
Georgia Tech Offers Online Master of Science in Analytics Degree for Under $10K - dgritsko
https://pe.gatech.edu/news/press-release/01072017
======
throwawayGT
As someone who completed a (on-campus) CS masters at GT, I really wish I
didn't. The classes were of very poor quality - it was clear that they were a
low priority for most faculty. Andrew Ng's Coursera class on Machine Learning
was the pedagogical highlight of my time at GT, and I did it on my own
initiative (and it's free).

I know people have many reasons to get a Masters. If your goal is to take some
higher-level classes, you can do better than GT. If you are self-motivated
enough to do an online degree, you can do it for free. Aside from free
offerings from sites like Coursera, you can find whole courses up from many
institutions - with syllabi, lecture slides, homework assignments, etc.

If you're planning to do it for the salary, in my experience the degree ended
up being worth a $95K to $115K bump in starting salary. Compare this with the
2 years of industry salary that I would have received, and the 2 years of
experience (and raises that come with that). I know I wasn't paid better than
the folks who had been with the company for 2 years more than me.

If you're thinking about it for the sake of your resume, I do hiring screening
/ interviews now (for Data Science and Software Engineering positions) - and I
really don't care if the applicant has an MS or not (or what classes they may
have taken). Most folks I know that do hiring think similarly. My main signal
from your resume is projects you've been on and how you contributed.

From my point of view, this program is a losing proposition for any potential
student.

~~~
jsolson
I did both my BSCS and MSCS at Georgia Tech. While I have many complaints
about the school, the quality of the classes is not one of them, for either
the undergrad or grad programs.

That said, with a couple of notable exceptions, the graduate classes are there
for PhD students as first and second year background material so they have
some starting points for their research. This naturally leads to a format
where the semester can effectively be described as a long reading list of
papers and lectures to spur discussion on the content of the paper. I was
planning on pursuing a PhD when I started into my MS, so this format worked
quite well for me at the time. In the years subsequent to that, the grounding
from those classes has given me starting points for deep dives into problems I
encountered at work[0].

It's interesting that you brought up machine learning. Charles Isbell's Intro
ML class was a significant exception to the pattern I described above. In
addition to high quality, pre-prepared lectures peppered with entertaining
anecdotes, the had high quality projects that worked with pratcial tooling. It
was also probably the highlight of my graduate career[1].

[0]: In particular, the material covered in my graduate systems classes has
been invaluable for not reinventing the wheel for the thousandth time. The
material from the couple compilers classes I took on a whim has been a huge
boon when talking about software correctness. I work on the hypervisor
underneath GCE. Correctness is near and dear to my heart, but performance is
right there with it :)

[1]: For undergrad that dubious honor has to go to Olin Shivers, not only
because of his eclectic teaching style, but also because his class completely
altered the way I think about problems in computer science. In particular, my
mindset shifted to one of models of computation and decomposition of problems
into subproblems for which the simplest model could apply. I have an example
I'd like to write up, but it's a bit long for a footnote.

~~~
jsokol1
Hi! I'm the director of Georgia Tech's MS in Analytics program (both on-campus
and online).

GT's MS in Analytics degree is actually designed specifically for people who
are going to go out and work in the analytics field -- it's not a pre-PhD
degree, and our courses are targeted primarily at people who want to learn and
apply analytics. We have an industry advisory board that helps us target
course and program content, and we're constantly working to make sure our
coursework is focused to the right cohort. We even have a required applied
analytics practicum (both for on-campus and online students) where our
students work on analytics projects for a wide range of companies and
organizations.

Perhaps other degrees are different, but the MS Analytics is a very practice-
focused degree.

~~~
treehau5
I may be an educational purist, but to me I cringe when I hear universities
boast about the "practicality" of their degrees they offer. You get a degree
to prove you can learn. The courses should be heavy on theory and concepts. If
you teach these well enough, ideally your students should be able to easily
pick up whatever FOTM development stack or tool is out there and roll with it.
I wish we could reverse this trend, but it just seems like it's too much good
PR to say "hey everyone! come to our school and you are guaranteed to get a
job!"

