2023 QSA Graduating Seniors

Maddie Ryan, an Economics major, decided to pursue the QSA minor because of its compatibility with her major and to further develop her quantitative, statistical, and experimental skills. By pursuing the QSA minor, Maddie has been able to apply her developed skills to her major, one example being through “observation of data collection” and determining if the “information is a representative sample”.

Maddie’s favorite minor class Methods of Data Collection: Social Experiments, Quasi Experiments, and Surveys was due to its small class size and the increased opportunity for engagement. This included discussion about the concepts and the statistical ideas that were being taught in a deeper aspect.

After graduation, Maddie will be employed by a tech consulting company as a Product Manager. To future minors, Maddie would like to share that it is a great opportunity to gain insight to other courses that are listed under different major programs that have many similarities to the fields of study that are of interest to the student.

Marcus Ellinos, a Political Science major, wanted to pursue the QSA minor equip himself with quantitative skills and tools to investigate empirical questions that he frequently encountered in political theory, as well as to understand other people’s attempts to address these questions. To Marcus, QSA provided him with solid foundations to develop his quantitative reasoning skills for future courses

Marcus’ favorite minor class was Applied Regression Analysis (STAT 224), taught by Professor Burbank who was considered by Marcus as “a wonderful explainer”. The course helped him “build intuition around basic statistical concepts.”

After graduation, Marcus plans to pursue a joint JD-PhD, with a doctorate in Political Science. He wants to share with future minors to take courses with certain repeated material, as what he stated “Hearing a different professor explain a concept from a different perspective (or just reviewing the concept again) helped me get a better understanding of that concept, and I think the same could be true for many other people.”

Taylor Rijos, an Anthropology major, had a profound interest in public health, which requires both qualitative and quantitative skills. For developing quantitative skills, she chose the QSA minor over other programs because of its interdisciplinary nature, and that it “can be tailored to fit a student’s interests.” Through QSA, Taylor has gained quantitative abilities and skills in epidemiology, social and behavioral health, and opinion research, and considered them invaluable to address complex and multidisciplinary public health concerns.

Taylor’s favorite minor course was Epidemiology and Population Health as it solidified her interest in the public health field. As Taylor indicates, the course instructor, Professor Lauderdale, provided “extensive historical context”, and allowed “students to explore their own interests in a self-driven final project” where students got to design their own research proposals.

After graduation, Taylor will start her Master of Public Health program in the Food Systems and Health concentration at Cornell University. She is looking forward to honing the statistical skills she gained from QSA by applying them to “pressing public health concerns in food production, access, and consumption.”

Taylor wants to share with future minor students to “not be afraid of taking classes outside of your traditional interests!” To give an example, the Artificial Intelligence for Public Policy course that she took to fulfill the minor requirements was not related to her focus areas, but it turned out to be one of the best classes she took at UChicago.