EDUCATION
Will a Master’s Degree worth Your Time to Reach the Data Science Field?
A recap from an applied statistic graduated student in Thailand.
Disclaimer: I took my master’s degree in Applied statistics from the National Institute of Development and Administration (NIDA), Thailand. The following is my opinion on the journey through this course compared to my online learning experience.
The quick answer is “Depends” on what you are looking for.
The benefit of living in 2020 is that there are many useful resources available on the internet. The online learning platforms, such as EdX, Coursera, and Udemy, have changed how you learn new things. You can access the world-class instructors wherever you live if you have an internet connection. The number of courses has gradually increased each year. The trend seems to continue growing for the next few years.
If you have a strong will in learning and practicing via those massive online courses, I am sure that you can pursue any goals in your life. Even if it’s the career shift to a new field, you have never had an experience before.
But, The hardest part is to be consistent and maintain your motivation along with the learning path. You don’t even know it is the right path to choose, or you even feel uncomfortable doing something and think that it is the right choice for yourself. Yet, I found so many people getting lost through this process and remain at the starting point of their goal.
To solve this problem, a master's degree might be an answer for you.
A university is where you enroll in gaining knowledge, adding new skills, meeting new connections, and hoping to shift your career by being promoted or moving to a new working field. You will find people who share the same interest as you. You can ask for help from your friend or your instructor without a doubt, making it easier for you to pass the whole learning process.
My master’s degree is in the applied statistics with the sub-major of business analytics and intelligence (BA&I). Then it becomes business analytics and data science (BADS) later. The instructor had revised the subject and name to align with the industry trend in 2019.
I will compare the Pros and Cons to show whether you will fit with the master’s degree or not. Let’s get start!
Basic knowledge (Update 2020)
The instructor designed and built the subject around the statistic concept. The course consists of 5 required courses.
- Intro to Business Analytics and Data Science
- Exploratory Data Analysis
- Managing Big Data
- Applied Machine Learning
- Research Design and Inquiry Method
and three introductory courses (Mathematics, Programming, and Academics English skill). After that, you can choose the elective based upon your major and preference. The classes ranged from statistical research in many areas such as human resources, financial, marketing, etc. Besides, If you would like to go for a more technical side, you can choose the data science path consisting of image, text, video analytics, and data streaming. You can get more information here about the course detail.
What is different compared to the online course
Pros:
They plan to cover everything you need to know from the start. Also, the learning sequence has been arranged to continue to a more advanced topic with ease.
You go through each topic with your friend sharing insight or problem you faced and solved it together.
If you plan by yourself, It will sometimes take to research how challenging each course is. The sequence might not be suitable for a much deeper understanding of the related context. You can consult with no one even if you can post your question to the courses' support TA.
Cons: To be honest,
the online course content is up to the latest technology more than the university can keep up to.
But, there might not cover all the things you need to know. Besides, some teaching styles might not be suitable for you, and you can request to change it. But you can meet an instructor who is ideal for your learning style in the online course. The synchronization between you and the instructor is one of the essential factors in learning.
Hands-on experience
The assignment is the usual thing in a master’s degree. You will take many projects in each course, and The professor will use those projects to grade you. During my master’s degree, I like most assignments because I can exchange ideas with others. It helps you learn a lot about others' thoughts on how you can tackle the problem with a different perspective. There are many solutions to one problem.
The most experience I liked the most when I was studying was when I participated in the simulation game to make the business dashboard. You will take a role in operating the juice’s production company. Your choice could be ranged from finance, marketing, supply chains, store, etc. You will collaborate with your friend to make the most revenue based on the limited time. It was so much fun because you were learning by playing the real game. If you are interested, you can see the more detail of the game here. It is called MonsoonSIM.
From the simulation game result, you will get the excel file that contains the operational metrics. We have to convert the information into the dashboard for showing that to the management team (my professor instead)—the metrics based on the real world. Thus, you started to learn what you will face in real life. Nobody can find this kind of experience in an online course at all.
Will the online course lose on this topic?
Pros:
Collaboration with others is the main benefit here for a master’s degree.
You won’t work alone in the entire industry. The collaboration takes us further than doing it alone. You get feedback from others and continue growing as a person. You also practice soft skills, such as communication, presentation, and face-to-face interaction. Some experiences cannot be found only from the desktop monitor.
Cons:
The assignment’s level might not be competitive enough for the industry’s needs.
I found that the course description is focusing much on the academic's point of view. You learn the in-depth theoretical knowledge of each subject. You know the assumption of the analysis method. But, there is not much in the hands-on implementation.
For example, I counted Kaggle as an online learning platform. Suppose you compare the task between the Kaggle competition and the assignment. You will see the difference in what I mentioned about the hands-on thing. The Kaggle competition is a real industry’s need for what data scientists should be capable of. The coding and best practice are what you can gain through the world-class Kagglers. I think the university course lacks in this dimension.
I would say that academic knowledge can answer the interview or select the right analysis method. But, the real implementation you can get only from the project. And, Kaggle is the best platform the fulfill those implementation skills.
Connections
Meeting in person is the best way of making a new connection. You go through happiness and struggle situations with your friend is something valuable. You will meet several people from different backgrounds. My master’s degree friend ranged from the military service, governance officer, marketing manager, etc. It’s much easier to ask for help from your friend rather than a stranger on the internet. The connection you made here could lead you to a bright future.
- Your friend could be a portal to recommend a job in a new field.
- You can build a business with your friend because you share the same interest.
- You may have a collaboration between the company and make a business deal together.
The alumni are also beneficial here. When you go to meet a new person, you usually find a mutual connection with each other. It makes you feel more comfortable compared to have nothing related. If you graduated from the same college or major, it makes the other have more empathy for you because they once went through the same path.
The connection is not expired when you graduated. It will last long for the rest of your life if you keep taking care of it.
For this topic, the master’s degree beats the online course so hard that I cannot find any reasons to back the online course.
In summary
We go through the three main topics here, and there has both pros and cons in each subject except for the last one. That concludes my first quote of this article that The answer depends on what you are looking for.
If you are a person who has a
- Strong will
- Independent
- Self-motivated
- Has a solid learning plan
I would recommend you go for only the online learning course. I think it’s good enough for you to take a job if you keep learning and practicing. Also, the cost of investment is cheaper than taking the master’s degree.
However, If you are
- Not sure where to start
- Getting lost in a massive online course
- Need motivation and friend to go through the same journey
- Finding an interactive experience with others
I would recommend you to go for a master’s degree. That would help you move forward and achieve your dream easier. Compared to the higher investment cost than an online course, the connection may worth more than you think in the future. Trust me. I have faced it by myself recently.
Final thoughts
there’s no such thing as a free lunch
You need to pay for something in exchange for what you want. There is no exact answer to this question. From my experience, I went to the mixture of both master’s degrees and online courses. So, I can give you the pros and cons of each. And I do not regret choosing either of them. Both of them lead me to my goal in the end.
I hope this article helps those who are not confident in taking the master’s degree to see each aspect's pros and cons. And no matter what the choice you choose.
hope you enjoy it!