~~~
sf_rob
I disagree with this sentiment based on my own experience. I did great in my
BS CS program from a highly ranked program, but was woefully underprepared for
industry and quite frankly a bad software engineer. Graduates from traditional
programs often leave with next to no experience with testing, version control,
team structure/process, newer languages, frameworks/3rd party packages, etc,
and my experience in industry is that it's a role of the dice if your company,
team, etc are interested in teaching you or waiting for you to learn. The only
people I know who graduated with those skills are people who either had
amazing mentors or were natural hackers in their spare time. If I could re-
design my education, it would be 2-3 years of theory and then 1-2 years of
applied liberal arts education before starting an actual career.

~~~
lacampbell
_Graduates from traditional programs often leave with next to no experience
with testing, version control, team structure /process, newer languages,
frameworks/3rd party packages, etc, and my experience in industry is that it's
a role of the dice if your company, team, etc are interested in teaching you
or waiting for you to learn._

It's a waste of time to teach industry tools at a university. It's much more
valuable to be taught fundamentals. Know your fundamentals well and any new
tech will be much easier to learn. It's long-term thinking - put in the
investment to make sure you can change skillsets in the future.

All the things you mentioned tend to be ephemeral and change a lot within a
few years. Look at the git monoculture that's sprung up in the last 5 years
for example - 10 years ago it might have been reasonable to teach SVN.

~~~
crusso
And if you learned SVN, you would have had a solid base for understanding GIT.
Would you expect students to learn source code control in the abstract or not
at all?

You have to do programming assignments anyway. Why wouldn't you require
students to learn and use the latest source code control tools while they're
doing their development?

Teach students to write tests, use source code control, utilize continuous
integration, etc.

Although the specific tools, languages, and approaches will evolve in the
coming years - none of the above are going away soon.

~~~
lacampbell
Git is a very complicated piece of software. it's not intuitive, it has a
famously poor CLI, and it takes time to learn.

Time spent making undergraduates use git is time that could be spent teaching
them long-term, fundamental skills.

~~~
crusso
vi isn't very intuitive either, but there's no better way to learn something
difficult than to learn it when you're young. I've been using vi
professionally for 30 years thanks to my early GT classes. It's probably the
single-most valuable skill that I learned there that I still use today.

~~~
lacampbell
I'm a vi(m) user, but I have to say - it's not a fundamental part of computing
at all. It's just a very popular tool. A lot of people don't know how to use
it and manage to make amazing things.

 _there 's no better way to learn something difficult than to learn it when
you're young_

Hmm, define 'young'. I'm in my late 20s and I find it easier to learn new
things more than ever - including things I failed to learn in my teens and
early 20s. Maybe I'm just a late bloomer, and it took me a while to "learn how
to learn". But maybe I'm still young in the eyes of someone who has been using
vi for 30 years (:

------
tabeth
This is great news. However, anyone who's used Piazza (the main "classroom"
tool for OMSCS) knows that it's hardly ideal. I think a better
collaboration/discussion tool is imperative to making the experience better
for the "average" student.

Sure the top students in the program are going to do well, by definition, but
there are plenty of more "middling" people like myself that can only be
brought up to the next level with proper discussion/interaction with
classmates. From my experience even PHPbb would be a more effective tool than
Piazza.

\---

Suggestions (if Piazza folks are reading):

1\. Allow one to delete follow-ups.

2\. Allow students to create private "study group"-like threads that aren't in
the main feed.

3\. Make it easier to upload pictures and other content.

4\. Make things live. Normally this wouldn't be necessary, but anyone in the
program knows many students post the same thing at the same time as a response
to an event (like an email). By doing this you prevent redundant threads from
being created.

5\. Use some sort of up/down voting system that way the community can self-
regulate.

There are plenty more things I'd improve, but for the sake of brevity those
are some I just came up with on the spot.

