Summer Programs as Prep For Grad School?

[mrs12]

Hey all~

So I was recently chatting to one of my professors and he mentioned that if I wanted to segue into one of the fields I was interested in but hadn't rigorously pursued in undergrad that many students took extra classes after graduation to make themselves more attractive to and/or fit the requirements of other degree programs.

So my question to you all is, is that true? Once you've graduated undergrad, can you just take other classes to augment what you've got? And if so, do people ever do summer programs or is it usually community college type stuff? I ask because I'm used to doing intense language programs in the summer and I've seen how much can be done at a program like that. Are there similar sort of "catch-up" programs, for, say, math? Or, I don't know, computer science?

[Edotdl]

I think it would be helpful if you were more specific about your goals. In general, taking relevant classes or any other experience will be helpful whether during or after undergrad. Is there a reason why you don't think classes after undergrad will help? 

There are summer bootcamps in things like machine learning or programming and such, but I don't think that's really sufficient if you're looking to switch from a eg. Spanish major into CS research. 

[mrs12]

I guess I'm asking in two senses. The more theoretical: do people often take other classes after undergrad to change degrees, and if so how do they do that? Do you have to take normal university classes for however long until you catch up, or do programs exist to catch you up? 

And the personal: I've done a self-designed interdisciplinary program, somewhere between the two fields of Data Science and Eurasian Studies. If I wanted to do a Masters in Data Science though most programs require much more formal math classes than I ended up taking. Are there programs out there, summer or otherwise, to intensively catch up on something like two years of Calculus, etc?