BS (Data Science)
The passion for a subject is oftentimes the key to open doors to a broader world, and Sarath Sai knew exactly that. From being unable to take Aerospace Engineering due to eligibility criteria to falling back on a Bachelor’s Degree in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in his home-state of Andhra Pradesh at JNTU, he found the theory-driven course stifling. Despite completing projects and internships, he could not find the launch-pad that would give flight to his aspirations for higher studies. It was here that he stumbled onto IIT Madras BS Degree in Data Science and Applications.
Upon closer inspection and finding it aligned with his interest in mathematics and with the added benefit of flexibility, he enrolled. With the four foundational courses tackled right out of the gate, he believed he could complete this on the fastest route possible. However, faced with the inevitable ramp-up in difficulty, it taught him an important lesson; to take time with things. When the diploma projects came into full swing and the Data Science subjects arrived with advanced pedagogy and application, unlike the theory-laden lectures, he knew he needed to lessen his own load and manage his time to balance both degrees.
Taking Machine Learning Techniques as an example, he elucidated, the course started from a subtopic like Principal Component Analysis, from the basics to, slowly, the advanced level in an intuitive way.
The impact of the teaching style lingered till he took GATE this year, where the intuition helped him get a high score in the exam.
Of course, studying isn’t all he was into. Discovering a new passion for coding, shooting off from his mathematically analytical side, he delved into Technical Events in Paradox’24 and ‘25 and attended workshops such as ‘AI ML and Game Theory’. The information he gained from these stayed with him throughout his future ventures, projects and endeavors.
The prospect of meeting his friends who were thousands of miles apart was perhaps the main impetus for his bolstered participation and the experience of being able to ask them for help or attend workshops together expanded his social sphere greatly. Currently, Sarath is looking for a PhD position abroad while preparing for examinations like IELTS and GRE.
Although it was a challenging path, it was one that allowed the passion in his domains of interest, rooting from this Degree, to be elevated to a higher stage to learn and express his ideas.
After all these years, he stands near the finish line with experience under his belt and advises his juniors that this one degree is enough to teach anyone in depth about Data Science and allows the flexibility of time to explore and try a plethora of topics, which can lead to newfound interests! It is a mathematical airport with a variety of flights, as long as one is open to experience, open to learning as much as possible and use whatever time is left after to keep exploring.
– written by Krishneal Dutta
