NC State Masters Analytics

[throwaway1234]

Anyone apply to this program this year? I had an interview a few weeks ago but haven't heard anything since.  I was wondering how long it took everyone to hear back.

[Dinesh M S]

Hi - I have applied but haven't received any correspondence so far. When did you apply? Can you please brief me about the questions asked in the interview?

[throwaway1234]

I applied late last year

[doka1101]

Hey...I have an interview next week, can you advise me how I should prepare? Is it technical or just general interview (for example, tell me about yourself, why did you apply to this school)?

 

Thanks

[emco]

Edit for clarity:

 

Applied beginning of January 

Notice of interview: First week of Feb 

Interview: the following Monday

Heard back 4 days after my interview about my acceptance! 

Edited March 5, 2014 by emco

[throwaway1234]

Congrats! I had my interview a few weeks ago, still haven't heard anything back either way. Making me very anxious!

[emco]

I know they had said if you don't hear in a certain amount of time to reach out to them. Good luck!v

Edited March 5, 2014 by emco

[throwaway1234]

Yeah, hard to tell. Sounds like emco might have interviewed after feb 7, based on saying the interview was Monday following the first week of Feb. Starting to think there might be a wait list or something

[thoreau-away]

Yeah, hard to tell. Sounds like emco might have interviewed after feb 7, based on saying the interview was Monday following the first week of Feb. Starting to think there might be a wait list or something

 

Yeah, certainly a possibility. I guess no news is good news at this point.

[throwaway1234]

Yep, as nerve-wracking as it is!

[emco]

throwaway1234 - I am in the same boat, interviewed in February and am still waiting to hear back. There was a big snow storm the week of February 10th

 

 

I was surprised, I actually heard back when they were closed for that snow storm. I interviewed after the 7th but I was in the first batch of interviews to my knowledge. There were interviews available the first week of feb  so maybe some people who interviewed that week had heard back because the turn around time for me was quick. 

[doka1101]

I did my interview last Wednesday, they told me I should be notify with a decision in 10-14 days after the interview. They advise me to contact them, if I don't hear anything back in 2 weeks. 

 

@thoreau-away & @throwaway1234 - I think you guys should definitely contact the school and find out about the decision.

@emco - congrats!!

 

Do any of you know, how many out of the 85 spots have been filled already? I forgot to ask that during the interview

[throwaway1234]

Yea, I also asked if they had any updates and didn't get any response back. I'll post an update on here if/when I hear anything back from them. They say on their website that most people should hear back by April 1, so maybe we will know something by then.

[doka1101]

Hope all of us get an acceptance offer .

 

Did you guys apply anywhere else?

I applied to University of San Francisco, NC State, and Queens (Canada), NC State being my top choice. I have not heard of USF before I apply, do you guys know anything about the analytics program offered in USF? How that program is reputation wise?

[throwaway1234]

Yes, good luck to everyone!

 

I don't know much about the USF program.  All the analytics degrees are so new, I think you are probably best off going with the biggest-name school (with the exception of NC state due to their focus on job placement)

 

I think USF has an advantage that it is located in the San Fran bay area, near all the huge tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Ebay, etc. I would imagine students get jobs at those places upon graduation & the faculty/staff has ties to them 

[emco]

I applied and got into NC State, LSU and Tennessee (with an assistantship). I haven't heard anything about USF, I read a lot of articles about analytics and when they mention programs they mention NC State and Tennessee mostly and then you'll see some mentioning LSU, Carnegie Mellon and Northwestern. 

 

From what I can tell about programs with this field being so new its good to go with as old a program as possible so you know they've established a rapport with employers. 

Edited March 9, 2014 by emco

[throwaway1234]

Any of you guys who interviewed hear back yet?

[doka1101]

Hey I got back from the school, but did not get admitted . Best of luck with you guys, hope you guys receive some good news!

[throwaway1234]

Cool deal. I am still sitting in limbo, hoping to hear something either way soon

[mrx123456]

Hi Guys,

 

I interviewed the day of the storm, and did not hear back for a while, I finally reached out to them and after a long delay was accepted into the program on the 15th. I have an offer from Texas with scholarship as well, any idea which is a better program? Obviously NCSU has a longer history but Texas looks to be a great program.

 

Thanks

[emco]

NC state's is the best in the country, I have no doubt about that from all my research. But if having electives is important to you that would be the only deterrent. 

 

Congrats thoreau-away, will I be seeing you in May/June? 

[camelCase]

Hehe, electives probably shouldn't be his only deterrent.  NC State's MSA is primarily focused on SAS technologies and also sponsored by SAS... In turn there isn't much or any exposure to big data systems like Hadoop, R, and NoSql databases. While I'm not sure how Texas' program is structured, if you graduate with NC State's analytics degree you'd likely land a job working the SAS tech stack after graduation.

 

Also take into account where you want to live and work after graduation. You will probably end up with a post-graduation job near where you go to school (short of a work-from-home gig). If you attend UT Texas you'll most likely end up in Austin (booming tech scene, lots of startups). With NC State you may find work in Raleigh (RTP) or Charlotte (big banks) and the surrounding areas.

 

NC State is a more mature program and arguably the best MS analytics program in the nation. At the same time, analytics programs are popping up a dime a dozen. In general the brand name of universities is what catches an employer's eye. UT Austin will probably put you in a better position to end up at Google, Yahoo, MS, etc.

 

If it was me I'd choose based on whichever program is cheaper, where you want to work upon grad, and if you value a SAS-based program over learning on SAS along with the open source big data tools. If it's a sweet scholarship at UT that might be hard to turn down.

 

Hopefully that helps your decision some. You really can't go wrong either way! Congratulations and best luck!

Edited March 24, 2014 by camelCase

[emco]

Yeah I haven't heard about the assessment either, I'm going to go down for it either way. 

[camelCase]

camelCase, just wanted to correct a few things in your post. NC State's graduates regularly find jobs outside of North Carolina and interview with big names. NC State's IAA added a new blog post today with a list of the different companies that have extended job offers to this year's cohort: http://analytics.ncsu.edu/?p=6944

 

Yes their job placement is definitely good. At a glance it looks like most people end up in NC and surrounding east coast states like i thought.

 

I know from speaking with people who have completed the program that employer interest continues down the road.. He primarily works with R, which he learned in the IAA along with SAS, SPSS, and Python. At the IAA information session I attended, they emphasized that their goal is to expose students to many different statistical programs so that they are not limited in who they can work for upon graduation.

That is great that they expose students to some other technologies. I'd still argue that when you graduate from a program that is sponsored by SAS and pushes SAS certifications for its students, it's kind of the direction you are geared for. Not that it is a bad thing in any way shape or form.. Just also something to consider

[ThisIsMyAccount]

Does anyone know what the deal is for the statistical assessment? Is the primer class offered online or is it only in person?  

 

For what it's worth, I interviewed in January and it took about 2 months after the interview and I got an email saying I was accepted. I didn't hear anything from NC State up until that point. So for the people applying next year that find this thread, don't stress if they tell you the post-interview decision should take 1-2 weeks and it ends up taking a lot longer than that.

Edited March 27, 2014 by ThisIsMyAccount