Columbia MSDS vs NYU MSDS

[david0217]

Hello everyone,

I am creating this topic for anyone struggling to choose between NYU DS and Columbia DS. I myself are struggling a lot for choosing between these two after getting accepted by both programs. Hope everyone can share some pros and cons about these two programs and help us make decisions better so people in WL can get accepted quicker.

[Do_EE]

I'd love to hear some advice on this too. Out of curiosity, did you receive funding for NYU DS?

[david0217]

1 hour ago, Do_EE said:

I'd love to hear some advice on this too. Out of curiosity, did you receive funding for NYU DS?

No, I didn't receive any funding from either school:(

[Guest123]

I think on the application Columbia MSDS says they don't offer funding

[Do_EE]

@david0217 you and me both buddy  it's otherwise a fantastic programme. If you do some searching through the Gradcafe forums, you'll see that most people feel NYU DS is superior to Columbia DS. Some are even saying Columbia DS is a cash cow.

Some things NYU has going for it:

- Dedicated data science school (CDS)

- Legendary data scientist on faculty (Yann Le-Cun)

- Rigorous program

- Apparently very competitive (despite the 150 cohort size)

I haven't heard back from Columbia DS yet, but if I were you, I'd go with NYU by a fair margin.

Edited March 20, 2020 by Do_EE

[david0217]

19 hours ago, Do_EE said:

@david0217 you and me both buddy  it's otherwise a fantastic programme. If you do some searching through the Gradcafe forums, you'll see that most people feel NYU DS is superior to Columbia DS. Some are even saying Columbia DS is a cash cow.

Some things NYU has going for it:

- Dedicated data science school (CDS)

- Legendary data scientist on faculty (Yann Le-Cun)

- Rigorous program

- Apparently very competitive (despite the 150 cohort size)

I haven't heard back from Columbia DS yet, but if I were you, I'd go with NYU by a fair margin.

Yeah, I have heard that Columbia has a really large cohort size and I also see that Columbia is a cash cow on the Gradcafe forum. But I have also heard that we will only have two classes max with each legendary professor and it will be really hard to connect with those professors since they will probably give research projects to PhDs and interact with them more frequently than us. Also, I heard that the career service in CDS is not really helpful and we have to look for jobs and internships all by ourselves. That's why I think it is so hard to choose between these two programs since both have pros and cons.

[Grant Byran]

I did not apply to Columbia after looking at the program, even though Columbia has a big game. My personal feeling is that NYU is treating DS as a legit department, with solid curriculum and faculty. Columbia data science feels like a trend-following / just for cash. 

[david0217]

On 3/26/2020 at 2:50 PM, Grant Byran said:

I did not apply to Columbia after looking at the program, even though Columbia has a big game. My personal feeling is that NYU is treating DS as a legit department, with solid curriculum and faculty. Columbia data science feels like a trend-following / just for cash. 

Hi! Did you get into NYU DS? And have you decided where you want to go?

[Grant Byran]

On 3/29/2020 at 8:37 PM, david0217 said:

Hi! Did you get into NYU DS? And have you decided where you want to go?

@david0217 I got into NYU DS Master, but eventually decided to take the offer from Stanford's DS master. Although the ML / Deep learning coursework donesn't seem to be as comprehensive as what NYU offers, the Stanford program seems to have a good balance between stats and ML. It also has a much smaller cohort I believe. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Grant Byran