~~~
bjacobel
edX (the partner through which Georgia Tech will be offering this program)
uses its own homebuilt forums/discussions software, which offers many of the
features you list. It's also open source, so if you or others have more
discussion features in mind and have Python, Ruby or Backbone experience, PRs
are welcome!

Disclaimer: software engineer at edX, have worked on discussions features in
the past. Happy to answer questions.

~~~
Noseshine
I have taken over 30 courses on edX in the past few years (many more on
Coursera). Some of those courses used Piazza, most the edX forums, so I know
both systems. I also was a Community TA so I know the (few) options a CTA gets
on edX.

Overall, IMHO Piazza clearly has far more features.

That said, I still prefer edX forums simply because I hardly ever need any of
the Piazza features - and the Piazza GUI IMHO is much worse than edX
especially for the target group. After edX implemented the sort-option "by
activity" and "show only unread" my major complaints were solved.

\--

By the way, since I hope you read this reply, the _worst_ by far on edX is
that the darn page just won't stand still!

Please stop the "convenience scrolling (by Javascript)". Also, the height of
the page changes when I select a comment that does/doesn't fit in the viewport
(long threads vs. no-responses-yet comments, for example, and that too
triggers automatic scrolling.

Next, the size of the text box changes! I use Chrome to make it much larger to
see my entire long and carefully crafted and formatted comment, then I switch
to another tab to do more research for my reply, but when I click back into
the textbox it _shrinks_ back to its small default size. Could you please
leave my manually-made-large textbox as it is?

No changes of scroll positions, no changes of sizes, no changes of anything,
please. Not just in the forum, the course pages have the same annoying
(anti-)"feature". I find it very inconvenient when the GUI changes under me,
it's the GUI equivalent of walking on ice.

I would also enjoy a feature to "mark all as read", so that I can use "show
only unread" at any point in time. Right now that feature forces me to have
clicked on each and every comment before it is useful.

Life update would be "nice to have" too, especially for a TA (if it's too
expensive for server-load, how about offering it just for the TA and STAFF
user groups).

What is also missing is even the slightest hint (in the comment editor, or
anywhere) that you support LaTeX style formulas! As well as some help for
beginners how to use it.

I know Christmas was last month, but that's my wishlist :-)

What I _don 't_ miss are votes. That _always_ gets misused, and it is of very
limited benefit. I see the value of votes in forums on something like reddit,
I don't see benefit in edX forums with a focus on Q&A. Especially not down-
votes. Even the "pin to top" doesn't really work: At least 70% of users don't
ever notice pinned posts. If there have to be votes, do it like Disqus: You
can see _who_ voted. Or instead of votes do what Github did in the issues
comments.

By the way, why do you still have votes at all? They are only displayed if
anyone specifically checks them in a given comment. They used to be shown in
the comment overview on the left. Right now the "vote" feature can be removed
and nobody would notice.

Some random ideas:

Feature: Allow Staff and TAs to post _without their status_. Just like on
reddit. Not everything I had to say was "official", and one reason I turned
down several invitations to be a CTA on edX was because I really _hated_ to
have a green banner around every single one of my posts. Too much pressure,
and just because I'm TA doesn't make all my answers "precious".

Feature: Allow admins (TAs, Staff) to merge threads. For example, the
introductions at the beginning where 500 people post their own "glad to be
here" thread instead of using the pinned(!) "Post your introduction _here_ "
thread, or when there is an issue and 50 people each report it (even when the
last 20 new threads are about that same subject, most people post immediately
before looking at the forum).

Feature: Detect if you responded to this person in the past. It's nice and
gives a feeling of familiarity to find out you talked to someone in the past.

Feature: Geolocation. Show where the other people (in the current thread) are
located.

Feature: Combine Wiki and forum: From within the forum let people select
comments and/or threads for the Wiki. Ask the for some additional information,
like choosing a Wiki page/section. This can address the problem that good
comments are quickly buried by all the new ones.

Bug report: It seems right now the "Section" or "Chapter" or whatever you call
it is not displayed in comments.

