Online Masters Degrees
- Thread starter bryangoodrich
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What are the admittance requirements to these programs? Dason I know your at Ames so what are the GRE/GPA type requirements to get in the program....is it the same as getting in the on campus MS? I would think not since this is just extra revenue for the departments.
So what was the consensus final ranking here Iowa State up top then maybe PSU after?
So what was the consensus final ranking here Iowa State up top then maybe PSU after?
"For statistics masters, I would rank Iowa State the highest, then PSU/Colorado State/TAMU sorta cluster together, followed by RIT/USC/Idaho."
In ranking these, does the distinction of the degree really mean anything, or are they considered academically synonymous? (i.e. Master of Applied Stats vs Master of Science in Applied Stats vs Master of Science in Stats)
Do you know of any schools that have plans to release an online masters in stats?
Thanks!
Nick
In ranking these, does the distinction of the degree really mean anything, or are they considered academically synonymous? (i.e. Master of Applied Stats vs Master of Science in Applied Stats vs Master of Science in Stats)
Do you know of any schools that have plans to release an online masters in stats?
Thanks!
Nick
Oh....BTW.....West Virginia U just came out with a Master of Professional Studies in Applied Stats. It just began this fall. I talked with Dr Harner via email and the program is intended to be done traditionally or online but not all classes offered by the stats dept will be offered online, meaning online students have some limitations that the traditional students may not.
http://www.stat.wvu.edu/Programs/mpsstat.html
Nick
http://www.stat.wvu.edu/Programs/mpsstat.html
Nick
In regards to the MPS in Applied Stats at WVU, here are some of the responses I rec'd from Dr. Harner, in case anyone is interested. I would imagine these questions would be similar ones that many of you might have.
Nick
1. Can you please confirm that the degree can be done 100% online?
Yes, it can be completed online, but this year we are having a slow ramp towards that goal. By next year, I hope to have most of the courses online.
2. If the answer above is "yes", can all classes for all tracks be done online? Or are online students limited in their options and what they can take?
Not all tracks can be done online, e.g., the theory track. However, you can also customize a track.
3. Are online classes essentially pre-recorded lectures of the trad'tl class? If so, I assume the general gist is that online students view the lectures, do the hmwk, and arrange for a local test proctor?
We record the computer screen and the audio. That is you see what we do and hear what we say. I use the blackboard very little, but we may experiment with snapshots of the board.
4. I have taken several grad stats classes at Kansas State University. Can I transfer classes in? If so, how many credits?
Probably if appropriate---up to 9 hours I believe.
5. If accepted into the program, can one begin during any term? Or is Fall entry the only choice?
Yes any time, but many of the courses online are in a Fall-Spring sequence in terms of PR.
6. I assume the answer is "yes" on this one.Will classes be offered regularly and often enough so that one can complete the degree in a reasonable time frame (i.e. if I wanted to take 2 classes per term, will that be feasible?)?
This will certainly be the case by next Fall. This may be a problem this next Spring since two of the courses require Fall courses.
7. Perhaps a question for the registrar.I live in Dayton, OH. Would I pay in-state tuition? Some schools offer reciprocity agreements/tuition breaks for neighboring states. The in-state tuition is doable (about 1K per class), but the out-of-state costs makes the tuition about 3K per class.
We have in in-state tuition for the Southeast US and certain counties surrounding WV. I'm not sure if Dayton is included. I am trying to get the out-of-state tuition lowered.
Nick
1. Can you please confirm that the degree can be done 100% online?
Yes, it can be completed online, but this year we are having a slow ramp towards that goal. By next year, I hope to have most of the courses online.
2. If the answer above is "yes", can all classes for all tracks be done online? Or are online students limited in their options and what they can take?
Not all tracks can be done online, e.g., the theory track. However, you can also customize a track.
3. Are online classes essentially pre-recorded lectures of the trad'tl class? If so, I assume the general gist is that online students view the lectures, do the hmwk, and arrange for a local test proctor?
We record the computer screen and the audio. That is you see what we do and hear what we say. I use the blackboard very little, but we may experiment with snapshots of the board.
4. I have taken several grad stats classes at Kansas State University. Can I transfer classes in? If so, how many credits?
Probably if appropriate---up to 9 hours I believe.
5. If accepted into the program, can one begin during any term? Or is Fall entry the only choice?
Yes any time, but many of the courses online are in a Fall-Spring sequence in terms of PR.
6. I assume the answer is "yes" on this one.Will classes be offered regularly and often enough so that one can complete the degree in a reasonable time frame (i.e. if I wanted to take 2 classes per term, will that be feasible?)?
This will certainly be the case by next Fall. This may be a problem this next Spring since two of the courses require Fall courses.
