 Hi, everyone, welcome to the Online Masters of Data Science at UT Austin Information Session. Let's go into our agenda for today's proceedings. We're going to start out by talking about the University of Texas at Austin and giving an overview of the Online Masters of Data Science program here at UT. We'll go into next, after that, a more detailed curriculum overview of the MSDS program and preview the types of courses that you would be taking as a student. Then we'll move into the application requirements. What does it take to get into the MSDS program and the process by which we conducted missions of what you can expect as part of the admissions process. Then we'll talk about the tuition and fees for the MSDS program. And finally, we'll wrap up by answering frequently asked questions that we receive from MSDS applicants. But before we get started, I want to take a moment to introduce myself and the rest of the MSDS team. My name is Eric Bush, and I am the director of the MSDS program here at UT Austin. And I'm joined today by Maria Fernanda Palamarez Carranco, who is our admissions coordinator for MSDS. Not on this session, but an important part of our program is Tim Schriever, who is our graduate coordinator at MSDS, and Catherine Murphy, who is the assistant director for MSDS. Also not on this call, but an important part of our program are our faculty advisors, Dr. Pernum Rita, or Perna Sarkar, and Dr. Greg Duret. Dr. Sarkar is in the statistics and data science department and teaches advanced predictive models as part of the MSDS program. Dr. Duret is in the computer science department and teaches natural language processing in the MSDS program. So why get a master's degree in data science? Well, for one thing, a master's degree goes deeper in terms of both breadth and depth than a typical boot camp or certificate program will. Not only will you cover a wider variety of topics in a master's degree program than you might in a certificate, but you also are able to delve more into technical depth, even if you're nominally covering the same subject. And that has a lot to do with the fact that a master's program has an admissions process that screens applicants so the faculty can be assured that they can push students harder and at a faster pace. And at the end of the day, a master's degree carries more weight in the job market than a certificate program. You'll get a return on your financial investment quickly. According to pay scale, a master's degree in data science averages to $100,000 per year as a starting salary. As this field becomes more complex and moves into areas where UT MSDS has built its core strengths, you'll be able to credibly apply for jobs in predictive analytics, machine learning, deep learning and data visualization among others. And you will have a strong foundation to work in many different kinds of industries. A master's in data science means having a wide range of possibilities for your future. From companies across many industries who are increasingly looking to people with data science credentials and training to solve complex problems, expose new insights and increasingly to automate crucial data functions. There's the nature of the MSDS program at the University of Texas is in concert with the Department of Computer Science. That means that we have faculty directors from both departments and you will be taught by faculty that pull from both the Department of Statistics and Data Science and the Department of Computer Science here at UT Austin. So MSDS is uniquely situated to give you as a student advanced education in both data analytics and computational approaches to data. And as a student, this dual experience will strengthen your knowledge across fields and make you more competitive in many job categories. With this, you'll be able to move up more quickly as a specialist as well. So we've talked a little bit about why you might be interested in getting a master's degree in data science but why specifically come to the University of Texas at Austin and its online MSDS program. Well, there are a number of reasons. First, the MSDS program is housed in one of the most prestigious public universities in the country. The MSDS program partners top faculty from UT's Department of Statistics and Data Science or we call SDS with faculty from the Department of Computer Science here at UT. So when you become an MSDS student, you will take courses developed and taught by some of the world's top computer and data scientists from both departments, many who have won prestigious research and teaching awards. Our degree program is extremely flexible. In fact, the MSDS program offers one of the most flexible paths to a master's degree that you can find. You can take as few as one course per semester or as many as five, depending on your schedule. Our program is accessible. What this means is that all of our courses are 100% online so MSDS requires no travel of any kind. It's affordable. At $10,000 for a full master's degree, the MSDS program is within reach for most students and applicants. And finally, community. When you join the MSDS program, you become a UT longhorn. You may be attending class from your home office but you will be interacting and collaborating with classmates, TAs and faculty from around the world. You'll be part of a vital virtual community and be able to join LinkedIn and other networking tools that are specific to MSDS. And when you graduate, you'll join a group of over 400,000 proud UT longhorn alumni, potentially opening doors to many new connections and opportunities. Let's take a look at MSDS at a glance. First, students can start in either the fall or the spring long semester. If you start in the fall, that means your courses will start in August. And if you start in the spring, that means your courses will start in January. Students are also able to take courses in the summer, although that is not required. So students can enroll in the MSDS program in either a part-time or a full-time basis. It's recommended