Background:

I got introduced to this field around 7 months back, circumstances were that I had no internship opportunities in mechanical engineering and a friend of mine was working on his data analyst profile. I have an upcoming undergrad project under a professor in the field of reinforcement learning. My current intern revolves around deep learning and computer vision. Pretty academically oriented – CGPA 8.5 on a 10 point scale which translates to 3.75+ in most colleges.

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Current situation:

I mentioned I was a really academically focused student. During my intern here, I have to implement certain computer vision models and stuff related to disparity maps. Issue is, I don’t have the necessary background, coming as a mechanical engineer. I researched and found out statistics is an essential part and a lot of CS background is required as well. I plan on going full ahead to pursue a PhD in this field – it doesn’t tire me, I enjoy it and in the 3 years of my college life I have never wanted to learn more about a field. Definitely determined to go for a PhD.

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So, my undergrad is unrelated. I have 3 options in front of me now:

• MSc in Statistics : I heard this is a good option, but a lot of what they teach isn’t applied to Data Science which focused on computational statistics. My knowledge in Statistics is limited to the high school probability class, permutations and combinations and I touched a little on the z-scores and p-scores thing casually. Definitely seems like I need formal education in statistics but I’m worried about going too deep into this when it’s not required in Data Science.
• MSc in Computer Science : One of the most sought after degrees right now. I talked to a few batch-mates doing undergrad in CS though, they’re also learning of Operating Systems, Database management and hardware. I don’t think this will be required AT ALL in the field of my interest. But I’d definitely love an opinion from someone with experience in this regard.
• MSc in Data Science : Now this is a rather new branch! I have seen few colleges offering this but I’m skeptical because I read reviews that the colleges are just brushing the topics superficially and not going in depth. If I plan on going for a research I’ll need good foundation – that’s can’t be compromised. It also seems to be a Jack of all trades and a master of none thing. I would have the basic idea of everything – CS and Stats, but a good grasp in neither. Again, would love to hear from someone who is pursuing this.

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Appreciate any support. I have been researching this for days and I was about to write emails to professors/PhD students directly for guidance but thought of asking here first.