MS Data Science/Data Analytics options?

[smartdegree]

Since you're looking to use it as a checkbox for a promotion, the faster you get it, the earlier you get the $$ salary increase. I say that eliminates programs like Georgia Tech or UT Austin. If you look at their curriculum and visit their student forums, it is very difficult to complete those programs within 2 years.

One program that hasn't gotten that much attention on this board is Southern New Hampshire's Masters in Business Analytics. It's only 12 months long and costs $12K total. Since it's a cohort format, you will have an incentive to finish within the 12 month timeframe.

https://www.snhu.edu/online-degrees/mast...-analytics

If any masters will do, you can also consider an MBA with an analytics / data concentration. In my mind, that will be way easier to complete as a part-time student than highly-specialized MS programs. You also get the MBA label which will allow you to try different areas throughout your career.

[ThatBankDude]

Since you're looking to use it as a checkbox for a promotion, the faster you get it, the earlier you get the $$ salary increase.  I say that eliminates programs like Georgia Tech or UT Austin.  If you look at their curriculum and visit their student forums, it is very difficult to complete those programs within 2 years.  

One program that hasn't gotten that much attention on this board is Southern New Hampshire's Masters in Business Analytics.  It's only 12 months long and costs $12K total.  Since it's a cohort format, you will have an incentive to finish within the 12 month timeframe.  

https://www.snhu.edu/online-degrees/mast...-analytics

If any masters will do, you can also consider an MBA with an analytics / data concentration.  In my mind, that will be way easier to complete as a part-time student than highly-specialized MS programs.  You also get the MBA label which will allow you to try different areas throughout your career.

As a working professional, I'd avoid the SNHU program. It states that classes meeting twice for week for (2) hours and you can expect to spend 24-30 hours per week on school work. That is not too far off from being a full-time program in my opinion.

[bjcheung77]

SNHU is a good option if you want to have it done faster, however, WGU would be the cheap, easy, fast option that is more recommended as you can finish in 6 months or a term and at a bit over $4K. People need to decide where they want to take the degree and the cost they can spend, amount of time they want to finish, and the energy they have to complete the degree.

[Latesterna]

In general, any quantitative masters will do. I'm entirely self taught, so I think I'm leaning towards a DS/CS degree just so I don't have two degrees that are only partially relevant to my job.

[Latesterna]

I don't really have an issue with religious content. I'm queer and religious universities can request a Title IX exception granting them the right to discriminate against queer folks. I don't know if Eastern has requested (or been granted) this exception but I'd prefer not to risk it. Even mentioning you're queer on a non-school social media page can have a student removed from some religious schools.

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"The University expressly prohibits any form of discrimination and harassment on the basis of any University-recognized protected classification, including sex, race, color, age, religion,national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, marital status, medical condition, veteran status, or disability in any decision regarding admissions,employment, or involvement in a University program or activity in accordance with the letter and spirit of federal, state, and local non-discrimination and equal opportunity laws, such as Titles VIand VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, TheAge Discrimination in Employment Act, The Americans with Disabilities Act and ADA Amendments Act, The Equal Pay Act, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, and the Borough of Eastern Ordinance on Non-Discrimination" - https://www.eastern.edu/sites/default/fi...onduct.pdf

Eastern University's Title IX page(s)- https://www.eastern.edu/about/offices-ce...misconduct

I'm choosing to stick with secular schools because they don't even have the option to request a title IX exception whereas I could be in a religious school's program and they could request (and be granted) an exception, at which point I might have spent lots of time and money on a degree program that I could get removed from. Historically, schools aren't even required to refund tuition when this happens.

It's great that Eastern has chosen not to discriminate against its students at this point in time but given the long history of religious schools kicking out queer students, I'd prefer to not put myself in a situation where I'd be trusting a religious school not to take advantage of the legal right to discriminate against its students.

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I'm really leaning towards Truman state or GTech. I'd like to move towards data science work in the future and think a masters in DS could be a good way to move from my current DA position to DE or DS.

I was considering WGU but on their subreddit I'd finding that most people are taking 3 - 4 semesters, so $16k if it's 2 years.

I'm seeing a lot of people in GTech taking far longer than 2 years to graduate, which would be find but I'd really like to be graduated in 2 - 3 years at the very most.

At the moment I've decided to apply to both and see what happens while I consider other options.

[bluebooger]

> I was considering WGU but on their subreddit I'd finding that most people are taking 3 - 4 semesters, so $16k if it's 2 years.

well that really depends on how much experience you have with python, statistics and sql
and how much time you can devote to studying

[bjcheung77]

> I was considering WGU but on their subreddit I'd finding that most people are taking 3 - 4 semesters, so $16k if it's 2 years.

well that really depends on how much experience you have with python, statistics and sql
and how much time you can devote to studying

For those working in the field, they most likely would take just the 1 term... As I mentioned earlier, for OP, since you work in the field, it should only take you that 1 term and for around $4K total.

