Hi, I want to take a distance learning statistics ms. Can someone help me with choosing a university. I found that colorado state university provides distance learning in Asia. but i dont know about the reputation of this university. Also is a distance learning ms well recognized. say for higher studies or jobs. thanks for all the help subro.
I looked at this program about three years ago and thought about enrolling in it, but I haven't had the time to do so: http://www.learn.colostate.edu/degrees/statistics/ Yes, distance learning is well-recognized among academics who be teaching in your relevant future. Moreover, this looks like a very tough program, so I don't think you would have any trouble defending the degree before a knowledgeable potential employer.
Colorado State is well known and respected inside the United States, outside of the country I can't really say. My experience when traveling abroad has been that only the Ivy League schools and a few others (Stanford, MIT, etc.) are well known by a large number of people. I can count on one hand the people I have met when living/traveling abroad that knew of either Auburn or Vanderbilt (both of which are top 100 universities in the US). Auburn I could somewhat understand (you meet plenty of people in the US that aren't aware of the school if they don't follow college football) but not hearing of Vanderbilt came as somewhat of a surprise. Do you plan on staying in Asia or are you looking to come to the US for work after completing the degree?
AUTiger00, I would definitely want to come to usa for some statistics job. I agree, other than MIT, stanford, harvard like universities , not many are well known. before my googling session for distance learning i never knew about colorado state. hence i am little circumspect. One of my worries is whether a university like MIT will entertain my colorado state distance MS stats when and if i apply there for a phd in stats. regardless, i right now am a quant developer in a leading investment bank. And stats seems a natural choice to me. but i cannot financially afford to leave my job and join a full time program. I would really appreciate if you could suggest a better distance learning ms program.
Subrato, I don't think you'll find an available distance learning MS in stats from any of the "top tier" schools (Cal Tech, MIT, etc.) Colorado State is a public state university (Colorado is one of the 50 states in the US) and you would be hard pressed to find an employer or university that wasn't familiar with the school. I can't speak to it's reputation in statistics, but overall the school is a reputable institution. You may want to look at Georgia Tech, a highly regarded school for mathematics and engineering in the US. I'm not sure if the degree in statistics is available via distance learning, but look at the first link below (it list distance learning options from GT) and select the 'Operations Research' option, that will take you to a page for the school that the statistics program is housed within. The second link is to a complete overview of the MS in Statistics program at Georgia Tech. http://www.dlpe.gatech.edu/dl/ http://www2.isye.gatech.edu/statistics/ms_program.html I became a little confused when navigating this. Can someone else on the board clarify if the MS in Statistics from Georgia Tech can be completed via DL? If you can do the program at Georgia Tech that is what I would recommend, especially if you are considering a PhD at someplace like MIT. Georgia Tech will carry more weight than Colorado State (in my opinion) when applying for PhD in the field of statistics.
I agree with post replies, but I Texas A&M University (College Station) has more reputation than Colorado State University. Also Iowa State University... And Rochester Institute of Technology can be the back up.
I would agree with you. Though I would think RIT would be "better" (more prestigious) than Iowa State.
texas A&M figures in top 10 stats on campus programs. But from what i gather, it is not giving distance education in Asia. Thanks for Iowa & Rochester info. Let me mail them and see if they are ok with Asia. Also a first hand comparison of RIT and CSU stat courses tells that CSU may have a better stat program. it has Stochastic Processes I&II , Time Series I&II, bayesian stats, non parametric stats. And thesis is compulsory at CSU. Iowa state has no curriculum info online. will have to mail and check. I'll post again as soon as i have more info.
At $616 per unit, the Penn State Masters in Applied Statistics is more expensive than Colo State MS Statistics program, but the applied orientation of the degree makes the admission requirements less rigorous; you need to have taken (or to take) the Calculus series to enter the Colo State program.
penn state asks for a gpa 3/4 , i am down on that Would have been fun to get admit there. I guess its boiling down to iowa and colorado. I mailed iowa. lets see if they entertain students from asia.
With your background you might be interested in this statistics based PGD in Quantitative Finance from the University of London http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/prospective_students/postgraduate/soas/quan_fin_pgdip/index.shtml They also offer a MSc in Quantitative Finance http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/prospective_students/postgraduate/soas/quan_fin/index.shtml
Ian, Thanks for the suggestion. I have seen many many math fin grads jobless in recent times. even from columbia and georgia tech like universities. market is overloaded with such grads. Also its my opinion that fin math is not a 'natural' subject. Hence i want to pursue stats which is much broader in application and a more complete subject too.
You might contact North Dakota State University to see if their M.S. Statistics is still available online. The M.S. Statistics is no longer included on the list of online degrees here: http://www.sdstate.edu/academics/distance/online-graduate-degrees.cfm However, graduate courses were offered via distance learning in the spring term. See: http://distance.sdstate.edu/courses.cfm?semester1=2009SP Also, the Dept of Mathematics and Statistics still indicates it is available. See: http://learn.sdstate.edu/statistics/
I've been mulling over some graduate statistics programs for a while as well. Iowa unfortunately only offers their program to employees of companies that have made an agreement with them; mine isn't one of them. Also, they don't seem to be flexible with course load, so it would take about 5 years to finish their program. I didn't like the idea of an "applied" degree, so I scratched Penn State off the list even though it's a great school and several members of my family have gone there and would love it if I got a degree from there. I also looked at Texas A&M Commerce, and I would definitely choose them if I was a state resident of Texas; the in-state tuition is amazingly cheap, but out-of-state is an extra $170 per credit hour over Colorado. I also asked them a few questions and the replies I got were very short and not so helpful. I haven't looked into Rochester's program, so I need to check them out. I've been talking to Dr. Anderson over at Colorado for a while, and unless something else catches my eye I am leaning toward Colorado's program. I like that I can complete a certificate first and then apply it to the MS. I am probably going to take the first course in the Colorado program (STAT 520) either this fall or in the Spring. I'll post a review on here after I do for anyone who might be interested. If that class goes well, I'll continue on with the program. However, I'll be juggling classes at two schools, so I'm going to take the long road; one class a semester at least until I finish the UMUC degree next year.
I would not let that rule deter you. They may require a 3/4 for unconditional admission, but many students are able to get a conditional admission. For example, they might be allowed to enroll in a course or two, and provided they do well in the course (like a B or higher), then they would be allowed continue. I wouldn't hurt to go ahead an apply and see if they offer you that option.
Colorado State I know it's been a few years since this discussion took place. I wanted to check back to see if anyone has taken course at Colorado State? I'm thinking of doing the distance program for MS in Stats there. I'm only one prereq away finally. Let me know if you have any experience to share! Thanks, Steve
@Subrato: Which course did you finally go for? Me too an aspiring a career in Workforce Analytics, and hence looking for online courses in Statistics as I simultaneously want to work too (Also regular courses are exorbitantly expensive!)
