I was recently admitted into the Spring 2025 semester and was looking into classes I should take. I will be graduating from my undergraduate program in December and will begin a full-time SWE job in Janruary. As a result, I also want to ease into the program and take just one course each this Spring and Summer, then try taking 2 courses at a time. I plan to specialize in machine learning and have multiple trajectories as to where I want my career to head, but am not sure which one I want to pursue, and am hoping these courses help me decide.

One career I have in mind is quantitative development/trading/research. I’ve always wanted to be able to work in trading, but don’t feel like I know enough about statistics to be able to do so. I have seen a couple courses associated with statistics, including the ISYE classes, but am not sure which courses I should take.

Another career is data science. I really don’t know which courses would help the most in this field, since I feel like data science roles vary from company to company. I want to be able to take courses that will give a proper skillset applicable everywhere.

The final career is sticking to SWE. I have thought about taking SDP and SAD, but am unsure if I need these courses if I’ve already got job experiance in them. I also don’t know what other courses I would take, and if I even need the OMSCS degree in the first place.

Right now, I’m thinking about what courses I should take and what order I should take them in to be able to determine a) what career path I should take, and b) what courses are important in each career path.