[mcjon77]

Hi Latesterna,

I graduated from Eastern's Data Science program back in January and had the same concerns as you. In my experience, Eastern falls into the "very liberal" for a Christian School category. One of my instructors mentions that he is a Christian at a time where it was contextually appropriate and that was it. There was NEVER any talk about LGBTQ+ issues or anything negative. Not to stereotype other Christians, but these folks seemed to be more like the Christians who organize anti-war/anti-racism protests and run soup kitchens, rather than those that condemn queer folk, want to control a woman's biology and believe that our prior president was the second coming of Christ.

I was actually considering both Georgia Tech and Eastern. I even had all of my recommendations submitted for Tech. The reason why I chose Eastern was simply due to my ability to quickly finish the program (while still learning what I needed to know). I realized that it would take me at least 2.5 years to finish my degree at Georgia Tech (2 classes in the fall and spring semesters, one class in the summer semester), whereas I could complete the Eastern course in 10 months (it wound up taking a full year).

My thinking was that I would be able to move into a data scientist position a year and a half sooner. Considering that I graduated in December, started applying for data scientist positions in March and just received my offer for a new position yesterday, I think that I made a good call. I am getting a pay increase of over 40% of my current base salary as a senior data analyst with this position. Looking at the current market, I don't think that I could have gotten a job that paid any higher had I gone with the Georgia Tech degree. I am actually planning on going to Georgia Tech anyway, to complete an MS in Computer Science with a Machine Learning concentration next year. It will be mostly for fun, though.

If you don't want to go to Eastern, check out some of the other programs like WGU, Georgia Tech, UT Austin, and Thomas Edison State University.

[mcjon77]

Since you're looking to use it as a checkbox for a promotion, the faster you get it, the earlier you get the $$ salary increase.  I say that eliminates programs like Georgia Tech or UT Austin.  If you look at their curriculum and visit their student forums, it is very difficult to complete those programs within 2 years.  

One program that hasn't gotten that much attention on this board is Southern New Hampshire's Masters in Business Analytics.  It's only 12 months long and costs $12K total.  Since it's a cohort format, you will have an incentive to finish within the 12 month timeframe.  

https://www.snhu.edu/online-degrees/mast...-analytics

If any masters will do, you can also consider an MBA with an analytics / data concentration.  In my mind, that will be way easier to complete as a part-time student than highly-specialized MS programs.  You also get the MBA label which will allow you to try different areas throughout your career.

I definitely agree that a faster degree is preferable to a slower one for purely financial reasons.  I chose Eastern over Georgia tech because I estimated that I would finish 18 months earlier, and as a result get a new higher paying position 18 months sooner.  The opportunity cost of losing 18 extra months of a data scientist salary was a compelling reason to pick Eastern.  I actually plan on going to Georgia tech for an MS in CS with a machine learning concentration later next year.  That will be primarily for my own enjoyment.

The one thing I will caution is the Business Analytics degree at SNHU that you linked.  If someone wants to stay a data analyst, Business Intelligence Specialist or perhaps become a manager of an analytics team, that is a good option.

However, it is not a good option if one's goal is to be a data science.  Looking at the courses in the program, it seems that they don't teach the machine learning models, are very light in teaching statistics, and very light on programming.  This degree would not prepare one for a data scientist interview or position.

[smartdegree]

[quote pid='368456' dateline='1654308888']

I definitely agree that a faster degree is preferable to a slower one for purely financial reasons.  I chose Eastern over Georgia tech because I estimated that I would finish 18 months earlier, and as a result get a new higher paying position 18 months sooner.  The opportunity cost of losing 18 extra months of a data scientist salary was a compelling reason to pick Eastern.  I actually plan on going to Georgia tech for an MS in CS with a machine learning concentration later next year.  That will be primarily for my own enjoyment.

The one thing I will caution is the Business Analytics degree at SNHU that you linked.  If someone wants to stay a data analyst, Business Intelligence Specialist or perhaps become a manager of an analytics team, that is a good option.

However, it is not a good option if one's goal is to be a data science.  Looking at the courses in the program, it seems that they don't teach the machine learning models, are very light in teaching statistics, and very light on programming.  This degree would not prepare one for a data scientist interview or position.

[/quote]

Good points.  The reason I suggested is that the OP was looking for data science OR data analytics (see the original post).  In OP's case, I think it will work.  Being "light" might also be a benefit for a newbie to working with data.  I have seen the curriculum at Georgia Tech and it definitely requires prior background in a CS or IT field, whereas a business analytics degree might be more manageable to someone without that background.   But I totally agree with you that if Data Science is the sole focus of OP, then Business Analytics is not a good option.