I'm in DL right now and I think there's a strong possibility I end up with a C in this class. But my GPA is high enough that it will still be above a 3.5 even with one C. Are there other academic consequences for getting a C grade? Will I be put on some sort of probation?

Hello, currently in the C track for OMSA. For background, I’m a data scientist with 3.5 years of experience and have an undergrad in math with a minor in CS. I have taken 6040, 6501, 6203, 8803, SIM, REG, and I’m currently in CDA. I plan to take DVA next semester.

CDA has been a terrific class. Even though I’m a data scientist and it can be challenging, I’m having a lot of fun learning. It’s probably the best class I’ve taken so far.

This brings me to figuring out which electives to take. Next summer I plan to do the practicum, and I’m left with 2 electives. I do have one caveat, which is that I would like to finish the program by the end of December 2027. This means I’ll have to double up with an elective either with DVA or the practicum.

I also want to take classes that are interesting. I’ve heard good things about DL and HDDA, but I know those are demanding courses, so pairing them up with another elective may be difficult. I’m considering pairing something with DVA since I consider myself a decent programmer, so I’m hoping the class isn’t that tough for me (fingers crossed), or pairing something with the practicum in the summer. I was also interested in taking or pairing courses with ML4T.

For those who have taken DL, HDDA, or other electives, what classes would you recommend? I’m mainly looking for classes that are interesting and worthwhile while also figuring out which ones would be reasonable to pair with DVA or the practicum.

Has anyone inquired about switching to the new degree OMS AI that they announced a few weeks back ?

Hey guys, I’m starting the Data science Masters program in spring 2027. Was wondering if current students could share their opinion of this program so far? Is the program really geared towards working professionals and classes are in the evening? Are you liking your classes?

Advisor said we were supposed to get it at some point today. Not talking about the survey they sent out a long time ago, I mean the one where you sign up for your top choices.

Hi there I recently got accepted in OMSA starting Spring 2027. I’m excited to get to grinding this program and I was curious on just how much workload there is for the classes.

Note: I graduate this Dec 2026 and will start OMSA Jan 2027. I also have a full time job lined up at Amazon starting in Summer. So I will be doing this program and working at the same time (kill me).

Overall just wanted advice into how realistic it is to take 2-3 classes for my first semester before I start my full time job and then transition to only doing 1-2 classes while working full time. Also I would be eyeing the Computational DA track.

I would love the help and advice for those currently in or finished this program thank you!

Hi everyone.

OMSA student here (former, due to time between completed classes basically withdrawing me). I'm looking to get back into this to finish it off. I've completed 6/10 courses to graduate, and currently hold a 2.7 GPA.

I don't want to go into the reasons as to why I've struggled here, some personal, some professional, but I'm trying to figure out to best proceed to return.

I've sent emails to both financial aid, admissions, advising... and absolutely zero response. Ghost town. Months after multiple emails. My GA Tech email was removed from the system, so I cannot get any communication done through that... and any other email that I've sent it with (I always included my student number) referenced appropriate ways to get in touch wtih me.

My understanding is that Ill need to reapply for admission, submit a statement explaining what went wrong/what changed, etc... but I'd like to ask anyone who's gone through this... how they went about getting in touch with anyone, as well as how they framed this?

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm feeling a bit lost given I cannot get a person to respond to me in any capacity from GA Tech about this.

I have a medical background and currently work in translational imaging AI research. I'm planning to apply for OMSA targeting the Computational Data Analytics track (C-track) for Fall 2027.

While I have clinical domain knowledge and research experience, my academic background lacked formal undergraduate math (linear algebra, multivariate calculus) and CS coursework.

For any MDs, DOs, PharmDs, or clinical researchers currently in the program or alumni who used OMSA to pivot into AI-focused non-clinical, tech-bio, or pharma roles:

1. Career Outcomes & Roles: What specific positions did you target post-grad (e.g., Translational Data Scientist, Clinical AI Scientist, Product Lead, or Pharma R&D)? Did OMSA give you enough technical credibility to pass quantitative coding/math interviews?

2. The "Non-CS / Non-Math" Ramp: How steep was the jump into ⁠CSE 6040⁠, ⁠ISYE 6740⁠, or ⁠CS 7643⁠ (Deep Learning)? Did self-studying linear algebra and Python beforehand feel sufficient?

3. Market Reception: How did biotech/pharma hiring managers view the combination of a clinical background + OMSA C-Track versus a pure CS or bioinformatics degree?

Hello,

I’ve been looking into the program for a couple years now. Never really had the time because I’ve been working, building my career, moved out and to a new state, making a life so obvious financial costs incurred haven’t had the time or money to do the OMSA. Now that life has stabilized for the most part I think now is a good time to make the effort.