that working professionals take one to two courses per semester, although it is possible for students to take up to five courses if desired and if your schedule allows. The MSDS program is what we call instructor-paced. That means that the lectures are prerecorded, but discussion sections and live and near-live interaction with highly-trained TAs and fellow students is common on discussion boards and on Zoom. This is a 30-hour program featuring 10 courses, each of which count for three credit hours. Most students complete the degree within two to three years, but can take up to six years to complete the degree program. So let's talk a little bit about the MSDS curriculum. As we've said, the MSDS program is a flexible online program and highlights foundational statistical theory and application through computer science processes. The program has a heavy emphasis on courses and statistics, but with topics like probability and simulation, regression analysis, data visualization, and computer science topics like machine learning algorithms and optimization. So coursework in the MSDS program consists of 10 total courses with five foundational courses and the remaining electives. The foundational courses are data structures and algorithms, foundations of regression and predictive modeling, probability and simulation-based inference for data science, and on the computational side, principles of machine learning and deep learning. And that leaves five elective courses, advanced predictive models for complex data, design principles and causal inference for data-based decision-making, data exploration, visualization and foundations of unsupervised learning, and on the computational side, natural language processing, optimization and reinforcement learning. The next topic is our application requirements and I'm going to hand it over to Maria to cover this section. Maria? Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. So we're going to go over nine pieces of the application requirements in order to complete your MSDS application for review. So the first thing that I want to note is that on the left side, you're going to have the Graduate and International Admission Center requirements and on the right, you're going to see our program level requirements. You must fulfill both in order to complete your application and first to review your application. So first on the left, we're going to discuss a little bit about the bachelor's degree. So if you received your bachelor's degree from a U.S. institution, it must be for an accredited institution. If you've received your degree abroad, you must have an equivalent to a U.S. four-year bachelor's degree. But further details are explained in our application guide on our website. Second is that you need to submit transcripts from all the universities that you have attended. So even if you didn't graduate from an institution, but say you took two or three courses, that transcript will be required by GAC. Third on the list of Graduate and International Admission Center requirements are the TOEFL or ELTS for those of you that are not U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or previous students of the University of Texas at Austin. We often get asked if a dual-lingual test could supplement or be used in lieu of this requirement, but the Graduate and International Admission Center only accepts TOEFL or ELTS results. These results must be sent through those institutions as we cannot accept self-reported scores. So please be sure to check with ETS for the TOEFL or ELTS on their site. Please note that this score, similar to the GRE, which is our fourth item, must be sent through ETS. As I mentioned, your GRE scores do need to be sent through ETS, but the GRE scores are completely optional. Meaning they are not required, but completely up to you to decide if you want to submit GRE scores. For those of you that do not have a background in statistics or mathematics or computer science and our related fields of study, GRE scores might be a good idea if you are able to obtain a GRE quantitative score in the 80th percentile or higher. But again, these are completely optional and you can reach out to us if you have any questions on those GRE scores. Fifth is our Statement of Purpose, which is going to be on our Programs Requirement List. So this Statement of Purpose should outline why you're interested in pursuing our degree and how this degree would fit with your future goals. Sixth is a CV or resume, also outlining the type of work that you've done could add to your application review. The seventh item on our Program List of Requirements is the Quest Assessment. This assessment is specifically created to get a further understanding as to how prepared you are in the prerequisite courses established by the program. Overall, it takes no more than an hour and is a total of five questions that you will have access to after you submit your Google Apply Texas application. Again, this assessment is only to gauge an understanding of how you have moved through those prerequisite courses, your knowledge in these areas of study. Eighth is our Mathematics and Programming Preparation Form. This form is where you outline how you have completed our prerequisite courses, whether through massive online open courses, MOOCs, or if you've taken them at a community college or in your undergraduate degree or graduate degree. We also ask that in this form, you also add the transcripts and highlight the courses that you are going to mention for fulfilling each prerequisite course. And we have our letters of recommendation. We can accept up to three of those letters and they can come from either your supervisor or from an academic reference, such as a professor that you previously had. Again, these are optional and you can add them to your application package if you feel that they will add to your review. Finally, please note that application requirements are subject to change, so please be sure to check our website for detailed