Posted On: September 15th 2026, 06:37 pm
Grad school advice hits differently after you've actually started, so we asked MS-DS students and graduates what they wish they'd known beforehand.
Their answers weren't about having everything figured out. They were much more practical: brush up on the technical skills you haven't used lately. Use the prep materials. Start earlier than you think you need to. Find a system for managing your time. Learn with other people. And if internships or applied projects are part of your goal, don't wait until the end of the program to start thinking about them.
One important caveat for anyone considering an MS in Data Science: these are individual students' experiences, not a checklist of things you need to master before graduate school. Your starting point will look different depending on your background. Knowing where others grew the most can help you do the same.
Current students: What would you add to the list?
Future grad students: Which one would you start working on now?
.
.
.
#DataScience #MSDS #GradSchool #GraduateSchool #DataScienceStudent #DataScienceEducation #Python #RProgramming #Statistics #CUBoulder #CUBoulderEngineering #DataScienceCareer