Your opinion: Chicago MA in Computational Social Science

[Alexander II]

Hi!

UChicago's MACSS is a new 2-year program, so there aren't any alumni to ask. So I wanted to see what any of you may think about it.

I found a quote from their Managing Director:

“Our program is importantly different from the 10–12 high-level computational programs that presently exist on other campuses. Most of our peers are also one-year programs, and as a result have exceptionally high quantitative thresholds for admission, so there’s really no opportunity to have a shot unless you’ve already done that computational work.”

So it seems that this is for candidates who want to go into computing/quant for soc.science, but with little previous math? Judging by their website, they also seem to cater to PhD prep and Big Data analysis.

On their sample course tracks they list quite a number of courses on the Bachelor's level. Should that be a concern?

What do you all think?

[SnowSki325]

Hi,

I just applied to the program for this year and just came back from it's admitted students day. 

Personally, I have very little formal experience in math and computer science, and there does seem to be an emphasis on making sure that everyone gains those skills (however there were also people there who had mostly a computer science background but wanted to gain a stronger foundation in social science theory). As a matter of fact, I think the director mentioned that the entire first year is dedicated to making sure that everyone becomes a "citizen of computer science" and that the following year we would learn more about social science theory specific to our interests and work on our research. 

I'm actually between this program and the QMSS MA at Columbia. However, a big draw to this program is that they're aiming for a cohort of around 15 (which I feel like is pretty small for a Masters program) and that they put a huge emphasis on making sure that we produce a meaningful research project at the end of our second year. While they mentioned that they want to produce a new generation of social scientists with programming skills, they also mentioned that they encourage students to pursue opportunities in the private sector as well.

In terms of having a lot of Bachelor's level classes for the 1st year, I got the feeling it was really just to make sure we gained the computational skills and that the undergrad format is the best way to do so (I don't think adopting a grad student seminar format would be useful in learning how to code). I think one of the faculty also mentioned that the students in MACSS would all be in the same section (although I could be wrong)

 

[Alexander II]

@SnowSki325 Thanks a lot for your input! And congrats on your acceptance! I'm overseas so it's good to hear from someone who interacted with them in person. I'm actually also  thinking between these two same programs! Have you heard back from QMSS or talked to them? If so, what's your feeling on it?

Edited April 5, 2016 by Alexander II

[rack_attack124]

13 hours ago, Alexander II said:

@SnowSki325 Thanks a lot for your input! And congrats on your acceptance! I'm overseas so it's good to hear from someone who interacted with them in person. I'm actually also  thinking between these two same programs! Have you heard back from QMSS or talked to them? If so, what's your feeling on it?

were you guys accepted to QMSS? I'm waitlisted there. What were you guys hoping to accomplish with QMSS?

[Alexander II]

@rack_attack124Sorry I wasn't clear. I'm still just considering these two programs for the next app cycle, so I haven't applied yet. Check your inbox.

[rack_attack124]

@Alexander II ohhhh, gotcha! lol I wrote you back a really long message. didn't realize you hadn't applied yet! I didn't hear of the computational social science program before this forum. I knew about MAPSS at UChicago and know someone who went. She was an anthropology major at Brandeis and found a job in marketing in Chicago after MAPSS. MAPSS looked interesting to me but I never want to live in the midwest. I've been to Chicago airport and I don't do winter. I've also been to Madison twice and hated it and it's basically the same weather as Chi lol.