Applied Analytics (APAN) Questions
Please expand on why you are pursuing this program (250 words or less): AKA Why pursue this field?
My ultimate professional goal is to become a decision-maker in an organization that improves the way the world uses or develops resources - natural or human. Climate change, equitable educational opportunity, and income inequality are some of the most significant issues facing the world today. Data is integral for every significant decision that organizations make. Whether it be making forecasting models for a technology company or using data to support sustainability strategies for business, I believe developing an analytical skillset will be critical to my success across companies in education, entrepreneurship, technology, or sustainability.
In addition to its applicability, Analytics is a growing business practice. I look forward to learning cutting-edge skills like machine learning and algorithms to solve challenges in the spaces I'm most interested in. Furthermore, Sustainability in a business context is an emerging field with a growing demand for competent professionals. A background in Analytics will prepare me to solve the toughest problems in Sustainability for years to come.
Finally, studying further in this field will allow me to develop in an area I am interested in and invested in. After being introduced to Excel in my first internship, I have been intrigued by data analysis and the powerful insights that one can draw from the process. I have invested a considerable amount of time into increasing my technical knowledge as well as applied these skills to different industries. Continuing in the field through a graduate program is the natural way for me to quench my intellectual curiosity.
What attracted you most to this program (250 words or less)? What attracted you to the Columbia Program: Being in NY, People, Pedagogy
First, Columbia is an excellent opportunity to be in a multicultural city with students and professionals from many backgrounds. As a Black man, its position in Harlem, specifically, grants me the proximity to serve the community, just as I have at Morehouse.
In addition to the external community, I was drawn to Columbia by the internal community. I believe the success of the students I have interacted with is a reflection of the quality of their experience here. I am confident that, based on their demonstrated drive, I will develop camaraderie with other Columbia students. Furthermore, students are offered an opportunity to learn from experts across industries. The Sustainability Metrics elective taught by Adam Freed, who has experience as a sustainability consultant, will help me apply Analytics to Sustainability. From the graduates and current students I have been able to connect with, I know the community I would form at Columbia will be foundational to my career.
Lastly, the Applied Analytics program boasts an application-heavy pedagogy. One element of this is internship elective. This demonstrates the program's commitment to not only the application of skills taught, but the enterprise perspective taught in the Management Core as well. Next, the program prepares students to utilize data but also ask the right questions to solve the most complex problems. This is invaluable for future decision-makers. As evidenced by alumni success across Columbia SPS, this program will clearly elevate the quantity and quality of professional opportunities available to me.
Your statement of academic purpose (500–750 words) should clearly and concisely address the following: Your current role, Your purpose and interest in pursuing the M.S. in Applied Analytics, The specific skills and attributes you will bring to the program, How the program will help you achieve your career goals
In the 21st century, it is not enough for an organization to be data-driven. Those that do not rely only on data to solve their problems - those that are data-informed - will make the best decisions for their constituents and customers. As a senior at Morehouse College, studying Economics and Chinese, I have developed other ways to solve problems.
Initially, I chose Economics because I thought it would have a broader social scope than Business and Chinese because I was a kung-fu movie enthusiast. I soon discovered I was studying two of the most analytical disciplines at Morehouse. In Chinese, for a first-time learner, the challenge was being pictorially analytic. Reading and writing a character-based language lies in one's ability to recognize and differentiate small strokes in characters. In Economics, I have been able to learn and apply knowledge in a social scope, such as researching the effect of higher education on income for Afro-Brazilians. The analytical toolbox I have developed from courses in econometrics and game theory is something I was not initially looking for, but now consider an area of interest and an area of potentially continuous learning. Although I have developed technical skills in my undergraduate studies, I mainly took an interdisciplinary approach to develop critical thinking skills.
In addition to my liberal arts background, I have invested a substantial amount of time into learning about and immersing myself in different cultures. From experiences serving and studying abroad in Brazil, China, Cuba, Haiti, Liberia, and Mexico, I have developed language skills, adaptability, and a better cultural and geopolitical context with which to solve problems.
In my summers, I have determined the skills I would like to continue to develop, as well as the contexts in which I most enjoy applying them. After my first year, I completed an internship at Moody's Analytics, where I analyzed data from manager training programs. This experience sparked my interest in both the tools of analytics and the application of findings in recommendations to leadership. I exceeded the scope of my project by creating a physical reminder card for participants with their most important takeaways, as determined by my analysis. I also created a presentation of recommendations on how to improve the training program using feedback from participants and presented it to my manager. Learning that I wanted to work in a faster-paced environment, I then interned at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in Investment Banking, which was pivotal in developing my skills with modeling and financial data tools. Interning at Apple last summer allowed me to combine my interest in the technology industry, the tools I had become more comfortable with, along with the type of analysis and application that I found most challenging and impactful. I consider the iPhone performance tracker I created and implemented as one of my best professional achievements.
Although I have had experience with some analytical tools, I believe my technical skills can improve. This program is my preeminent option following graduation because it will provide foundational and advanced technical and soft skills, and will allow me to apply these skills in the organizations and places in which I am most interested. Other institutions have programs that offer effective business practices as well as a focus on technology, but the Applied Analytics program offers a combination that provides the skill sets that bridge the gap between the two. My purpose in pursuing the MS in Applied Analytics is to receive a more extensive, formal training in Analytics and the tools used to manage and derive insights from data.
From my professional and academic experiences, I have been able to glean a professional clarity and path that will prepare me to become a decision-maker; my objective is to become a thought-leader who optimizes business operations through a sustainable lens in the fields of education, tech, or sustainability. There are undoubtedly multiple ways to reach my goal, but I believe this program is the most efficient.
Furthermore, I possess demonstrated intellectual curiosity. The most relevant example of this is my interest in learning programming. I knew that I wanted to learn a programming language like Python later on in my career, and learning the fundamentals during my undergraduate studies would be beneficial. Although not required, I challenged myself to learn a new skill while taking difficult classes.
In summary, I believe the Applied Analytics program at Columbia will allow me to cultivate the technical knowledge to be a data-driven thought-leader, but also the management perspective necessary to be a data-informed one.
Describe a challenge related to data or analytics that you have encountered. How did you resolve this challenge, and did you succeed? Your response should be no more than 250 words.
In 2018, I launched WeAreMenOfMorehouse, a profile-based campaign that serves to inspire the Morehouse community by recognizing the profound achievement of current students. In addition to founding the campaign, I curate all of the content across our digital platforms.
My first challenge was identifying a metric that would encapsulate data to aid me in growing my user base, ensure a high-quality experience for my users, and provide insight on user interface interactions. The next problem was using the findings from that metric to create a better user experience.
I collected and analyzed qualitative feedback from users by observing how they interacted with profile pages, which are the foundational content on our website. Although not done on a large scale, this allowed me to see and record how different users engaged with the profile pages. I then coupled this with average session duration metrics on Google Analytics to get a combined perspective of user interaction. While building out the natural look, feel, and function of the profiles on the website, I experimented with different features on the profiles. I simultaneously monitored weekly metrics and changed various features such as breadcrumb navigation links and the location of these links to determine the most appealing profile page features and format.
The qualitative data led me to change the design of the profiles, mainly adding additional useful links to reduce the friction for users to engage with different content on the website. Quantitatively, I increased the average session duration by nearly 35%.
