How much would you pay for a masters?

Thanks for your reply! Wow, that's amazing that you were able to get a masters totally free. I am also interested in computer science - related work. My strengths are in maths so I am looking at machine learning.

Did you get a scholarship directly from the university?

My academics are very good compared to the general population, but when I'm competing against top applicants for a scholarship I don't know if I would stand out. I don't have publications or competitions to my name, I have never presented at a research conference.

I had over years work ex. Two internships specifically making my CV stand out. And, I did publish a paper I was sure would catch eyes. Back then deep learning was all the shiny stuff, pick your poison. I tweeted with a professor at my uni (overkill, maybe). Wrote a bot to deliver me rss to my email for any scholarships attached to the degrees I was interested in. Didn’t have chatgpt back in the days otherwise would have quadrupled my efforts but there’s a hint and tread carefully. Plagiarism is a big no in academia, that’s the only motto here. They do scholarships on a rolling basis so start now because we are March if you are serious about September intakes. Also, look into exchange programs, if you have the time. A semester in Portugal was chef’s kiss of my degree. Bonus was I enlisted my younger brother’s favours here because he is in the same field and now reaping heavy returns. Off the top of my head for now.

I chose a “professional masters program” where it was more common to be working while in the program. It took me 2 years (4 semesters + summer term), while someone working less/none could do it in 1-1.5 years. It was certainly a huge commitment, and work + school was almost my whole life for that time (I’d found FDS and was happily single by choice and not dating or wasting any time with men!).

I see you’re interested in machine learning and have a math background. Do you have any coding experience? I really do believe that a mix of math background, coding experience, and self-studying could get you into a data scientist career. If you don’t have coding experience but want to become a data scientist, I would caution you against a data science masters, as they will teach you more theory, but not the practical coding/engineering skills that employers value.

Yes I can imagine! I'm glad you were able to do that though, I'm sure it was a great boost to your career.

Yes I do have coding experience from my degree and internship. I suppose I could absolutely start by applying to entry-level data science jobs first and seeing how much a master's would actually be necessary.

My major concern is really finding work that is at that intersection of being well-paid and also being beneficial to the world. For example, I know that the oil industry (especially in the USA) will pay mathematicians very well, but the idea of going anywhere near an oil company makes me want to be sick.

Also from the US and in a STEM field and finishing a part time masters this spring. Agree with everything Serene said.

For coding specifically though, there are smaller certifications you can get that are several courses and cost a lot less than a whole masters. I looked into that years ago so I forget the names/who offers them. I’d imagine you have to be careful to get the “correct” or “official” ones, but that could be an option.

As a citizen of European countries, you’d definitely benefit from a lot of financial aids for education and related equipments and tonnes of tax benefits. Highly recommended. Agreed you still pay some money but we are hardly breaking the bank here.

By that do you mean an EU citizen? :')

Oh yes. Oops. UK has taken a step back to her colonial days. Sorry as much as it is going to go bad for the general UK citizen, I for one am waiting for a global level meltdown due to it’s history of torture especially to India, the cracks are already showing. When I was getting my research started for the masters degree, UK could be a possible destination, right now it has gone to the pits.

Even Queen’s university, or education in Scotland is a great option.

It's not the vibe!