Need Recommendations

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Caughtinbetween, Dec 3, 2020.

  1. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    Looking forward to your reply
     
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  2. Caughtinbetween

    Caughtinbetween Gold IL'ite

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    Thank you @sokanasanah for a very helpful response. I am extremely sorry for the time it took for me to respond .
    I was completely lost with the happenings around me for the better part of the last month that i could not gather my thoughts to post here. So sorry and thank you again to take time to write a detailed thoughtful response.

    I spoke to the program coordinator . they are now a days also taking in non phd candidates, masters . there is some pre requisite test and some video recording of yourself talking about some projects in the analytical area that you attempted , your conclusions from it and then general items like why you think you are a good fit etc. based on that and your past record they decide on your candidacy. Its not free anymore and i felt its actually quite a bit expensive .
    Nevertheless, I also contacted a few people who recently graduated from the program or currently pursuing it by sending quite a few blind messages on linkedin and luckily a few of them responded. In two facebook groups related to the subject that i follow, I asked around for people who participated in this program back in the day when it was free. From both the places , I figured that majority of the people didn't recommend it for relative new comers like me. These people were from diverse non IT , non STEM , non STATS background and they didn't get employment support in the DS field to an extent they expected. Its kind of like a bootcamp only. they did take medical doctors and phd's in majority when it was free but now after they started charging a fee they do take masters as well quite a bit .

    I have worked on projects on python , analytics , cloud computing, BI at work as needed and some basic ML projects on sagemaker in personal capacity. but not something big enough to put on the resume to land my dream job or even barely close to it. the projects i worked on are part of the course , case study etc which i could finish myself without help from a tutor . i have started on some kaggle competitions . i am still looking out for that worthy project to do for which i can hire a tutor and build a perfect project to showcase.

    I was interested in insights or any other such program for that matter to get that foot into the door the first time.
    I am already midway through a DS online masters program from a foreign university . the course curriculum is good in terms of content but delivery is not what i expected. and moreover since its not a U.S university there wont be any opportunities for internships or any employment assistance. I did know about it when I started but at that time i wanted to gauge myself if I would be able to devote myself to study while restarting a full time job soon.

    I always had this nagging desire in myself to get a masters from here in the U.S.
    I cant probably justify myself but I want to study towards getting a U.S univ masters degree.
    And this pandemic has helped open up some affordable online options for me.

    One such option is : Degrees -- analytics masters degree
    another is Online Degrees and Certificates | Michigan Technological University -- statistics masters

    if you get a chance kindly let me know if you have any feedback on these programs or if you know of any other affordable offerings. that would be of great help. thank you.
     
  3. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    :hello:
    God Bless you in all your endeavours.
    Regards.
     
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  4. Caughtinbetween

    Caughtinbetween Gold IL'ite

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    thank you very much sir :)
     
  5. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Georgia Tech is a good school. I don't know much about MTU.
    Follow through and finish what you started. Use the program for its structure and the credential. Find whatever alternatives you need to supplement the poor delivery systems.
    First, figure out why you want to do this.
    If it's for a job, then keep in mind that 2*MS Degrees + 2*Time + 2*Expense != 2*(Job prospects).
    If it's ambition, just something you want for its own sake, for your satisfaction, then plan and just do it. No further justification is necessary - just time it to your advantage.
    A project ought to be your priority - that, and networking. Do NOT wait for inspiration. Go out and start hunting. Talk to people in your domain of expertise or people in your field of interest and ask them to rank problems they would like solved. Treat this as a business-analysis (+ networking!) exercise. Give yourself a deadline - 'I will define a project before ddmm'. Then get going on it, no matter how imperfectly. In the real world, there's never enough time, money or resources to do everything perfectly. You simply have to get on with it.

    Keep good notes, organize your findings like a market research report. You can use that in your narrative for a job hunt and in interviews. If you're asking people for advice and guidance, they will help you - more so than if you were approaching them for a job.

    Never end a discussion without another lead, another person to talk to. A contact you make today may pay off five years from now. So, get going.

    Instead of waiting for the perfect problem, identify, define, and solve what you can. Write yourself a report (Markdown, Jupyter notebook, whatever). No one will stop you from working on more than one project, whereas waiting is just ... well, waiting - time lost with little to show for it.

    If you are starting a new job, then look for something there! It's a good excuse to talk to lots of people, make connections, appear/be engaged, and find a worthwhile problem that's approachable.

    I say, finish a meaty project or two and the current degree program first. That will increase your ability to squeeze more - intellectually speaking - out of that US degree program you may work on later.

    :beer-toast1:
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2021

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