7. Perhaps a question for the registrar.I live in Dayton, OH. Would I pay in-state tuition? Some schools offer reciprocity agreements/tuition breaks for neighboring states. The in-state tuition is doable (about 1K per class), but the out-of-state costs makes the tuition about 3K per class.
We have in in-state tuition for the Southeast US and certain counties surrounding WV. I'm not sure if Dayton is included. I am trying to get the out-of-state tuition lowered.
When Dr. Harner is referring to Southeast US, I believe he is referring to those states that are part of SREC. It is listed somewhere on their tuition site. The great thing about this degree (for those interested in learning truly just the "applied stats" with no theory) is that college algebra is the only math requirement - I assume that is why it is called a Master of Professional Studies (MPS).
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Whenever making a decision I would also keep in mind any affiliated areas of interest you may have. For example, Iowa State does not have a pharmacy, public health, medicine, law, dental, or possibly nursing program or international writing program (which would be at the other state university, Iowa), but does have agriculture, engineering and fashion programs. Many times professors work on multi-displinary projects and pull these other fields into their coursework and examples. Certain universities would provide better bases in these affiliated areas and if you desired to take a particular course in one of those focused areas many of your admission formalities would already be in place.
Probably, Thanks for clarifying my brief response on college algebra being the only pre-req!
As mentioned WVU does offer an MS and PhD in Stats, where more advanced levels of math are obviously required. The MPS is a degree that can be individually tailored based on one's background and desires. It can be "tailored up" for those who have more of an advanced/upper-level math background, or "tailored down" for those who just need a better understanding of how to use statistics in their jobs, without all the theory, proofs, etc.
Probably, You said it best. "Not everyone needs to be a statistician to the deepest depths of the planet in order to benefit from studying statistics."
WVU should be commended for developing a program that may better suit the needs of some individuals not looking for a "full-blown" MS in Stats. Additionally, I would commend them for giving the student some flexibility in choosing a career track that best fits their needs. I would suspect that we will see more and more programs like this being developed by other universities, as more and more professionals are becoming exposed to statistics, and need that "applied knowledge base" without necessarily having the advanced math background.
As mentioned WVU does offer an MS and PhD in Stats, where more advanced levels of math are obviously required. The MPS is a degree that can be individually tailored based on one's background and desires. It can be "tailored up" for those who have more of an advanced/upper-level math background, or "tailored down" for those who just need a better understanding of how to use statistics in their jobs, without all the theory, proofs, etc.
Probably, You said it best. "Not everyone needs to be a statistician to the deepest depths of the planet in order to benefit from studying statistics."
WVU should be commended for developing a program that may better suit the needs of some individuals not looking for a "full-blown" MS in Stats. Additionally, I would commend them for giving the student some flexibility in choosing a career track that best fits their needs. I would suspect that we will see more and more programs like this being developed by other universities, as more and more professionals are becoming exposed to statistics, and need that "applied knowledge base" without necessarily having the advanced math background.
What are the mathematical requirements to succeed at Iowa State as it is the non-applied program? Does one need real analysis etc...I see they have a theory of linear models course required and theory of probability and statistics I & II which I assume is their math stats taught from Casella and Berger. Is it fairly theoretical/mathematical program? I guess defer to Dason since he's in it.
How are these degree's viewed in the marketplace? If one goes to Iowa State and does the online degree....no one knows on the transcript since it's just a MS so how does it look to potential employer's? Is one better off getting a MS Iowa State, Texas A&M, or Penn State online which since they are top 20 schools versus going to a lower tier school say top 40-50?? Or are the connections you receive for employment significantly valuable if one does a program in person?
Hope someone has some insight. Thanks.
Hope someone has some insight. Thanks.
Yes the masters theory courses basically are Casella and Berger. Do you need Real Analysis to go through C&B? No - but it certainly helps. If you're planning on doing the PhD here then you might not necessarily need Real Analysis coming into the program but you'll definitely take it before you leave (most students take Real Analysis the summer before doing the PhD core where you go through measure theory).
I wouldn't say that the masters program is overly theoretical. And the level of rigor certainly fluctuates from professor to professor (although I think the theory courses are a little more set in the expectations since they basically follow C&B - I'm more or less thinking about the 'methods' course 500/511). My stat 500 course was very applied which is what I think they go for with that course - it's basically an overview of ANOVA and regression and some other techniques but for the most part it's actually performing analysis with linear models. Stat 511 is supposed to be the theory behind the linear model so it's a lot of matrix algrebra and proofs. At least that's what I had - although apparently Dr. Dixon taught it a couple years ago and they didn't prove a thing. So it definitely varies...
