Eastern University

[matrixski]

BUMP

Any updates on these actual classes?

I noticed that the same 2-3 teachers are teaching all 36 hours. How have the exams and project been? Any group work expected ?

I'm in my 4th class and it's the same teacher.  One of my classes did require me to turn in 3 assignments. There will be no group projects because this is a self-pace program

Thank you!

I start in January. Im nervous because I will be taking 2 course at a time but can’t find a lot of info on what exactly to expect. In the past I’ve been able to read reviews on professors and access their syllabus ahead of time. Your information is helpful.

I understand about you being nervous because you don't know what to expect. The thing I am getting from this school that I have not gotten from other distance learning programs is lecture videos from the professor who is teaching the class. They might send a few outside videos but most of them will be taught by them. For now, there is no proctoring when you take your exam and you need to make an 80 or above to move on to the next exam. And they allow you to take the exam as many times until you pass. For me, this type of setup is giving me the support I need from the professor by them providing the lectures and allowing me to take the exam until I pass is making things less stressful for me. If you have any questions, you can always reach out to me.

This programs sounds a lot more tame than the University of Denver's Online Master's in Data Science Program which will take me two years to complete assuming I make it passed my first quarter. I was accepted in this program as well but felt that DU's program with their more vigorous math component would give me an edge when finding work. After looking at my first quarter's math course, and having spent over 90% of my time having to use outside sources to even begin to understand my homework assignments, I may reconsider reapplying to this program instead. I enjoy math, but having to learn calculus 1 through 3 and more in 10 weeks as a bridge course seems a little bit too much.  I was thinking the bridge courses would have taken a more gradual approach in teaching calculus, but I was wrong. I am better off learning calculus on Khan Academy or through YouTube at a more reasonable pace than trying to cram 1-2 years of calculus in a 10 week period.

After having gotten zero responses to my email from Eastern, I have decided to stick with the University of Denver's Online Master's in Data Science Program. The average class size is 18-30 students. Supposedly their first 3 math related courses which cover calculus, discrete math, linear algebra, statistics and probability give students the most difficulty. It is a super math intensive program. I am only doing it part-time until I get through the math courses as I have minimal background in calculus and some knowledge of statistics and probability, but zero background in other types of math. It is a super expensive program at over $4k a per class and most of the other students in my class already work in a related field or have computer science backgrounds. The professors work in the field of data science and field of mathematics and the director of the program is a data scientist himself. The only reason why I am able to afford this program is through VA benefits. I feel like this program may be more intense than Georgia Tech's and the University of Texas' program since the soonest anyone can complete the program with minimal to no background in computer science or math is two years. I'm looking at three years due to the insane difficulty of the math courses. If I encounter difficulty with the program and or another program option becomes available that I feel has a strong math and programming component then I may go for that program. As far as Eastern's Program, it is too basic and I feel it will not equip me to help stand out in the job market. I wanted to apply to Georgia's program, but I have no references and a very poor job history, hence why I am going back for a quantitative degree, which so many jobs require or highly prefer.