~~~
bjacobel
Thanks for the feedback - we hear you and I myself have encountered a lot of
the issues you mention. I've passed this along to our product team and I'll
see if I can turn some of the easier stuff into tickets myself that we can
groom next time we jump back into this code.

------
almostkorean
I'm currently in the Master of Science in Analytics program at gatech, so if
anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

My experience so far has been excellent. I just started my second semester,
and I can say that the curriculum covers exactly what I wanted to learn with
the exception of one class. The program is extremely practical, it's only one
year and is focused on getting the students jobs. The professors are great,
and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get into the field.

~~~
codezero
How much statistics is involved? I'm asking because I have a friend who is
interested in math and statistics but wants to go to grad school for something
a bit more practical, while still having some challenge in terms of
statistics.

~~~
almostkorean
I'd say it's very statistics heavy, but it depends on the individual. They
offer three different tracks: computational, business, and analytical tools.
If you pick the analytical tools track your classes will be more stats heavy.

Most of the core classes (like machine learning) are more math based. In
machine learning, it's done from a mathematical/theoretical approach. Another
example is regression analysis, where you learn the math before doing the
practical work in R.

I have a weak math/stats background but a strong software background, which
also aligns with my interests so I'm doing the computational track. As I
mentioned before, most of the core curriculum is math heavy so I'm learning
that aspect, but I'm also getting a ton of practical experience in machine
learning and big data work.

~~~
neom
I'm curious to learn more about the business track, do you know where I might
be able to read more about what is covered? Thank you.

~~~
almostkorean
Yep! Check out this link:
[http://www.analytics.gatech.edu/curriculum/business-
analytic...](http://www.analytics.gatech.edu/curriculum/business-analytics-
track)

------
piker
Can anyone speak to the value of the general online CS Masters degree offered
by Georgia Tech? I'd been considering it, as it allows you to keep working
while you improve your resume. I'm curious if employers (1) can tell it was
completed online and (2) distinguish between individuals getting the
residential MA versus the online MA. Thanks in advance.

~~~
nkozyra
1\. No distinction 2\. Not unless they ask you

And everyone who's been exposed to both says it's the same courses and rigor
as the on-campus version.

(Source: 2 classes from finishing)

~~~
iak8god
> And everyone who's been exposed to both says it's the same courses and rigor
> as the on-campus version.

I am curious: who in the world would do both?

A more serious question, since you're going through it now: is there a thesis
component to the online MS, or is it just coursework? If there's a thesis
(either required or as an option for more research-oriented students), how
does the thesis mentoring at a distance work?

~~~
nkozyra
> I am curious: who in the world would do both?

Nobody, they're TAs now. ;)

~~~
iak8god
Ah, right, TAs!

Got any info for the lazy on the existence of a thesis track?

~~~
nkozyra
No thesis option.

~~~
iak8god
Good to know. Thanks!

------
jackcosgrove
I'm waiting for the online, low-cost undergraduate degree of comparable
quality to the "real thing". Maybe it's already here. I recently checked up on
tuition at my alma mater and almost barfed. With a kid on the way Mr. Market
has 18 years to figure this out for me.

~~~
ghufran_syed
The University of London external program has been around since 1858, so
hopefully it will still be around 18 years from now :)

[http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/](http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/)

Three of my kids and I are are doing CS degrees from here right now, two of us
while working full-time.

------
phreenet
For comparison: Master of Computer Science - Data Science (Univ: Illinois,
Coursera).

[https://www.coursera.org/university-programs/masters-in-
comp...](https://www.coursera.org/university-programs/masters-in-computer-
data-science)

~~~
tedmiston
UIUC has a great reputation especially for research. I haven't heard of their
online MS yet, but their undergrad program is very well respected.

------
merkleee
I am skeptical that this program will be a good signal for hiring analysts. In
my experience, there are two things you need to select for:

(1) Understanding statistics. Hopefully this program will take care of this
requirement, but it's not hard to find these people anyway. There is an
infinite supply of science PhDs fleeing the academic job market.

