Merlin Star's Website

I had to delay my portfolio considerably since the apartment headache. However now that’s resolved, I do have some concrete plans on what I would like to do until March.

First, I want to finish the project that’s about critiquing a study design and improving it. This is not coding based, but more goes through my thoughts and statistical knowledge. I should be able to finish that at the end of this month. For that project, I will have a nontechnical explanation that is geared more towards tech recruiters. I will also have a technical explanation that’s geared for statisticians, data scientists and the like so that they can assess the level of statistical knowledge I have as well as gaps.

Second, I would like to do a project on health equity using SAS + SQL for February. Since I have a SAS certification, I would like to actually demonstrate that I know SAS. Plus, I know that the health industry leans more on SAS, so I’d like to use SAS to demonstrate my knowledge. That one would have a nontechnical explanation with graphs, a technical explanation with graphs, and also show my code.

By the end of the health equity project, I should know if I’m getting into the PhD program for Quantitative Psychology or not. This will determine what direction I go with future projects.

If I get into the PhD program, I will have my portfolio more academically orientated. I would learn MATLAB and show that off as I know a lot of work done in academic that’s on scientific computing is done via MATLAB. I would mainly learn it so that I can translate from MATLAB to Python or R whenever possible. Additionally, my technical explanations would be more geared to academics rather than those that work in industry. I would also show that I know how to use Zotero and other open source software geared to academics. I would also probably do a mock up of a syllabus and some teaching examples as well.

If I get rejected into the PhD program, I did apply to Georgia Tech’s Online Master’s of Computer Science as a back up. Considering that I’m in their preferred qualifications (mathematics degree with above a 3.0 GPA), I should get in. I would use the 2nd master’s to beef up my computational knowledge as my mathematics degree did not cover much of that. I would also be taking the unusual thesis route for this program, as my first master’s is non-thesis based. Not doing a thesis drastically limited what schools I could apply to because my non-thesis made it seem like I was fleeing rather than taking a slightly less intense route because I was burned out. This is unusual since very few for this program do a thesis route, but it is possible. I would aim to finish this as soon as possible by taking 2 classes during the Fall and Spring and 1 during the summer. Since I have no one to take care of but me, I have a lot of free time on my hands.

If I did the 2nd master’s, I would have my portfolio more industry orientated. I would learn PowerBI, Tableau, and contribute to Github projects. I might also learn Scala, make myself more familiar with how databases work, get more familiar with Excel and Git, and also apply the knowledge I would learn during the master’s to my projects. Additionally, I would work on open source code that is equity based and would work on research papers regarding equity and AI. If I did the 2nd master’s route, I would try one last time with a PhD program after graduating by applying to 5 doctoral programs in Computer Science, 5 programs in Quantitative Psychology, and 1 to 2 Interdisciplinary Studies. I would be connecting and hopefully collaborating with professors ahead of time to increase the chances of getting in. Of course, I would be specifically aiming for professors that work on topics that I am interested in and are interested in taking on new students. If that fails even with getting papers published, connections, and showing dedication, I would not try again for a doctoral program and be content with having 2 master degrees.

In either case, I would learn Python and showcase my skills in SQL, SAS, Python and R. I am fairly confident that I can get into equity based data science given that I have a bachelor’s in mathematics, I have a master’s in quantitative psychology, I already know how to program in R, and I have a certificate showing that I know the basics of SAS. It’s now a matter of showcasing the skills I already know, learning new ones, and showing that I’m someone who is knowledgeable, eager to learn, understands diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Originally made this post on Medium here.