Want to know unbiased reviews about doing a MS in Data Science from UUIC online program through Coursera. Is it worth the investment? I have 9 years of work experience in web development. TC 145k
If the program has open enrollment, no application and selection process, it isn’t worth the investment.
It isn't an open enrollment and does have an application process.
I wouldn’t recommend it. I went there for undergrad and our department is lacking in that area.
Do a computer science masters and two data science courses and get your first job. That’s all you need and then rely on experience
I do have 9 years of work experience already in web development.
That is nice! Have you tried joining a data science team as an engineer and use that to transition into a data science role? It’s a much better use of time than a masters degree! You already have an advantage in my opinion. Someone who transitions gradually into data science through a role that lets you take more and more data science responsibilities with time is the best way to learn. A masters teaches you some theory that you can find online. Google this for example: “software engineering - data science automation” and check out similar roles. You would work very closely with data scientists who are not good at engineering and automate their models and others surrounding tasks, and in order to do this properly you need to understand the models and evaluation metrics etc A great way to leverage your experience while gradually transitioning into the role you want.
I would not recommend it. There are lot of free resources where you can build knowledge, skills and position yourself to apply
The people in the space are academics so they will not respect your mooc
No, if you want value get a master's from m7 mba, computer science, or math