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Why I’m pursuing an advanced degree in computer science

Author’s Note: this is my personal statement for application to Georgia Tech’s Online Master’s in Computer Science (OMSCS). This degree, ranked 8th in the country for Computer Science, is the best deal in graduate education (at least in the United States) coming in under $7,000. (Compared to over $70,000 for degrees at lower-rated institutions.) It’s designed for working professionals, which means I’ll be working full-time at Cortex Building Intel as I pursue the degree. While this is still a work in progress, and I haven’t yet been accepted, I thought I’d share and any feedback is much appreciated. If I get in, I’m very much looking forward to continuing my education which is a must for anyone in the field of data science!

Update July 12, 2019: I have been accepted into the program. I will be attending the Online Master’s in Computer Science starting January 2020.

My objective is to make the greatest positive social impact. After several years figuring out what that means, I’ve concluded I can do the most for our planet working as a data scientist in the energy sector, addressing current inefficiencies and leading a transition to clean energy.

There are three enablers of this goal: motivation, experience, and education. The drive to work diligently is not a barrier; I’ve always been self-motivated as seen in my top marks in formal academic settings, my rigorous self-study of computer/data science, and earning a software engineering job at a start-up doing beneficial, challenging work.

I’m working on the experience aspect; through my position as Cortex Building Intelligence, a start-up applying big data, software, and data science to reduce the energy use of office buildings, I am continually expanding my computer and data science skillset. Every day, I’m able to apply computer science topics (databases, algorithms, machine learning, distributed computing) to develop and deploy pipelines now running in production, learning by doing. Although I eventually want to switch to the public sector, previous stints at the Air Force and NASA taught me a fast-moving company might be a better choice for a young engineer to rapidly acquire experience.

The third pillar supporting my objective is education. While my undergraduate degree was in mechanical engineering (by the time I decided on a career in data science it was too late to switch), it taught me problem-solving skills and how to tackle large projects. I supplemented formal education with self-study and work on a research project building software for virtual building energy audits. While my current level of knowledge allows me to do my job effectively, I know there are advanced concepts — both in computer science and machine learning — which, if mastered, would increase my ability to contribute. While some of these topics can be learned through other online resources or experience, I value sustained study in a formal setting. The Online Master’s in Computer Science from Georgia Tech fits well into my plans: I’ll be able to immerse myself in a rigorous learning experience, study advanced techniques in machine learning and computer science, engage with other learners and professors, and continue to work full time in a rewarding job, applying the topics covered in class. Looking over the course list is exciting as I imagine the benefits — at my current job and throughout my career — these classes will have, in addition to the joy that comes with learning new skills.

Why study computer science if I want to be a data scientist? From my experiences, I’ve learned one can’t isolate data science from computer science if she intends to deploy solutions. On every machine learning pipeline, the determining factor in whether we can build the implementation is not data science — this is relatively simple with open-source tools — but the infrastructure required to store, load, and process data, send the data through a model, and serve the model’s predictions to clients on a real-time basis. To develop more ambitious data science systems, I do need to study machine learning, but I also need to master advanced topics in computer science such as High-Performance Computing and Big Data Analysis. Through the OMSCS, with a specialization in machine learning, I’ll be well-equipped to build larger, more impactful systems, taking full advantage of big data and increasing computing resources.

To summarize, my goal is to have the most significant positive impact, which I believe will come as a data scientist in the energy field. I already have the motivation to contribute, I’ll continue to gain critical experience working at Cortex Building Intelligence, and the OMSCS from Georgia Tech will provide me with the education required to exceed my objective. My goal is admittedly ambitious, but we need ambitious people to solve our current and future problems.

I write mostly about data science and sometimes about other interesting life experiences. You can find my work on Towards Data Science and my projects on GitHub.