Eastern University

[ifomonay]

Personally, I am starting my second term tomorrow, having finished the first 2 courses (either 2 A's  or an A and an A-).  So far, I am enjoying the program and like the flexibility.  I work as a data analyst right now, so some of the stuff was review (like python/pandas and some of the stats).  However, what they are teaching is definitely applicable to the real world (at least in my industry).  I plan on using the degree to transition to a data scientist role.

I appreciate the additional context allvia gave.  I know that some programs just are not good fits for some people, and that is cool.  For me, this will be my second masters, and third attempted.  I withdrew from the WGU MBA program because I didn't like it, although I know several people who loved the format.

Eleverson, if you are interested in getting a data analyst position, I would like to offer some suggestions, since I was in the same position a few years ago.  Focus on getting REALLY REALLY good in 2 skills, SQL and a visualization/reporting tool (Tableau/Power BI).  If you do that (which should only take 2-4 months) you will absolutely be ready to apply for data analyst jobs at large companies, especially if you brush up on your stats from the Statistical Modeling course.  You DO NOT need to wait until your are finished with your MS in data analytics before you apply for work.

The skills needed for a data analyst position are (IN THIS ORDER):
1. SQL (up to the level of correlated subqueries and window functions)
2. Visualization/Reporting (Tableau is the most popular, followed by Power BI)
3. Statistics (what was covered in Eastern's stats course is more than enough)
4. Programming (Python, although VBA is surprisingly useful too)

The key is to be REALLY GOOD in EITHER of the first 2.  I see some programs that make you mediocre in all 4.  That is useless..  Get GREAT at SQL or Tableau/Power BI and you will be good to go.

Thanks for the info, I have had a chance to work as a Business Intelligence Engineer, and all that you have stated I agree with. This is the deal, when you get in R and the data management courses, it will be a bit more challenging than those other beginner python and stats courses. At least it was for me. Everything was going great in my stats and python courses as well. When you go into the data mgt course, this is a different professor (Dr. Morbito) with a different teaching style. You will learn PostgreSQL which has some different syntax from regular SQL with the functions, triggers, etc. Before that, I only used just plain SQL, so some things were a challenge. The advice I can give for that class is to tackle the assignments in advance in case you need to get some help because it is challenging. Not just for me, but many ppl who took it with me. As for R, everybody can say there is a learning curve for that. I loved Eastern and the program but decided to take a more traditional approach in my learning. I wanted a course that provided a grade with also projects I can use in a portfolio when applying for future jobs since I quit my BI job.

Hey mcjon and eleverson, this is really, really good stuff. All these data science programs dabble into this and that, but you don't have any idea what's important. Thanks for your insights on the skills needed. What do you guys think about things like Javascript or other front-end skills? They don't require you to know how to create web apps to make your visualizing work interactively? Or does Tableau already do that?