Rudy Venguswamy graduated from the School of Information with a Master of Information and Data Science in 2020. He currently works as a Data Scientist at Pinterest. Prior to the I School, Rudy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy from UC Berkeley.
Why did you choose 5th Year MIDS?
I was a humanities and social sciences person through and through during my time as an undergraduate. All around me, though, I saw the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning. I couldn’t help but feel that I’d be missing out on something that had the potential to shape our world by not being a part of this wave. I chose MIDS because it has the right balance of technical and soft skills. You learn how to do the coding, for sure, but more importantly, you get a sense for the boundaries and challenges of data science practically.
What was your favorite class and why?
It’s tough to pick a favorite! I enjoyed all of my first semester classes especially, but I'd have to give my top spot to W203 (statistics with Paul Laskowski) because of how much I use it in my work.
What do you wish someone had told you before you began the program?
Work together with others often when solving tough problems in class!
What made the I School special?
I love how much interaction we have with our professors. They’re all there to support you. As an undergraduate at Cal, I felt like I was very much on my own when it came to my academic success in classes sometimes. In our program, we’re all looking out for each other.
