Fall 2020 Data Science/Analytics Master Applicant Thread

[priya123]

@Rtg8055 Hi, when was your application for Columbia marked under review?

[Rtg8055]

11 hours ago, ilovepenguins said:

Did Columbia mention mid march or " Please note that decisions are expected to go out by the end of March." ?? I had interviewed on 25th February, they didn't mention they would start releasing decisions mid-March.

Hey, I got the same interview request due by 3rd can you please share your experience. Would be quite helpful thanks.

[Rtg8055]

39 minutes ago, priya123 said:

@Rtg8055 Hi, when was your application for Columbia marked under review?

16 December.

Edited March 1, 2020 by Rtg8055

[GeorgiaTechPhd]

21 minutes ago, Rtg8055 said:

Hey, I got the same interview request due by 3rd can you please share your experience. Would be quite helpful thanks.

@Rtg8055 is this the interview that is conducted through a software, where you are asked a few questions, and your answers get recorded into the software? 

[priya123]

Does anyone know if January 22nd is the only application deadline for NYU MS Data Science?

[carolbells]

@GeorgiaTechPhd I got the interview request. To answer your question - yes

@priya123 Yes Jan 22 was the deadline for Fall 2020

[Scholarship]

Anyone got accepted to Gatech Analytics?

[Applicant20]

2 hours ago, Scholarship said:

Anyone got accepted to Gatech Analytics?

Yeah I got accepted on Friday. Most likely going to accept it.

[mpdata]

12 hours ago, Rtg8055 said:

Hey, I got the same interview request due by 3rd can you please share your experience. Would be quite helpful thanks.

@Rtg8055  yeah it was 5 questions and for each you’ll hear the question read and have like 10 seconds to think about your answer and then it records. you get a second attempt which I was def thankful for lol. hope that helps!

[Camila92]

Hi all, 

I am new to GradCafe but got into a few different programs and am torn between my options. I was wondering whether anyone had any insights. 

Admitted:

• Georgia Tech, MSA
• NC State, MSA
• UVA, MSDS
• U Chicago, MS in Computational Analysis for Public Policy (with a $20k scholarship)

Waiting to hear from: 

• Georgetown, MS in Data Science for Public Policy

I am really only considering GT, NCSU and UVA because of the program lengths and cost (they're only one year while U Chicago and Georgetown are two). NC State is the most established/longest running program with a robust practicum project component, but GT is a "bigger name" and UVA is a solid program and just poured a ton of money into founding an entire School of Data Science. 

Thoughts? Anyone with experiences at any of the programs?

Thank you all so much!

 

[Bulmicoa]

Hi guys, I’ve really only applied to Columbia in the US (for various personal and professional reasons - I work in Finance) so would really appreciate if someone could help me out with the interview a bit here.

I don’t come from an engineering background and have self taught programming/machine learning over the last two years to support my current role in Finance. A bit concerned as to what kind of technical questions are asked (if at all). @ilovepenguins @mpdata @david0217 - any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

[carolbells]

@Bulmicoa No questions are technical (ie: you won't be expected to code). Also, you have two tries to answer each question so that gives a lot of leeway. I wouldn't stress it.

[Do_EE]

On 3/3/2020 at 5:49 AM, Camila92 said:

Hi all, 

I am new to GradCafe but got into a few different programs and am torn between my options. I was wondering whether anyone had any insights. 

Admitted:

• Georgia Tech, MSA
• NC State, MSA
• UVA, MSDS
• U Chicago, MS in Computational Analysis for Public Policy (with a $20k scholarship)

Waiting to hear from: 

• Georgetown, MS in Data Science for Public Policy

I am really only considering GT, NCSU and UVA because of the program lengths and cost (they're only one year while U Chicago and Georgetown are two). NC State is the most established/longest running program with a robust practicum project component, but GT is a "bigger name" and UVA is a solid program and just poured a ton of money into founding an entire School of Data Science. 

Thoughts? Anyone with experiences at any of the programs?

Thank you all so much!

 

@Camila92 Congrats on some great outcomes -

If you don't mind sharing, what is your academic background, work experience, GPA and GRE like? I was turned down from the Chicago MSCAPP and am still wondering where things went wrong.

Edited March 4, 2020 by Do_EE

[whiteshark243]

@Do_EE This came straight from their website: How Can I Strengthen My Application?
If you are unsure about the quality of your application and want to strengthen it, consider taking (and excelling in) a mathematics or computer science course, especially in linear algebra or programming in Python.