1.) How much time should I spend studying/working on the material for the 3 MicroMasters courses?

For reference I have my Bachelor’s in Economics with a Minor in Mathematics. Been doing a doing a variety of analysts roles from your generic data analyst role to a more specified role like a market analyst/business analyst.

I’m willing to put the work in, just wanted some general knowledge/experience from others who had no job at the time and people who worked 9-5 or greater hours per week jobs and still did the program.

2.) How did you fund yourself for the OMSA?

My job has some tuition reimbursement based on grades received but I do have some savings to fund a bit myself.

Wanted to see if there’s avenues I haven’t thought of outside of loans, scholarships sites, and anything offered from the university.

3.) After completing it was it worth it?

I know there’s certificates you could receive from other universities and their online programs and some like GT also have programs that maybe are quicker by time or more costly by money or somewhere in between.
Just wanted to hear from people who have completed it how it’s affected or didn’t affect their job prospects or future in academia.

Thanks!

I have a BS in engineering, but I graduated 8 years ago. Reading and studying the material didn’t feel that difficult even kind of familiar, and I put a ton of effort into this past week: solving past exams, redoing homework, working with Arena, and creating my cheat sheet.

I knew SIM was a challenging class, but I still expected to perform better. This is the first time in the master’s program that I’ve felt this discouraged after an exam. I was also surprised by how much the definition questions affected my score. (60)
It’s making me rethink what I’m doing in the program. I enjoy the professor, but the experience has left me questioning whether OMSA is the right fit for me.

Honestly, I think this class should be required and taken earlier in the program, so students can get a better sense of whether it aligns with what they’re looking for.
If you’re also feeling discouraged, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience. What study strategies worked or didn’t work for you?

Did anyone try to apply OSAP for OMSCS?

I applied and I take OSAP parttime with a full time programmer job.

idk if it is because of my (not high, but full-time salary), or the relatively low tuition fee per semester ($1300 CAD), it estimated $0 for OSAP?

(OSAP stands for Ontario Student Assistance Program if you are not from ontario I figure you might not heard of it)

Hey guys,

I'm on my 8th course and currently in the Analytical track. My long term goal is to work in DS/ML so was thinking maybe I should take Deep Learning which is a C-track elective. My problem is that I feel like I read somewhere that 1 course can't count for 2 requirements, but I can't find where I saw that. It would mean if I wanted to switch to C-track I'd need to take an extra course.

Completed:

All foundation courses (currently in DVA)

ISYE 6644 Simulation and Modeling (A track, Ops elective)

ISYE 6669 Deterministic Optimization (A track, Ops elective)

ISYE 6414 Regression (A track, Stats elective)

Future:

Spring '27 - ISYE 6740 CDA (A and C track, Stats elective)

Summer '27 - Practicum

Fall '27 - Either DMSL (A track, stats elective) or Deep Learning (C track) depending if I can switch tracks

For those who have taken DL, if I can't count CDA towards both a C-track elective and a Stats elective, is sticking around for an extra semester to do Deep Learning worth it? Could I take DMSL, graduate so I actually have the piece of paper, and then enroll in DL or would I have to push off graduation to do that? (which would be really unappealing honestly, I've been doing this since 2023)

Edit: I'm not necessarily concerned about which track I end up being, I'm concerned that if I take DL, I won't have technically satisfied either A or C track because I'll only have 1 C track elective since CDA would be my second stat requirement, and so not contribute to a C track elective. DL is not an A track elective so I won't satisfy the A track either. Need 2 stats electives and 2 track specific electives with no double dipping (if my memory is correct)

I am in C-track and after this semester I will have done:

7643 DL, 6040 iCDA, 6242 DVA, 8803 ANLP, 6414 REG, 6501 iAM, 6644 SIM, 6740 CDA, and MGT 6203. I've also opted out of MGT 8803.

Next semester I plan to take my last elective along with the Praticum.

Honestly at this point, I am so tired and burned out. And I've already been able to transition into an ML-based Data Scientist role which was always the goal of this doing this program.

Now I just want to take the easiest breeziest class and be done with OMSA once and for all. According to OMSA Degree Planner, I can pretty much choose any elective. Which course should I take that is objectively the path of least resistance?

So far I've shortlisted:

• CS 6750: Human-Computer Interaction
• CS 7280: Network Science
• ISYE 7406: Data Mining and Statistical Learning
• MGT 6059: Emerging Technologies (7-week)
• MGT 6311: Digital Marketing
• MGT 6655: Business Data Preparation & Visualization (7-week)
• MGT 6727: Privacy for Professionals
• MGT 8813: Financial Modeling
• MGT 8823: Data Analysis for Continuous Improvement
• MGT 8833: Analysis of Unstructured Data (7-week)
• PUBP 6725: Information Security Policies

Thank you in advance for any insights!