(2) Behavioural/personality. People who will do well at the actual job.
Example: can you tell when a PM is asking you to answer the wrong question,
and how do you handle it?

You can easily find (1) with screening questions, (2) is the hard part.

But, I guess if you think you have (2) as a future analyst, this program could
be a good way of getting (1).

------
intheclouddan
Is there anything similar to the Online Masters but a Bachelor's degree? Most
of the online universities like WGU seem like a get a bunch of certificates
then you graduate.

~~~
jazztoken
FSU and Arizona State both have online "ordinary" CS bachelor's.

~~~
weatherstorme
I thought ASU was software engineering, and not CS. However, they are very
similar.

------
ThomPete
Sorry for getting off-topic but:

Is there any business in creating a better "classroom" experience that what
ex. Piazza is doing?

It seems like an are which could be improved immensely design/ux wise but it
also seems like it could be an area where that's not really going to make you
successful because the distribution is already owned by someone else.

~~~
falloutx
One place where Piazza really excels is in their Sales. They used their
network to get the big schools, now getting the smaller schools is relatively
easy. I can't imagine a startup/small business selling software to say for ex.
Harvard, without knowing a few professors inside Harvard. You can definitely
make a app that students use, but getting professors on the platform and
getting the selling part right would be incredibly challenging.

------
reztip
I'm currently enrolled in the OMSCS program, and so far I would call it so-so.

I joined the program because I come from a non-CS background - undergrad in
math, work in an unrelated field: consulting. I'm trying to pivot into a ML
Engineer career. If you want to learn ML, you're better off going through the
Ng Coursera course and from there pursuing some personal projects. The primary
value of the program is the ability to get past recruiting coordinators simply
due to the fact I'm enrolled in CS program.

The two undergrad CS courses I took at Berkeley were more rigorous, and were
superior from a skills development perspective. But at the price, the OMSCS
program is definitely worth it for someone coming from a different background.

------
jocro
Anyone have experience with this program without an academic CS background?

As someone with a BS in Materials Science & Engineering (at best a
tangentially related field via sparse EE coursework) who does some level of
programming at a tech job now, I'm curious what my prospects for admission
would be. I'm confident I could handle the coursework, provided I could get my
foot in the door.

As a related question, they mention taking courses to fill holes - are they
receptive to Coursera offerings?

~~~
jsokol1
Yes, many of our students come in with either tangentially-related backgrounds
or even unrelated backgrounds -- we look for students with outstanding
analytics potential, regardless of background.

And yes, online learning and/or self-taught learning is definitely fine as
hole-fillers; we just want you to have the necessary background to succeed,
and however you get that background is up to you.

~~~
jocro
Appreciate the feedback!

------
rajeshp1986
I feel $10,000 for an online course is way too much. Just because it carries a
label of university doesn't make it worth it. Almost all of the knowledge is
available online for free. Although a university course gives a structure
around a subject and provides learning resources & materials but universities
have to realize that because of this many people will not take these MOOCs.
Because education is a business, future generations will turn out to be
illiterate.

~~~
learc83
>I feel $10,000 for an online course

It's not just a course it's a degree. When you graduate you have a Masters
degree that is identical on paper to an on campus degree.

------
kafkaesq
I'd definitely be wary of devoting 1+ year of my life full-time to "save"
money on a program that costs "justs" $10K/year -- without looking at
alternatives that might cost a bit more, but provide a much richer experience.
(Yes, I have great deal of categorical skepticism about full-scale online
degrees -- as opposed to occasional online _courses_ \-- in general).

Because even if you're unemployed, your most valuable resource is your _time_.

~~~
ethbro
_> Because even if you're unemployed, your most valuable resource is your
time._

*Assuming there's enough in your savings account to cover expenses

~~~
kafkaesq
Believe me -- I've been there, and I get where you're coming from with that.

