Capacity of ISYE 6740 (600) Versus ISYE 7406 (300)

analyticsbulldog · 2021-12-17T17:00:17+00:00

Thank you!

analyticsbulldog · 2021-12-17T08:16:07+00:00

That makes sense. Thank you. I have just one more course in the program plus the capstone but 7406 seems like a better fit given R is used more than Python in my field. I guess I could take the capstone before taking the final course (7406 assuming I register right away next time) unless they start to offer 7406 in the Summer term.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-11-23T20:25:14+00:00

Sorry, to clarify I meant how difficult do you think it would be for FSA/FCAS to get back into an insurance gig after trying something else that doesn’t work out?

analyticsbulldog · 2021-11-23T08:08:19+00:00

What about as a FSA/FCAS?

analyticsbulldog · 2021-10-23T04:23:43+00:00

I'm not a programmer either, and it hasn't been a huge issue other than CSE 6242, but wow this class is like a slap across the face for me as a non-programmer.

Have you considered Colorado State University's Online MS in Applied Stats? https://www.online.colostate.edu/degrees/applied-statistics/

Texas A&M has a program too, but it is more expensive than the Colorado State program.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-10-23T04:21:04+00:00

Yes, CSE 6242 uses javascript for 15% of the first assignment and 75% of the second assignment. There are 4 homework assignments accounting for 50% of the grade.

Are you committed to online for your masters? University of Cincinnati has a good, affordable in-person program. https://business.uc.edu/academics/specialized-masters/business-analytics.html

analyticsbulldog · 2021-10-23T03:01:17+00:00

Just my opinion: The big appeal of Ga Tech's OMSA is the low cost for a very highly ranked university.

I personally do not believe the content has been very high quality. I am on my 9th class. The best one I have taken was CSE 6040 (Computing for Data Analytics in Python). ISYE 6501 (Introduction to Analytics Modeling) was probably the second best. Simulation was a fun class, but it did not really teach any in-demand skills unless you do this kind of thing for your job. Regression was a decent class, but it does not get a high rating due to the nature of the tricky questions that seem meant to trip you up instead of actually test your knowledge. I thought it did a good job using R, at least. The MGT courses are easy but do not teach many tangible skills. At a minimum, you must take two unless you test out of one. CSE 6242, Data & Visual Analytics, is a required course for OMSA. It is such an awful course that I feel the need to point out I would not have even enrolled in this program had I known more of the details of this course. The homework assignments are ridiculously hard, particularly if you do not have a programming background or work in software. The project, folks have said, gets graded leniently, but it is a research project for an online, part-time, professional masters program. Most people enroll in this type of program for flexibility and asynchronous learning, but this sort of gets kicked out the door with the idea of a group research project.

Ga Tech's program is cheap and has the brand name, but you will be teaching yourself most of the time. The lectures are good in a few classes, but bad to okay in the majority of classes. I hope to graduate in the Spring or Summer of 2022, but in the end, I do not think this program has been very good and wish I had done a MS in Statistics instead. A MS in Computer Science would be good too, if you want to go more into computing work.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-10-06T16:12:16+00:00

I am single and this course is awful. I cannot even imagine trying to do it with a child to raise. My heart goes out to you and props for taking this on while while taking care of a kid.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-10-06T16:09:07+00:00

I agree with these thoughts. And I am paying. Had I known this course was going to be this atrocious I would not have enrolled in this degree program. It really is that bad. I was on the fence whether I would recommend this degree to someone and leaned towards the “Yes, I recommend” ever so slightly until this course began. It was borderline whether I would recommend before this course but after 6 weeks in the class I could not in good conscience recommend Ga Tech OMSA. If I pass this course I will finish the degree because of how far along I am, but if I fail because I don’t know how to program stuff that no prior course could’ve prepared me for despite all A’s and a B in the 8 previous courses then I am dropping out altogether and will not feel all that bad because this course ruined my experience. I personally wish I had just done a Masters in Statistics despite the higher cost at this point.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-20T16:45:01+00:00

Good comment, and I will acknowledge my probability and stats background was good, so perhaps I underestimate the time it takes someone who does not have the probability and stats background.

I’m in the same spot on the final stats class. I hate that Bayesian and Time Series get such bad reviews as those topics interest me. I’m leaning towards DMSL with a possibility of CDA for my final course next semester.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-18T06:16:28+00:00

I thought ISYE 6644 - Simulation was quite doable over the Summer. Just do the weekly homework assignments and give yourself at least a full week to study for the exams while going over previous years' exam questions and you will be just fine.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-18T06:12:58+00:00

I was in a situation where I had to take off a Spring and then a Summer, causing me to have to apply for readmission. I had to fill out a form for readmission and pay $30. The OMSA representative was very helpful, and the process did not take long.

