Best Edx micromasters for career advancement?

Trying to make a selection between these programs:

1.
Supply Chain Management MicroMasters® Program | edX

Pros: - Very rigorous, in existence for over 6 years, most popular MIT micromaster, over 40 universities offering credit, also prestigious as a stand-alone credential.
Cons: - Not really interested in supply chain management because I'm in the healthcare and finance industry (2 jobs). Not sure if the insights gained would hold any value in my sector.

2.
Statistics and Data Science MicroMasters® Program | edX

Pros: - Data is very important in both the healthcare and finance sector. Knowledge would serve me in both.
- More prestigious than other micromaster credentials because it offers a pathway for credit in the SDS Ph.D if accepted.
- Data is a hot field.
Cons: - Not a genius in math or statistics (although it does interest me) so fear to fail a course.
- Very generic and general track. Not specifically applicable.

3.
Big Data Technology MicroMasters® Program | edX

Pros: - Self-paced.
- 8 months instead of 1.5 years (MIT courses)
- HKUST is respected.
Cons: - Less knowledge than in MIT micromasters, as this one is much shorter.


4.
Finance MicroMasters® Program | edX
Pros: - taught and certified by SLOAN faculty.
- Very prestigious
- Rigorous

Cons: - I work in 2 different sectors. I have a fulltime job in healthcare (as a research scientist) and a part-time job in finance.
If I decide at one point to only continue in healthcare, would this credential still hold any value for further development ( as a project lead in healthcare etc.)?
- It's mostly concepts that I already studied in my MBA from Isabel, so I would be doing it for the MIT name brand on my CV mostly.


5.
International Law MicroMasters® Program | edX

Pros: - I graduated in law with an associate's, a bachelor's and a post-grad cert.
This would be a logical extension.
- University is well regarded in Europe, one of the oldest universities (15th century).
- grants 40% of the credits for the on-campus masters and online masters.
Cons: - Not interested in working in an NGO.
- Human rights and international law is too abstract to serve me in the industries I'm in (healthcare and finance).
- Not really interested in the subject. Would only be doing it for the locally well-known name brand.



Sloan's micromaster in finance appeals most to me currently because of the high earning potential if it catches a recruiter's interest.

Data science seems like the most versatile choice that will always serve me no matter what industry I go in later on.

Conclusion:
Still undecided but definitely going to enroll in one of these.

 

What are you hoping to get out of one of these programs?

 

An enhancement of existing credentials.
Name-brand addition to my CV.
Career development for a relatively low price, by having the ability to claim an additional skill / additional knowledge.
STEM is hot currently. It's everywhere.
Demonstrating a life-long learning mentality.

 

I don't think they're all that valuable for a resume/CV, but if you can get them for free, with financial aid/scholarships, then that's not bad.

 

@TeacherBelgium I don't know which is the best program for you, but I wanted to welcome you back and hope you find what you're looking for.

 

Thank you, that's sweet, Dustin

 

Probably only a tad above a Coursera specialization cert but they demonstrate some life-long learning knowledge so that's not bad either.
For this one I'm paying on my own but my employer pays for a WUSTL post-master cert which I'm to embark on in 2 weeks.
Hopefully all that together will add some value.
At this point, I'm mostly doing them for my own skill enhancement. My employer is happy with it but doesn't really care about me getting more credentials.
But as long as I'm enjoying it, I try to continue to keep up the learning to stay on top of latest trends etc.

 

What do you think about the finance one? Not interesting considering that I already have an MBA, right?
I'm leaning towards data because I really want to become more tech-savvy and upskill myself in the tech area.

 

Just received my acceptance letter from WUSTL, as we speak.
Looking forward to it.

 

I have made my choice eventually.

I opted for the micromaster in information systems from university of Indiana, for the micromaster in analytics from Wisconsin University, Madison Business School, for a Howard Brown post-master's certificate from WUSTL and for 1 year path studies in XAMK's environmental engineering bachelor's program.

Convinced employer to pay for 75% of it.
25% will be paid by me.

Still a good deal.

Looks like I'm going to have a busy year.

 

Do you have your PMP? I would think that would have more value than any Micromasters?

 

A PMP is comparable to Master of Science in Project Management, my best friend's co-worker who graduated from George Washington University's Master in Project Management and failed the PMP exam three times. Then she gave up.