------
prodtorok
Anyone have experience with FT online college courses? Would it be possible to
both work FT and complete the courses? Or would it best to work PT for a year?

~~~
jaymzcampbell
I am in my final year of a BSc in Mathematics with the Open University in the
UK. I have been working full time throughout. The first couple of years it was
fairly easy to stay on top of it but as the complexity increased it has
definitely been a hard balancing act.

However, if you have the motivation then it's certainly do-able. My work was
fairly intense too so as long as you are comfortable with giving up your
weekends and have supportive friends/partners then it works just fine in my
opinion. You get used to studying as your "fun time" \- eg when I commute I
spend it reading course notes, I play next to no PS4 games these days and I
watch very little TV. I did think about taking a work break to totally focus
on the course but in the end I've not needed to and find I prefer the brain
ping-pong.

As someone who was in a relationship for 5½ years and is now single if you
have a partner _do_ talk it through with them. Be as supportive as you can of
_them_ on your journey. I'm pretty sure one of the reasons I lost her was the
intensity of the last year or two. That was definitely exasperated by the
workload and my general need to dedicate my weekends to
exams/coursework/studying.

------
iblaine
I'm not yet convinced that online learning is an equivalent replacement for a
university degree. Exceptions do exist. For the most part, people graduate
from these online universities without the skills needed for the jobs they
want.

~~~
nommm-nommm
From my experience people graduate from traditional universities without the
skills needed for the jobs they want. For example, how on earth can you
graduate with a degree in computer science but never used version control? But
I've seen it from our new hires. Version control should be taught the first
day of CS101, that's where I was first exposed to it.

~~~
nvarsj
Because that's not the point of academic degrees? They're not job training
certifications - you don't need a B.S. to program. Programming and engineering
skills are auxiliary to computer science.

~~~
nommm-nommm
No matter if it's the point of them or not I was responding to "for the most
part, people graduate from these online universities without the skills needed
for the jobs they want." Pointing out that it's not unique to online
universities.

(Either way, if you are going to teach programming at all version control is a
big part of programming so it should be taught.)

------
simplegeek
Are both CS and Analytics degrees (from Georgia Tech) available to people
outside U.S?

~~~
bitL
Yes, but you need to pass admission process (likely somewhat comparable
education to US)

~~~
tedmiston
Anyone know if the GRE is still required for someone who's been enrolled in a
traditional Master's in CS program before but with a GRE exemption?

~~~
bytecodes
GA Tech's CS program did not require the GRE, partly for the reason you state.
There is still the usual admissions process with old GPAs and reference
letters. Instead of GRE scores and very tough standards, students are
conditionally accepted until passing 2 foundational courses within the first
year. Hopefully the new program does the same, but it doesn't look like
they've officially stated that yet.

------
alnitak
The fact that the Masters in CS and presumably this degree both require having
a traditional bachelor degree as a prerequisite seriously limits their
usefulness and their reach.

Are there any similar tracks that do not have this requirement?

------
danalloway
the price and convenience are hard to ignore, yes there are some unideal
aspects of the program (like the software and collaboration/discussion tech)
but all-in-all what a great opportunity.

------
oneplane
I'm not entirely sure how this is such big news. It costs the same as doing it
on-campus here, including all hardware and books etc. you might need over a
~4-5 year span.

------
bk_geek
Is taking the GRE a requirement for admissions? The program looks very
interesting but I can't bear to take the GRE after nearly 20 years of work ex.

~~~
binarymax
It is not required, per the linked FAQ admissions section:

[https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters-
degrees/analytics/faqs#...](https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters-
degrees/analytics/faqs#OMSA%20Admissions)

\--EDIT-- On the admissions criteria page, it states the following:

 _" 5\. Optional - Applicants may choose to submit standardized test scores,
most commonly GRE or GMAT (but if appropriate, LSAT, MCAT, etc. scores may
also be considered)."_

So that may help get you in.

