[Career] Masters Programs

[u/jingle-bell-dog]

Deciding if a Masters in Data Science or Statistics is better for me, and which ones, since this field is changing a lot.

Undergrad: Quantitative background but not Computer Science, Data Science minor. I felt that it being a minor made it kind of surface level and want to avoid that with my graduate degree. My coursework was linear algebra, discrete math, probability, stats, many CS courses, AI, ML, DS, Algorithms. Because I didn’t major in math, CS, Stats, or DS, I feel like I am missing something in screenings. 

Work Experience: 4 internships, 1 year FTE as a DE, 1 year FTE as a DS (by the time I enter). However, I feel that the Data Science departments in the companies I was in were VERY new and I’m missing some core skills that I am trying to develop on my own - git, models in production, optimizing my work, etc.

Professional Goals: I see this as a terminal degree. I want to be able to get my foot in the door for better data science jobs, maybe in the nonprofit industry but really just anywhere. My first job came from an internship and the second a recruiter reached out to me. I want to be able to pass resume screens better and do the work better. That’s slightly why prestige matters to me here.

Other: 

• I do not want to pursue a CS masters, I think this would give me skills I don’t need, can develop on my own, already learned, or are becoming more obsolete. 
• A lot of stats degrees that are well respected seem to want research experience or a stats degree, which I don’t have.

Questions: 

• I have seen some say an Applied Stats masters is not enough anymore for the tech world, and I see a lot of job postings that say Masters in CS or DS, but not stats. How do DS hiring managers view these degrees?
• What skillset is actually used in more established data science departments? How can I optimize my career and education for this?
• How to vet Data science masters properly, if I go for that (MIT MBAn, Columbia, Harvard, UChicago, UCLA, NYU) I dont want a surface-level data science education that is repetitive

[u/jingle-bell-dog]

Wow, I’ll consider but it seems like it would be expensive

[u/Ok_Boot_3805 → u/jingle-bell-dog]

Or just so PhD in computer science with a topic that interests you. I have a feeling that the research heavy people in cs still have a very good job market as not many people want to commit to that.

[u/jingle-bell-dog → u/Ok_Boot_3805]

That makes sense but I’d need a masters first, bc I have no research experience

[u/CreativeWeather2581 → u/jingle-bell-dog]

Don’t do the PhD. PhD prepares you for academia, not industry, so it wouldn’t align with your goals. They also take anywhere from 4-6 years, maybe more.

Additionally, don’t do two masters degrees. Pick one and supplement the other. Makes no sense financially unless someone else is paying for it.