A career as a data scientist may be called one of the most promising jobs of the decade because there are a few careers which have the same amount of growth and hype associated with them.

Data scientists get a plethora of perks, ranging from high starting salaries to excellent job satisfaction, and Glassdoor has rightly ranked data science jobs as the best job in America for the past four years in a row. 

People currently working as data scientists usually have strong backgrounds in computer science, maths, or statistics. ‘Data Science’ is a relatively new term, and many data science degrees are still on the path to designing a proper curriculum which efficiently blends maths, statistics, and computer science.

Whether it be a bachelors degree or a data science masters program, there are a large number of options available nowadays which claim to give you a good start and prepare you for the future challenges in the field. So there are plenty of things that you need to consider before choosing the data science degree that works best for you.

There has been the presence of data, and it’s effects felt in almost all areas of our lives. Same holds for an organization, where data can impact multiple resources and results. This calls for looking at data science is not confined to the boundaries of just a few disciplines but within a bigger picture. And a data science degree having an interdisciplinary approach would help a lot in this regard. 

Apart from obviously teaching about mathematics and computer science, a good data science degree should also focus on areas like business management and analytics, to make people well versed with the business side of the job role.

For solving real-life problems during your job, you must be adept in doing so during your study course as well. While the theoretical part is also highly essential, the practical applications of the theory have their role to play.

A good data science course must strike a healthy balance between theory and practical studies and must make available the resources required for practice. To help you explore more possibilities in your career prospects, it should also allow you to establish contacts with companies, start-ups, consulting firms, etc. in the tech world.

As we all know, data science is a rapidly evolving discipline which is highly technical. So to make relevance in the swiftly changing world of data science, one must have the support of an excellent faculty. 

One good way to ascertain this is to look at the number of professors holding a Ph.D. degree from renowned institutions, and their contributions to research papers and tech journals. You can also look for the availability of research centers, data labs, and other infrastructure.

While the knowledge provided in different courses may be inherently different from each other, you should opt for world-renowned institutions over the less famous ones. A degree from a globally connected and internationally renowned institution will help you explore the summits of your career opportunities. It will also provide you the much needed global exposure.

You can do some homework on the rankings of the college, the positions that past graduates hold and the alumni network of the college which would open up vast possibilities for networking. 

Apart from all the above things, you can also research on the time and cost involved in pursuing the degree, and see whether it suits your needs. Different people are different, and you need to carefully examine what works best for you according to your present educational, social, and financial scenario.