Should you get a Master in Data Science?

Advice from a Stanford MS Student.

https://towardsdatascience.com/should-you-get-a-master-in-data-science-1aa4e3063580

Is it worth it?

"A lot of people would argue that nowadays anything can be learned on the Internet. This is true. However, Masters offer things you simply cannot replicate with a Coursera course."

Well, Coursera offers master's programs from top universities... so, not sure I agree. Just kidding I think he's referring to MOOCs.

Conclusion

"Think about why you want to get a Master in Data Science. If, like most people, it is because you are after a specific job, then figure out if you can get this job without a Master. If you cannot, then analyse the job posting of the role you are interested in. Then, figure out the skills that are required for this role. Finally, pick the Master that matches the best with those skills."

 

There can be additional factors, such as competing against other candidates.
Recovering from layoffs,- will such advanced degree add to the job security or ability to secure employment?

Other strategy can be a masters degree in computer science with specialization in data science.

1. Master of Science in Computer Science
2. Data Science Specialization

MSCS with a specialization in Data Science (MSCS-DS) program provides the skills to develop computer solutions that require expertise in data science.

 

The MS in DS is so non-standard right now that saying that someone should or should not get one is basically useless. At Georgia Tech, MS students spend most of their time doing the math underpinning the models. At other schools they spend most of their time recreating existing machine learning models to learn how they work. And in other programs still, the focus is on applied data science using existing libraries. Different curriculum, different audience.

 

The Master's degree is designed for different folks I agree with Dustin. It is a credential for you to seek employment or promotion, but if you just want to knowledge without a credential; the Coursera and EdX free learning is just fine. I thought about getting a Master's degree in Data Science, but I just realize too many Masters are on my resume. Instead, I just pick up the learning at my own pace while working full-time, I don't have to deal with stress on assignments due or getting ready for midterm and final exams.

 

I agree with Dustin.

The fields of Data Science, Analytics, and Business Analytics are not particularly uniform across academic institutions. The curriculum at Duke is different the curriculum at Carnegie Mellon which is different than the curriculum at New York University...and those are Business Analytics programs. The Data Science field is similar in the fact there are differences from program to program.

It is not like the MS in Finance where you can expect a pretty similar curriculum from program to program.

EDIT: My degree is not in Data Science but I have absolutely zero regrets in pursuing the degree. It has provided incredible networking opportunities and incredible academic opportunities.

 

In Data Science as in other fields, I see the issue as twofold: you got the doers and the caretakers. I don’t care for learning DS and go deep into AI/ML and all that. I’m trying to be a caretaker and learn about AWS and AZ data paths and certs to be a data engineer perhaps and work on the systems that would host, ingest, integrate and analyze the data. I took a couple of classes for data warehousing and mining in undergrad and I kinda liked it. But the explosion of cloud hosting is changing some paradigms. So, I’m pursuing some cloud certs in addition to others for “future-proofing” my career (hooray for MBA buzzwords)

 

If I need to have a master's degree in DS, I expect it would be a DS-statistics joint degree though relevant stat courses might be touched in a pure DS curriculum.