 

I would agree with stated as those were the reasons I took Edx and Coursera programs.
TeacherBelgium,
An enhancement of existing credentials. = directly applied to my job, increased my knowledge and ability to apply it. Now working on IU Michromasters.
Name-brand addition to my CV. Added MIT, Harvard, UC Berkley and others to my resume. What effect it has I don't know because I still work for the same employer.
Career development for a relatively low price, by having the ability to claim an additional skill / additional knowledge. - in my case absolutely, and biggest savings was on MIT.
STEM is hot currently. It's everywhere. Agree
Demonstrating a life-long learning mentality. Totally agree.

 

I will say that STEM in business is HUGE right now. Data Science, in particular, has become a high paying field due to the lack of skilled individuals. When you combine statistics, mathematics, programming, etc. into one field, you naturally limit those who can perform the job.

Personally, I am all for certificates but if you have the option, maybe look into the Eastern University MS in Data Science. @Dustin could probably give tips and pointers if that was an option for you. Pretty darn cheap for a Master's of Science degree.

 

Hi everyone,
Thank you for your valuable responses.
Out of curiosity I applied and I got an invitation to take the CQF certification from the CQF institution. Don't know how hard they are to get into. Maybe everyone who applies gets admitted?
It costs around 15000$ to complete the entire certificate and according to wallstreetmojo it can increase one's salary to 115k$ per annum as a junior.
For someone who wants to climb up in data science and finance, I'm exploring whether CQF would be worth it.
I'm reluctant because it's a certification rather than a "real degree".
For those reasons I'm still considering a master of science in data science. One that drew my attention was the one from Texas University in Austin, since it's only at 10k$ through Coursera.
PMP is not really considered valuable in my corporation, sadly, so that one sadly wouldn't deliver ROI in my personal situation.
Should add that my main interests are : bio-tech, data science and finance. Would like to improve in the areas of data science and finance. Those two areas remain the highest paying from what I see career-wise in the firm I'm working at and I notice a lot of firms want someone who has a combination of skills derived from both those areas.
Regarding managers: Data Managers in my corporation are highest paid, followed by Project Managers.
From my current position as a clinical research associate II to data manager , it could happen in 3 years of time.
So weighing off benefits from CQF cert versus a real degree in the long term.

Reason I would think a program that offers a combo of data science and finance would be a good idea for me is because I received a job offer from a smaller bio-tech that is interested in hiring me to take care of their M&A and AI development.
So if I can put both the finance knowledge on the table as well as programming skills and data science I would be in a situation where I could experience some fast career growth in this smaller bio-tech.
Currently I'm not accepting an offer from this smaller bio-tech because I'm not confident that my knowledge is up to their expectations yet regarding AI (data) and finance , so I'm first going to enroll in an intense program that can polish and deepen my knowledge and skills in those areas.

As bio-tech keeps being a very high paying field, I'm looking for a STEM program that would be highest ROI in the areas where data science and finance cross.

Not deciding immediately upon CQF yet, as it's pricy and maybe inferior to a real degree so would still need to assess actual data science and fin data science degrees against CQF and likewise certs.

 

I have submitted an application with Eastern University. Nothing lost by awaiting what the admission decision would be. I can still decide what to do afterwards.

I agree with you regarding laddering up the certs first.
My first course in the micromaster's from University of Indiana starts today: Entreprise Data Management. Am excited for it!
Have a call for an offer from a US employer later today as well. He wants to pay for training in data science to hire me as a business developer after the training.
Life is good so far
Thank you so much for all valuable tips. You guys are a treasure of information, love it!!!

 

Course content so far is excellent.
We have 6 live sessions with the Bloomington Indiana faculty during this course in the micromaster.
In total we will have had 18 live sessions combined over all courses in the micromasters.
Really enjoying it.
I have an option to go for a master in information system management after the micromasters. Can be completed fully online.
Micromasters is worth 9 out of 30 credits.
Remaining fees would be 18k$.
Kelley Business School is regularly featured by PoetsandQuants so the quality must be good.
Professor responded in less than 30 minutes yesterday when I had a question.
This micromaster is good value for the money you pay for it, to be honest.
Having to complete 21 more remaining credits in 21 months doesn't sound too bad.
I always thought of Purdue as the most prestigious university in Indiana but Indiana University seems to be excellent as well.
So far I like the course content. Great quality.
Data Entreprise Management is the course I'm currently taking.
2nd course starts in November.
3rd course in February.
Micromasters should be finished by May 2023.