Looks like those two courses are strongly recommended on top of a bunch of other volunteer experiences and coding projects. Honestly though, there are so many things that can go wrong in the admission process. That's why we're applying to 6-10 different programs.

[throwaway12345]

Hello all! I applied to NYU and Columbia's MS in Data Science programs and was just accepted into NYU's program about 15 minutes ago. I'm planning on going part-time, and enrollment in general depends on scholarships & finances. Also FYI, I didn't study CS or DS for my undergrad or grad degrees.

 

(Vague) Background:

3.6 GPA for B.A. @ Ivy League

3.9 GPA M.A. @ Ivy League

~1.5 years in PhD program @ Ivy League

Data Science bootcamp

~ 1 year as a data scientist @ a company

165V, 163Q, 4W (I think??)

 

[carolbells]

@throwaway12345

Congrats on your admit! I'm waiting to hear back from NYU myself. When did you submit your application?

[throwaway12345]

@carolbells

I applied on 1/15/20, about a week before the deadline! Honestly just threw some stuff together as quickly as possible since I didn't really decide to apply until like two weeks before the NYU deadline. But I'm glad it worked out! Now I'm trying to figure out scholarship/financial details since I refuse to pay for school ever again

 

Edit: also, thank you!

Edited March 4, 2020 by throwaway12345

[whiteshark243]

@throwaway12345 Congratulations! Did you interview with NYU at all? Also may I ask which PhD program you are pursuing and why switched to an MS now?

[throwaway12345]

@whiteshark243

Nope, absolutely no contact from NYU until I got my acceptance letter today! And I actually left my PhD program over a year ago but I wasn't studying CS or DS so it was essentially just a job in an unrelated field, although I did use a tiny bit of ML in some of my projects. I'd guess my acceptance has more to do with the data science bootcamp certificate and current work experience. I'm pursuing my MS because there's more to learn and NYU and Columbia give you access to some of the best professors/researchers in the field and I want to work on my theoretical/technical skills, which in some cases are easier to absorb in a classroom setting. My longer-term academic goal is actually to go for a dual-degree MS-MBA, but I need a few more years of work experience (both business and technical) before I'd even be considered competitive. Also, I refuse to pay lol someone else will pay for 100% of my degrees because I've done enough paying. Long-term career goal is to become director of analytics (or something similar to this role) where I can actually have an impact on a company's data-driven strategy.

Sorry if this was really vague, I'm trying to stay somewhat anonymous (hence the throwaway)

[throwaway12345]

@whiteshark243

To be clear, my B.A. and M.A. were from one Ivy (although I applied separately to both programs), and my PhD program was at a different Ivy.

[Camila92]

22 hours ago, Do_EE said:

@Camila92 Congrats on some great outcomes -

If you don't mind sharing, what is your academic background, work experience, GPA and GRE like? I was turned down from the Chicago MSCAPP and am still wondering where things went wrong.

@Do_EE trying to remain somewhat anonymous, but: 

3.6 gpa undergrad from a top state university in the US (double major, both humanities with very little quant)

GRE: 165Q, 162V, 5.0AWA

Am several years out of undergrad, during which I did a grab bag of things including time abroad, a fellowship/grant, and a couple different jobs in the US (one related to politics, the other to healthcare). Worked to complete pre-reqs on my own including stats courses and linear algebra at a local community college and then just spent a bunch of time learning some programming languages on my own.

I honestly think writing a good essay got me most of the way there because I definitely don't have the strongest quant background: I just put in the time to catch up (doing the pre-reqs) and demonstrated I was willing to work hard and told them why I wanted to do the program. Hope that helps--best of luck to you!

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Camila92

[doingthingshere]

just checked the portal and I got into NYU data science!!! in shock!!

[breakingbad555]

1 hour ago, doingthingshere said:

just checked the portal and I got into NYU data science!!! in shock!!

Congrats on getting admit from NYU  It is definitely one of the top schools for DS. Do you mind sharing your profile ?

[doingthingshere]

29 minutes ago, breakingbad555 said:

Congrats on getting admit from NYU  It is definitely one of the top schools for DS. Do you mind sharing your profile ?

small liberal arts school undergrad in non STEM major, 158 verbal 162 quant 4.5 writing. 3.8 gpa. other than that, nothing too crazy other than i'm a professional musician looking to go into the music streaming industry as a data scientist, which maybe sounded like an interesting story to them. keep waiting to hear back that it was a mistake I got in hahaha

[whiteshark243]

@doingthingshere Congratulations! How did you satisfy the pre-req (i.e. linear algebra, math and stats courses) and the academic letters? I struggled on that end when I applied  since I am out of school for a while now.