If you can dream it, you can do it

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

My journey to the United States didn’t start when I finally boarded the Qatar Airlines flight from Kolkata airport on July 26, but it started way back in 2013 when I was pursuing my undergraduate degree in construction engineering from Jadavpur University.

Traveling to the U.S. for my Master’s degree was a dream I had since my undergraduate days. But the key concern I had was which field of study should I pursue. After talking to a lot of my seniors who were in the United States, my confusion grew more. So finally, I dropped my plan, in part because of the financial burden. I started looking for job opportunities in the field of construction management, but faith had other plans for me. In my fourth year, the crucial year for any engineering student in India, the placement year where it was the easiest time to step into the corporate world; I decided to look for opportunities in the consulting world. After graduating I joined TCS as a system engineer trainee. But after working for two months, I realized that didn’t fit my expectation. After a few interviews in other firms mostly business/management consulting, I decided to join EXL Services. This is where I was introduced to the field of analytics and learned the importance of data and how it impacts the business.

Fast forward, after three years and one more job switch, I was working at ZS Associates. This is where I was introduced to advanced analytics. The interest in the field grew more as I was working in this field. But then two of my close friends Pratyush Dash (we both worked at ZS) and Achyuta Nand Jha (high school friend) decided to move to the U.S. for higher education. After talking to both, I also decided to revisit my earlier plan for pursuing a Master’s degree in the United States (this also was impacted by three failed attempts to secure spots in Top IIMs, I couldn’t manage to score more than 99% in those exams). So, I started preparing for GRE and TOEFL, after two months of preparation I was able to get a good score in both of the exams. But then a new struggle started, something I was not prepared for, now I had to decide which universities to apply.

There were multiple factors that influenced my application decision.

Cost of living
College tuition expense
Financial support from university
After degree completion opportunities
Industry exposure

This is when I again spoke to Pratyush, and he talked to me about the Master’s in business analytics and data science at Oklahoma State University. The program fit all my needs.

Cost of living: Oklahoma State University is in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It is an inexpensive place, where average monthly expenses range from $500 to $600 (of course, it also depends on your lifestyle). I compared this to University of Connecticut and University of Cincinnati. The cost of living was way higher compared to that at Oklahoma State University. In addition, an added advantage at OSU is that it is a very safe place with great security that includes security personnel who can reach you within a few minutes, safe walk service etc.

College tuition expense : The overall tuition fee for the entire course is approximately $38,000. This is way lower than universities in California, Florida or Washington.

Financial support from the university : The marketing department in the university provides GRAs which covers the tuition fees for the semester and pays a monthly stipend of $1,000 (more than enough to cover monthly expenses in Stillwater). But this was offered only for two semesters, but could reduce some of my expenses.

After degree completion opportunities: This program has a good summer internship plus full time placement record with students getting hired by giants such as Walmart, Koch Industries, FedEx, Principal, Comcast, Dell etc. I was able to find this information on OSU’s website. They have a well-maintained dashboard which talks about the full-time placement information for the last three years.

Industry exposure: This was one of the most important factors as a student who was looking for courses in the United States. We need to be aware of the latest research work to apply the best data science methodology for a respective business problem. At OSU, there is a compulsory course where students participate as a team (max of four to five students) in a capstone project. In addition, it was mandatory for me to pick a research subject of my choice, conduct research and publish a research paper. This was a unique opportunity in this program which was not there in other programs. The MS BaNDS program has a rich history with a strong network of alums. This program started in 2004 and 1,000+ students have graduated from it. Every year, the MS BaNDS curriculum gets updated from alumni suggestions to keep up with all of the latest tools and techniques used in the industry.

After all my extensive research, I finally applied to Oklahoma State University and was offered admission here.

Now after coming to the U.S., all of my expectations became reality.

I was one of the lucky few students, who had a GRA/GTA role for three semesters. This helped me earn $1,100 per month as a stipend and reduce my tuition fee. I just paid the administrative fee which was around 25% of the total tuition fee.
Stillwater was an affordable place to live while pursuing my Master’s degree. I never felt financially burdened. I never had a month where my total expenses exceeded $700. Expenses included room rent (I stayed in a two BHK with my own private room, utilities, internet, food and Friday Parties (was not in my list before I landed in U.S.).
I participated in a capstone project for a Federal Agency in the aviation industry (name of the agency not mentioned due to NDA). This project has helped me deepen my understanding in the field of text analytics.
The capstone project helped me secure a summer intern position at Principal Financial Group. Later, this summer intern position was extended into a spring intern position and finally converted to a full-time position. I am currently working with Principal as a data scientist II. Securing a job at Principal was made easy because of OSU alumni at Principal and experience gained during the capstone project.
I also gained recognition in various competitions during my two years in the program Teradata Analytics Challenge Winner, Top 50 in Humana Mays Healthcare Analytics Case Competition, 3rd Place in High Tech Division at the 2021 Riata Business Plan Competition, 3rd Place in High Tech Graduate Division at LOVE'S ENTREPRENEUR'S CUP and Outstanding Business Analytics and Data Science Graduate Student

All these were also made possible due to alumni who hosted sessions for us and shared industry practices in the field of analytics. I was also mentored by two alumni for research papers, analytics competitions etc. These alumni have shaped my analytics thinking that can take years to develop.

This journey would not have been successful without the continuous guidance and support I received from Dr. Goutam Chakraborty and Dr. Miriam McGaugh.

Now I look back on the past, I feel that this could not have been possible without all the teaching and mentorship I got from the MS Bands program.

If there is anyone who is looking for suggestions on business analytics/data science courses in the U.S., please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. I will be happy to help you with your search. For more information about the Master’s in business analytics and data science program at OSU, visit the website.

Story By: Soumya Patra | soumya.patra@okstate.edu