One of the reasons I went with Iowa State is because I feel that you get a good dose of theory but it's almost always keeping the applied in mind. I didn't want to go to a school that was all theory all the time where you're just proving things about Martingales and Markov Chains from day 1 but I also didn't want to go to a program where at the end of it I wouldn't be able to deal with issues that arise that complicate an analysis if I didn't already know how to deal with that - and I feel you need a healthy dose of theory to be able to overcome those types of problems. In terms of that I think the best course for helping my understanding and thinking in that regard would be Stat 601 which I don't believe is offered online so that's a shame but it's also a PhD level course (but I think masters students could benefit A LOT from it as well).
I wouldn't say that the masters program is overly theoretical. And the level of rigor certainly fluctuates from professor to professor (although I think the theory courses are a little more set in the expectations since they basically follow C&B - I'm more or less thinking about the 'methods' course 500/511). My stat 500 course was very applied which is what I think they go for with that course - it's basically an overview of ANOVA and regression and some other techniques but for the most part it's actually performing analysis with linear models. Stat 511 is supposed to be the theory behind the linear model so it's a lot of matrix algrebra and proofs. At least that's what I had - although apparently Dr. Dixon taught it a couple years ago and they didn't prove a thing. So it definitely varies...
One of the reasons I went with Iowa State is because I feel that you get a good dose of theory but it's almost always keeping the applied in mind. I didn't want to go to a school that was all theory all the time where you're just proving things about Martingales and Markov Chains from day 1 but I also didn't want to go to a program where at the end of it I wouldn't be able to deal with issues that arise that complicate an analysis if I didn't already know how to deal with that - and I feel you need a healthy dose of theory to be able to overcome those types of problems. In terms of that I think the best course for helping my understanding and thinking in that regard would be Stat 601 which I don't believe is offered online so that's a shame but it's also a PhD level course (but I think masters students could benefit A LOT from it as well).
Is that graduate level real analysis or undergraduate real analysis? The two are -very- different, and I suspect if you're doing graduate level measure theory you're covering graduate level real analysis. But that should be a full year sequence (at least in most math programs) and is one of my biggest deterrents to applying to a math grad program: my real analysis undergraduate course SUCKED and I basically didn't learn anything beyond what I taught myself. It certainly wasn't mathematically rigorous. It was a trial in memorization and poor proof thinking. But I digress! lol
For masters level it would be beneficial (but not completely necessary IMO) to have undergraduate real analysis. There are students in the masters program that didn't have a math undergraduate degree so they didn't necessarily have real analysis and most of them do alright in the theory course (although they probably have to work harder to understand some of the concepts). For the PhD it would be very difficult to get through the measure theory course without one semester of graduate level real analysis.
Yeah, since the course I've looked through other books, learned more concepts (in foundations, especially), and watched other lectures, so I have a better grasp on the concepts. My class (math program) is super dumbed down, though. They purposely avoided teaching us crucial concepts as the topological concepts they are, such as compactness, etc. Like the 2nd half of most of the chapters delved into the topological properties but we would avoid those parts. Keep everything in terms of closed and open sets and not use the topological properties to make our proofs easier and congruent with wtf we'd do if we went to -any- other advanced course! Ugh.
Just seen yesterday on the web that Columbia University in NY is going to offer it MA in Stats and MS in Actuarial Sciences online.....http://quants.columbia.edu/
Hello everyone, my first post here. I work in Market Research and while most of my work is done through databases and Excel (a lot of VBA coding), I don't actually use Statistics until now.... as my group must now work with our new analytics group and I need to understand their models and be able to communicate them to clients in layman's terms.. I also do find the prospect of learning/doing data mining exciting.... Due to work and family, I am considering online MS Stat or certificate programs. My main concern is the level of math that is needed as I am very rusty - I took Calculus/Linear Algebra/Differential Equations about 20 yrs ago (yikes, I am old 
. I do not fear linear algera as the matrix stuff I can pick up back pretty quick, I fear the Calculus part (esp. the trigonometric functions since I never had good grounding in Trig.). Could you tell me (and perhaps Dason can help the most), just what portion of Calculus I need to know/review in a real classroom setting? For example, do profs. at great programs like Iowa St. or TAMU expect one to know multiple integrals, differentiating/integrating trignometric functions.... I am thinking of studying videos on khanacademy.org and/or see if there are online Calculus refresher courses. Any suggestions for this 40 yr old greatly appreciated.
BR, Jay
. I do not fear linear algera as the matrix stuff I can pick up back pretty quick, I fear the Calculus part (esp. the trigonometric functions since I never had good grounding in Trig.). Could you tell me (and perhaps Dason can help the most), just what portion of Calculus I need to know/review in a real classroom setting? For example, do profs. at great programs like Iowa St. or TAMU expect one to know multiple integrals, differentiating/integrating trignometric functions.... I am thinking of studying videos on khanacademy.org and/or see if there are online Calculus refresher courses. Any suggestions for this 40 yr old greatly appreciated. BR, Jay