Advice needed: Desire to pursing Masters in Data Science/Statistics

[Bren_dan234]

Hello Everyone!

As the title suggests, I am here asking for help and advice on my journey to pursue a masters (prefer Statistics over DS). Of course, I am open to other technical programs too! My goal to become a data scientist/ML Engineer. I am in very early stages of my pursuit but would like to start a soon as possible. My goal is to apply to programs (hopefully top 20) in approximately 2-2.5 years.

I recently graduated with a bachelor’s in computer science (Statistics Minor) from a regional ranked state school. I transferred from a private school after my freshman year. My cumulative GPA is 3.82. Currently, I will be working at Deloitte as an Analyst doing analytics. My school’s CS program is very CS heavy and does not require many math courses, therefore, the only math classes I took (outside of my stat minor) are calc 1 and discrete Mathematics. I did, however, take an AI class that covered probability/ML.

I was accepted into University of Pennsylvania as a non-degree student to fulfill the prerequisites for statistics masters. I plan on taking the following courses: Cal 1,2,3, Linear Algebra, and complex/real analysis.

For the sake of simplicity, tuition and location are irrelevant.

With that being said, I come on here to ask for advice for my general course of action to become a competitive applicant:

1. Will I need to take anymore Math courses to be as competitive as possible. I read on here that a real analysis course will be beneficial to my application. And will the Upenn name carry any weight since I am only taking classes and not getting a degree?

2. Is research experience important in a master’s application (I have none). If so, what are some ways I can gain research experience while working full time?

3. How valuable is volunteer experience?

4. Will my work experience in consulting benefit to my application after ~2 years of working?

5. I can most likely target a GRE score of around 320 (165Q 155V). But of course, I have a lot of time to study.

6. One the major struggles so far is finding appropriate target schools to apply to. I do not want to sell myself short, but certainly do not want to apply to programs I don’t have a shot at getting into. So, with my profile, what are some schools that I may be able to get into? Assuming I fulfill the prerequisites.

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Bren_dan234

[bayessays]

1. No need to take more math.  And the fact that your courses are at a good state school and UPenn will look good and help you a little, yes.

2. Not necessary - your work experience will be valuable in same way as research, in that it will give you context to think about solving data-related problems.  For a masters, this is plenty.

3. Not usually a huge factor.

4. Yes, a little.

 

I would apply anywhere that you can afford to apply if you do well in the math classes.  I would also consider seeing if you can get an online masters, perhaps paid in part by work.  This would be the most economical option, and given your interest in remaining in industry, I think the best thing you could do would be to keep working and also get a MS degree through an online program (Off the top of my head, Berkeley has a MS data science online, and some good statistics programs like PSU, Iowa State, Colorado State and many others have online masters)