[https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters-
degrees/analytics/appli...](https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters-
degrees/analytics/application-information/admission-criteria)

------
ComputerGuru
Can anyone recommend a great and respectable ML online masters (assume cost
not an issue)?

~~~
randcraw
Stanford offers an online MS in CS using videos of the same courses that are
offered on campus. So does Columbia, though their online course offerings seem
to have decreased significantly in the past few years. Both programs cost
about $5k/course.

I think both schools offer a track that emphasizes AI/ML, though I'm not sure
more than a couple of their available courses are in those topics.

------
toisanji
How is this different from the Udacity Georgia Tech Masters program?

~~~
camelNotation
It comes with the Georgia Tech brand name associated with it. College degrees
are 20% content, 80% reputation and branding. For instance, if you want to
earn $100k/yr, the way to do so with the least amount of effort is to attend a
school with a great reputation. Reputation in academia has much more to do
with faculty prestige and research, not actual academic rigor for students,
but most companies find it far easier to trust the brand than build effective
interview and recruiting processes. Ergo, brands matter.

~~~
orange_county
Agreed. But if GT keeps offering more and more Master degrees this way, I can
see them cheapening their reputation. It's a quick way for universities to
make money, but at a cost of reputation.

~~~
camelNotation
Yes, to an extent, but as strange as it sounds, you can jeopardize your
reputation with the companies that hire your graduates and still maintain your
status as a prestigious research institution. I think the gamble GT is taking
in this context is that this type of degree is terminal and largely self-
directed, meaning the primary recipients will be self-educators who want it
specifically for practical application. That means they are essentially just
people who will learn and apply the material anyway, but they want the paper
credentials to go with it. That reduces their risk.

------
dil8
Does anyone know of an online mathematics masters degree?

~~~
notte
University of Washington offers online MS in applied math. However, it's
pricey.

Here's the link to it:

[https://www.appliedmathonline.uw.edu](https://www.appliedmathonline.uw.edu)

~~~
zump
What a joke...

------
syngrog66
or... you just read, observe, learn, build, think, communicate, publish, for
free, at your own pace, 24x7, etc.

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graycat
Following the links on the program at the Georgia Tech Web site, the program
looks like a fairly wide buffet from practical computing, current business
applications, statistics, and operations research.

Georgia Tech is especially strong in operations research.

So, here _data science_ is a new bottle of wine blended from some now quite
well known old bottles of wine. And it is not nearly the first such _blending_
since there have also been programs such as mathematical sciences and applied
mathematics. Other _blendings_ have included mathematical finance, financial
engineering, and bio-statistics.

Apparently the high current interest is because now the associated computing
is much cheaper, more powerful, and easier to use. And there has been a lot of
hype from some sources.

However, I question if US _mainline_ business is much interested: IMHO and my
experience says that nearly any specialized technical material faces a serious
obstacle since in the organization chart the highest ranking technical person
(if not the CEO then necessarily a subordinate) has to report to a supervisor
who knows from much less to nearly nothing about what that technical
subordinate person is doing.

MD doctors, CPA accountants, licensed engineers, and licensed lawyers have
some crucial, serious professional status, processes, support, etc. that is
missing with applied mathematicians, statisticians, data scientists, etc.

For software developers, roughly, the solution is for the organization to have
a CIO, all the developers are in the CIO's organization so report only to
experienced developers, and only the CIO reports to, _interfaces_ with, non-
experts in computing.

Computing is now so darned important that the rest of the C-suite has to
swallow their pride and accept the CIO at the table.

Net, I fear that _data scientists_ will have too little professional or
organizational protection from _rain_ falling down the organization chart from
the C-suite.

Or, for the supervisor, most projects will be lose-lose: If the project fails,
then the supervisor has a black mark from wasting money on a failed project.
So, with a failed project, the supervisor loses.

If the project is successful, then the supervisor and, maybe, everyone in the
C-suite, maybe even including the CEO, can be afraid of the project leader now
regarded as a 900 pound tiger and, thus, a loss for the C-suite.

