The foundation courses and the capstone is required for everyone. Overall I think MIDS is for those who are certain about becoming a data scientist (it is not a cheap program after all), who are ready to get their hands dirty (LOTS of programming involved), and who have a day job that they want to keep. Networking is definitely a thing that can and should be wisely used. Another advantage is to build connections with other working professionals - we have slack channels for students to share their current company job openings, and many of us are happy to do an internal referral. It’s definitely an eye-opening experience when listening to their project presentations and understanding how data science can be utilized in different industries. But almost everyone had some years of working experience. A majority of my classmates joined as part-time students, and a few attended it full-time. Students come from all sorts of different industries: agriculture, aerospace, construction, retail, pharmaceutical, insurance, finance, tech…you name it. The class profile ( link here) of MIDS is dynamic. Among a few programs that I got accepted to, I chose MIDS for its positive reputation. It wasn’t until a few years into the real working environment that I realized the unbeatable benefits of a part-time program - it’s hard to sacrifice the salary as well as a few years of valuable working experience just to get a master degree.

Back then I had believed in a myth that a part-time online masters degree like MIDS isn’t a “real degree”. I first heard the MIDS program when I was a junior college student.

Mstar online review