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Starting a master’s degree is daunting and it is hard to find information which is useful but also doesn’t put you off doing it. I remember being constantly told “it’s hard work”, “you won’t have any free time”, “you lose sleep”, “there is so much work - it is nothing like undergraduate” and so many other things which made me think: should I be doing this.

Although those things are true, I have not regretted my decision in studying an MSc in Data Science. Lancaster University and the MSc Data Science team have been supportive and understanding in everything I have done. Even though there was a large intake this year the attention and time that everyone puts aside to help each student is beyond what I expected.

The course is hard work and parts of it is difficult, but then you wouldn’t feel like you have achieved something if it wasn’t. The course is also a lot of fun and teaches you the foundations necessary not only for a career in data science but also management skill that I didn’t expect to learn.

Before starting the course, I found it useful programming even small amounts in both Python and R. A book that I would recommend for programming in R is, R for Data Science by G. Grolemund and H. Wickham, and for Python I would recommend this website, How to Think Like a Computer Scientist. Although, learning to programme before the course starts is not a requirement, I highly recommend that you do!

Related Blogs

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  Confessions of a Data Scientist

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  Data Science Summer Placements

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  Getting to know your Masters course

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.