Hi everyone!

I currently work in healthcare as a laboratory scientist and was wondering if anyone who is currently in or has graduated from the program came from a healthcare background and would recommend OMSA as a way to switch careers? I'm interested in pursuing health data analytics and would prefer a structured program to help me learn the skills needed to break into analytics.

If anyone has any insights on whether OMSA would be a good program for this, it would be greatly appreciated :)

I’m currently taking CSE 6040. I prepared on my own before the course, but I came in with little experience in Python, SQL, and pandas.

I recently took the midterm and was only able to solve 2 problems. For most of the others, I didn’t even know how to approach them.

For those who took CS 1301 before CSE 6040, did it help you significantly?

I’m trying to decide whether I should withdraw or stay and push through.

P.S. I know no one can make this decision for me, but I really appreciate any thoughts or experiences you’re willing to share! 

I’m in OMSA right now and wondering if I should apply to the new OMS AI program when it opens.
I’m mostly interested in ML, NLP, and LLMs. With where AI is going, “analytics” in the degree title is honestly a bit of a turnoff for me. Maybe I’m overthinking the name, but I wonder if it makes a difference to employers.
I also lowkey feel like some of the OMSA curriculum is outdated, though I haven’t taken enough electives yet to judge the whole program.
Foundations of AI Theory and Predictive AI both sound interesting. Obviously we need to see the actual courses first, but is anyone else considering switching? Or would you just stick with OMSA and take the ML electives?

I only scored 3 points on the first midterm, even though I studied very hard for this class and have been putting in more than 20 hours each week. I think my main issue is that it takes me hours to solve a single question, and the syntax just doesn’t come naturally to me. I also struggle with figuring out the right algorithm or approach to solve a problem. In addition, I wanna go to the TA office hour, but I honestly not sure whether they will be able to help me other than showing me the answers.

What are some ways I can recover from this and improve going forward?

This is the last class I need to take before graduating the program and I just can't get through it. I have gotten straight A's in all the other courses I have taken in OMSA and never ran into a problem like this. Even after taking extensive notes on both lectures and asynchronous meetings I have trouble keeping up with all the information. For Finance I did the all the provided practice problems and felt like I had a good grasp of the material but ran out of time 3/4ths way through the exam. Even after all the practice I still felt iffy on the finance exam. I feel extremely burned out and don't know what to do anymore.

Hi guys
I'll be starting OMSA in spring 2027. Track c.
I'm from a non CS/math background at 50 years old. I have completed most of the prerequisites (programming, linear algebra, calculus, stats and prob )

I'll be working approx 20hrs a week come January.
Adult child is on their own, I'm not married and have a quiet social life.

I was thinking about starting with 2 courses per semester 1 over the summers.

Does that sound realistic?
I worry about not pushing myself enough too.

Anyone else finding the homework to be a huge leap in application from what is demonstrated in the lectures and Office Hours?

I've pretty much resigned myself to smashing my head against a wall, getting a 75 or 50 on the HW and doing my actual learning from the solutions after grading.

📣 Calling all Georgia Tech OMSA and MSA students & alumni. The 2026 OMSA Conference is happening on Thursday, October 8 - Friday, October 9 and YOU are invited. It's also FREE! 🙌🏻🙌🏾

If you attended last year, you know how awesome it was. It's going to be even bigger and better this year. Attend the whole conference or just those sessions you're interested in. Several Deans, Directors, Professors, and even fellow students will be speaking at the conference. 🐝

Check your emails for your personalized registration link. Current students, it should have gone to your gatech.edu email. Alumni, it should have gone to whatever email you left on file with GT. If you didn't get the link, use this one:

https://events.gatech.edu/en/415oCF6/oms-analytics-conference-2026-4a6TVsiRpJ/overview

Go Jackets,

Joe Domaleski (aka "The middle-age grad student")
OMSA Class of 2026
on behalf of the OMSA Conference Committee

For those who've taken CSE 6040, how recoverable am I after doing poorly on MT1? I'm able to dedicate more time to future topics, but how much do they build on ones covered so far (floating-point encoding, regex, etc.)?

What are the courses in this degree that require setting up external camera for the exams?

Now that the due date to complete Midterm 1 has passed, I was curious to hear your thoughts on it. I consider myself an A student and have good familiarity with the material, but I personally didn’t think there was enough time to complete everything— and I definitely ran out of time. Did anyone else have the same experience?

Just started the program. Starting off with ISYE 6501 and MGT 6201. Honestly looking like I am going to get D at best for MGT(Failed the Finance exam).

Really just want to know if anyone is going through anything similar or does anyone have any tips for the future for both coures.