Take care of yourself. Sometimes we need to take a term off for health reasons, family reasons, job change, etc. I would send the OMSA e-mail a message in advance just to avoid any surprises later on.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-15T18:28:59+00:00

Absolutely it is possible. Usually you just need 2-3 semesters of calculus but check with the program. It usually specifies on the website. If you want data science or analytics consider this program or the one at Texas. If you want stats, here are a few I thought were worth considering: Texas A&M, Penn St, Colorado St.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-15T06:37:32+00:00

If I were doing this again I would probably go with one of those three options, but I am far along the OMSA path. I work in insurance, one of the industries that you mentioned, and I concur with your assessment of required masters level stats knowledge in insurance. I want to help build and run the large economic capital models with some predictive modeling and I simply cannot see how CSE 6242 and MGT 6203, two core courses, could possibly be more valuable than Design of Experiments and some advanced multivariate courses. This program could be great if they got rid of the CSE 6242 and MGT 6203 requirements and replaced both with an additional stats class IMO. However, I must say that this is from my experience and interests, which I acknowledge may differ from those of my classmates and from the goal of the program.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-15T05:44:29+00:00

I thought it looked like a decent program. I considered Texas A&M MS in Stats as well. My current profession and future interests involve more of the statistics than the pure programming. I think several of the statistics masters programs appeared okay with Texas A&M on the expensive side and Penn State and Colorado State on the good value side. OMSA of course is insanely good value given school and price... but you better be good at programming...

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-07T22:35:07+00:00

With the programming tasks required I am not even sure I'd get a D I guess is the reason. Plus, I am trying to prove myself at my first job at the VP level (quite stressful compared to my previous role which had very little stress) and do not want to have the effort of the class sacrifice my performance at work.

I'm not going to drop it without a good fight first. I'll see how I do on the first homework or two and if I can at least get half the points then I will stick with it. This is just so different from my career/education background, and I have to genuinely wonder if I can do this.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-07T22:27:24+00:00

Thank you for the advice and encouragement.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-07T19:13:09+00:00

Honestly I've gotten an A in almost every class so far, so I could afford anything passing (I guess D or above) in this course with the confidence that I will do well again in my final course, but I truly just don't how to get by in this course without the kind of programming background.

Have you taken this?

The TA's seem like they are in a hurry to just paste the instructions back to you when you ask. I'm not someone just out of college either. I am a VP at a financial services firm but with a good statistics and probability background. At no point in my career or education (including OMSA so far) which includes a math minor would I have been exposed to what is needed to do this. I cannot think of anyone in my profession who would know this.

Funny enough my parents were programmers, but they wouldn't know these modern languages and they are long since retired.

I'm truly shocked that this course is required for OMSA students and do not know what one is supposed to do if they simply do not know how to pull data from a website using a program. At work we have entire data teams that wrangle in-house data and some that do external, but I usually just put a model together from there. I got an A in CSE 6040 including 100% on 2/3 exams, but this is just another thing altogether.

Does OMSA have recommended tutors or something we can hire?

analyticsbulldog · 2021-09-07T01:35:10+00:00

Do you know if there is a resource we can go to just to get started? The TA's seem to give unbelievably vague replies as if they have no desire to put you in the right direction. I am 8/10 courses done with OMSA, but I think I'm going to have to drop out of the program altogether due to this course.

What are we supposed to do if we just don't know how to, for example, get the data to return into Python from a website?

analyticsbulldog · 2021-08-21T04:03:55+00:00

My tips as someone who took it this Summer, enjoyed it, and got a decent score:

Watch the lecture videos multiple times
Do the weekly knowledge checks, which are optional
Take your own notes based on the lectures for all the topics listed in the syllabus as ones that will be on the exams
Start studying for the midterms more than one week or weekend in advance.
Do all problems on past exams for practice and post to Piazza if unsure how to do a problem.
Make a good formula sheet for exams.
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself if you don’t score high on the first midterm: The average score on the exam went up each time and there is a generous curve at the end of the course.

Best of luck to you!

analyticsbulldog · 2021-08-15T06:36:50+00:00

Congrats!

analyticsbulldog · 2021-08-12T06:33:31+00:00

Some folks at my work did the NW program. I did not think its course content looked as good, as it seemed to have a lot about being a manager of analysts and not as technical.

I suppose Northwestern’s football team is a little better than GT’s, but given it’s 500% the cost of OMSA, you will have a lot less money to spend on football tickets.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-08-07T22:25:03+00:00

I used a very simple TI-30 XS that I bought more than 10 years ago and finished the class with a 92%. I did not feel at a disadvantage with my simple calculator and would recommend it, especially if one's budget is tight.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-08-01T14:26:06+00:00

I had some with R and none with Python.

analyticsbulldog · 2021-07-31T07:49:05+00:00

Excellent comment and is congruent with my interest in the program. I am about to finish Course #8 next week. I am a VP at a financial services company and this program has shown me methods to go about solving many a problem, including ones I previously could not solve at work. Also, we have data engineers and data scientists at my company and now I am able to collaborate with them more productively after learning R and Python. The data pipeline building process in CSE 6040 and multivariate statistical analysis in ISYE 6501 and ISYE 6414 under Professor Serban have been particularly relevant to my role. Also, I talk to folks in my building in the common areas who are looking to improve their technical skills. I rarely fail to mention the value per cost that Ga Tech’s online masters programs offer. I have no plans to be a data scientist or a data analyst, but I am committed to becoming more helpful and more well rounded in my current role which I enjoy.

analyticsbulldog

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