One thing I wished I had more of when I was writing my graduate school essay was examples from students that were accepted. This is the draft I used if anyone has questions please feel free to message me…..
Like any Georgia high-school student with aspirations of pursuing a career in technology, attending Georgia Tech was my dream. Thus, when I was accepted for a co-op position at the Georgia Tech Research Institute CIPHER lab, I was elated. Once in the program, my passion for Tech only grew from exposure to the countless learning opportunities I was presented with. I was surrounded by extraordinarily talented energetic peers and mentors and was given meaningful projects to sharpen my skills. I was honored to be part of GTRI, but unfortunately, my elation was short live: without thinking I posted a picture of me holding my buzz card ID on LinkedIn, thereby exposing my ID number. For this security mistake, I was dismissed. It was a painful lesson, but one that I have taken to heart and learned from. For one thing, my desire to make better choices led me to the field of data analytics. I also discovered the type of work and learning environments that I find most engaging and those in which I can thrive.
My undergraduate studies in computer science at Kennesaw State University provided me with the foundation for my current career path and passion for data analytics. My classes in probability and analysis, data mining, and linear algebra not only gave me a working knowledge of analytics and big data but also helped me refine my career objectives. Big data became a huge interest of mine after taking a data mining class. I enjoyed the class because it was rigorous, it challenged me, and it was the most I ever learned in a classroom. My professor demonstrated the real-world application of our lessons, using HPCC Systems, LexisNexis Risk Solution’s data computing platform, and ultimately helped me discover my passion for data analysis.
I currently work at Cox Communications in my third consecutive co-op rotation. I spent the past summer analyzing sound data in our Dolby Encoder to find which providers were not in the correct dial norm range. I also helped with a CRM cleanup for Cox Media, which entailed devising strategies to cleanse an Oracle Legacy CRM system of duplicate and missing data. I will be finishing my co-op this spring at Cox and just accepted a software engineering position at Accenture in Tech Square starting in June 2020.
Given my interest in transitioning from software engineering to data science, I feel the Georgia Tech OMSA program with the Analytical Tools Track is an ideal match for me. Pursuing the Analytical tool track, with its emphasis on data mining and machine learning is in perfect alignment with my long-term goals. My research and prior experience give me confidence that the program will provide the optimal level of challenge and rigor that I seek. Additionally, OMSA is flexible, affordable and will allow me to continue my work at Accenture to support my family financially.
I am also currently enrolled in Dr. Joel Sokol’s Intro to Analytics Modeling MicroMasters. Lesson 2.8 (M): K-Nearest Neighbor Classification was one lesson I knew a lot about because, during my senior project, my group and I made a temperature and humidity monitor for our KSU server room. I used scikit learn ( Python machine learning library) to classify all of our temperature using the Knn algorithm to fetch the data and to make predictions for temperatures to be grouped. I have taken numerous EDX courses, which afford me the flexibility of learning from my home.
My passion, dedication, and focus have been rewarded in the past when I was recognized as the Fall 2019 featured graduate of the KSU College of Computing and Software Engineering. If accepted, I will bring these same qualities to my work and hope to be a distinguished graduate and later alumnus of the OMSA program 2020 cohort. I believe that no other program will better equip me to excel at my career goal of helping organizations in making the best possible decisions; I am prepared for graduate-level studies and I hope that I can further my education through OMSA.
Daniel Omuto 