Here the organization chart from the project leader up to the CEO is engaging
in classic _goal subordination_ , that is, pursuing what is best for
themselves personally while sacrificing what is good for the company.

And for startups, what fraction of venture partners would be able to evaluate
a proposal that makes heavy use of some of the more advanced applied math in
that Georgia Tech program? Net, the venture partners don't know the technical
material, either.

Or, as I suggested, nearly all wine in the blend is now quite old, and it
didn't achieve much _traction_ in _mainline_ business.

My short summary view is that for such technical material, especially material
more advanced than in the Georgia Tech program, and for a startup, the founder
CEO needs to be both (A) the main expert in the technical material and (B)
essentially a solo founder who can write the software, bring it to market, and
get the coveted _traction_ significantly high and growing rapidly -- at which
time the founder may not be willing to accept equity funding and report to a
BoD that does not understand the work, that is, be back in the situation of a
technical subordinate reporting to a supervisor who does not understand the
technical work and, with the low expenses of a one person company, just grow
_organically_ from revenue.

Or, IMHO, the most promising career future of an applied mathematician, etc.,
in business is to be a solo founder of a startup.

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mrmrcoleman
This is not news in the U.K.

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nether
I just wonder what the job prospects will be like for this. This is basically
data science, a field being crowded rapidly by PhD's fleeing academia. With
3-month data science bootcamps, people are now saying expect 3-6 months to
find employment, often as an entry-level data analyst. I expect the outcomes
of the GT OMSA to be much better given the breadth and rigor of coursework,
but who knows by how much? Also, while $10k tuition is low, the cost of lost
income from pursuing this fulltime for 12 months makes it cost more than the
3-month bootcamps whose tuition usually runs $15k. If most OMSA grads find
jobs right out of the program, versus 3-6 months of job hunting for bootcamp
grads, the OMSA becomes a much better deal.

Edit: There is placement data for the on-campus program:
[http://www.analytics.gatech.edu/placement](http://www.analytics.gatech.edu/placement).
95% within 3 months of graduation, cohort size 21 students, with the majority
(40%) taking an "analyst" title, average salary $100,000 (61% going to
Atlanta, so this could be a little depressed compared to west coast tech
salaries).

~~~
bb611
I would also be a bit hesitant about job prospects. My last job was at a large
nonprofit in SF on their data team, and both my boss and my only non-
contractor coworker were PhDs who fled academia. Salaries for the tech teams
in general were 25-50% below market and overtime was high, and there were
still PhDs taking these jobs.

------
basseq
EDIT: The awarded degree _is_ the same (M.S. Analytics) as the "residential"
program. The below assertions are false, but I have left the original comment
intact for posterity.

\-----

I laud continuing, online, and affordable education options, but this degree
is still very much a second-class citizen. It is _not_ the same degree that's
awarded to "residential" students (that would be M.S. Analytics).

It's unclear whether the granting institution is Georgia Tech itself, one of
the "collaborating" colleges (i.e., Scheller College of Business, the College
of Computing, or the College of Engineering), Georgia Tech Professional
Education, or even EdX.

All this affects the "value" of the credential.

~~~
tabeth
>> It is not the same degree that's awarded...

False.

"How will this degree appear on my diploma and/or transcript? The name "Online
Master of Science (OMS)" is an informal designation to help both Georgia Tech
and prospective students distinguish the delivery method of the online program
from our on-campus degree. The degree name in both cases is Master of Science
in Analytics. The track designation does not appear on the diploma or
transcript." [1]

[1] [https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters-
degrees/analytics/faqs](https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters-
degrees/analytics/faqs)

~~~
basseq
Thanks for the correction, and I've updated my original comment to note the
same.

Interestingly, I _went looking_ for this information, including skimming that
FAQ section. This disparity between online and traditional degrees awarded is
common, so I'm surprised (or maybe biased is a better term) that GT uses this
"informal designation" _everywhere_ , including phrases like: "... Online
Master of Science in Analytics (OMS Analytics) degree will be available..."

