks for your reply previously.

I received their notice in Aug. Did you get admitted to Fall 2019?