instructions for the semester that you're applying to. Now that we've gone through the application requirements, let's discuss a little bit more about the admissions process itself. So the first step is to submit your application electronically through goapplitexas.org. This application will ask for your educational background and you'll be asked to complete some program-specific questions. Once you submit this application within two to three days, you are going to receive a university ID or a UTE ID, which you will then use to access your My status portal. Your My status portal is where you will see all of our program and GAC requirements and then at this point is when you will be able to access the quest assessment that we discussed in the previous slide. Third, after you've submitted all of those items that are both GAC-specific and program-specific that are uploadable through My status portal, you can send either your TOEFL or IELTS test scores if applicable through ETS or IELTS in the institution or you can send your GRE scores through ETS, which again is a completely optional item. Once you send those official test scores to UT Austin, you can review your status through your My status portal. All right, let's talk about the tuition and fees for the MSDS program. As we've mentioned before, the full program cost for 10 courses is $10,000, $1,000 per course for 30 total credit hours. Tuition is the same for US and international students, although some fees may apply depending on whether you register late for a course and international students must also pay an international support student fee of $125. If you are a US citizen, you may finance your degree by through federal, state and institutional financial aid. If you're interested, you can apply for financial aid through the Office of Financial Aid by filling out a FAFSA or free application for federal student aid. And finally, we'd like to answer a few frequently asked questions that we often receive from MSDS applicants. The first is the GRE required. I'm going to hand this one over to Maria to answer. Maria. Hi, folks. So the GRE is not required. It is a completely optional item that being said, if you do not have a background in computer science or statistics or any of the related degrees mentioned on our website, it might be a good idea for you to submit a GRE score if you are able to score in the 80th percentile or higher of the quantitative section. But again, it is a completely optional item and you're more than welcome to make that decision when you receive your results. Thanks, Maria. Is the TOEFL a requirement? The TOEFL is a requirement for folks who are not U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents or former students of the University of Texas at Austin. Unfortunately, we're not able to lift this requirement on your behalf, but you're more than welcome to reach out to GAC if you have further questions about the TOEFL or EALS. Thanks, Maria. The next question is, is there a thesis requirement or research opportunities as part of the MSDS program? The MSDS program is a professional degree program and there is not a thesis requirement or independent research that is required in order to be able to graduate. Some of our students have reached out individually to faculty with ideas for projects that they have then been able to work on, but that is handled on an individual and case-by-case basis and it is not required for graduation from the MSDS program. Next, can I use UT's facilities if I'm in the Austin area? If you are an MSDS student, you are a UT affiliate and that means that you have access to UT amenities including use of UT libraries when you're in town or even remotely. So yes, you are able to use some of UT's facilities as a MSDS student. Next, do I have to come to UT's campus during the program? The answer to that question is no. The MSDS program is an entirely 100% online program and you can complete every aspect of the coursework and requirements for graduation remotely. Next, what does access to the faculty look like? As we've talked about before, this is an instructor-paced program. The faculty pre-record their lectures, but the faculty are also very much involved in the delivery of the course each semester and are available via email to answer any questions that can't be answered by the TAs in the course. Next, do you offer career services and resources for job seeking after graduation? While the MSDS program does not yet have its own career services, we do offer our MSDS students access to university-wide career services, organizations and resources for job seeking after graduation and we encourage you to reach out to those organizations at UT when you're here at MSDS. The next question is, do the courses have live sessions or is the entire program asynchronous? Our faculty pre-record their lectures, but as a student in the MSDS program, you are able to participate in live office hours with TAs and to interact with both faculty and TAs in near-live settings on our discussion boards. And finally, what is the typical weekly time commitment for the MSDS program? Most of our students are working professionals and take an average of between one to two courses per semester. This typically tends to work out depending on a student's familiarity with the subject matter to about 15 hours per week. The MSDS program is a significant time commitment in order to be able to pursue successfully and it is important as an applicant and a student that you are understanding of that commitment and prepared to meet it. And that concludes our info session for the MSDS online master's degree program at the University of Texas. I want to thank all of you for your time and attention today. If you're interested in applying, you can start your application right away by going straight to goapplytexas.org. If you still have questions about the program that we can answer, please email us at msdatascienceatutexas.edu. Thanks again for your time and we hope to hear from you soon. Take care.