MGT 6203 Course Reviews
MGT 6203 has been a very light workload and very easy in my opinion. The lecture video content is longer
than other courses I've taken (some weeks there are 5 20-30 min long videos), however the homeworks,
quizzes, and tests are all open book. As far as what you'll get out of it, that's subjective. The main topics are:
regression, investment/portfolio analysis, digital marketing, and operations management. Depending on
which path you take in OMS, you'll get some exposure to these topics that you wouldn't get otherwise if you
don't take the electives for them.
On average, most agree this is a pretty easy course. The exams for summer term were split into two parts,
you have a technical exam and a theory exam. The technical exam is worth 5% more than the theory exam
and is open book and not proctored. There were no questions in the technical exam that I could not solve
without referencing materials provided in lecture or TA code.
Lastly, in my own experience the theory multiple choice questions can be tricky some times. I did OK in
MGT6203 and ISYE6501, and agree that wording can be tricky sometimes and that the concepts can be
difficult. I much preferred CSE6040 where I got a really high A, because coding questions are always straight
forward (and I do it for a living).
The exams aren't badly phrased as other people say in my opinion. There just are split between
programming practice questions and theoretical questions. For the latter, they're just lazy multiple choice
style questions with little calculation (finance part mostly). Just learn what are on the slides and you should
ace them.
I was asking if there were extra points given (I heard it was 4 points) assuming you completed some extra
tasks. Technically this means you could get above 100 points...
There are some extra points (I ended up with 102 score) but that's some optional questions on the final
exam only. I don't know if they will change that in the future.
The content of 6203 is extremely easy, but the class itself can be stressful in its own way because of how
disorganized it is. Tons of vague questions on homeworks and exams that the TAs have to scramble to alter
or explain on Piazza. The entire course uses R, and there was no linear algebra or calculus involved that I can
remember.
Advanced standing only requires you to pass a verified course with a high grade ~>85%, the whole MM is not
required.
I would say 80% is a guarantee without even trying, but getting from there to 90% is kind of a headache
because you have to carefully parse each question since they're full of typos and horrendous grammar.
However the prof said the course is shifting to almost all peer graded homework which I think is much more
lenient. There's a grace period to refund the MM course so you should just try it out.
But if your perspective is that you want an easy start to the program and your expectations for 6203 are
appropriately low then I think it's a good choice. You've indicated that you're a beginner with both R and
Python, so catching up on those will likely be the toughest part for the learning curve for you (especially for
6040 -- the python required for 6040 is far far more challenging than anything required for any class that
uses R). In the summer session 6203 has 3 peer reviewed assignments that utilize R while 6501 has 12. Also
I've only watched the videos through week 2 but already there is a significant amount of material on linear
regression in R that would be directly relevant for multiple weeks of 6501.
You've got to weigh the pros and the cons for yourself, but if I had to do it again I would've taken 6203 as an
MM course prior to starting the program. Keep in mind 6501 and 6040 will likely be much harder than 6203 so
don't get the wrong idea from 6203. Just use it to get some basic familiarity with what it's like to be in school
again and with the platforms OMSA uses (Canvas, Edx, Slack, Piazza). There'll be some overlap in the material
on regression for 6501 and perhaps in the business concepts for MGT 8803. Since staying in the program
means needing at least a B in 2 out of 6040, 6501 and MGT 8803 I think 6203 gives you a small leg up for 2 of
those 3.
I took it last fall in the MM program - it supposedly was 'improved' the previous quarter as it was not offered
that summer.
Having taken ISYE6501 before MGT6203, I found a lot of overlap. There are some (very) basic marketing and
digital advertising details and there were a handful of questions from the additional Harvard cases.
YMMV, but I don't think I spent more than 40 hours over the entire semester.
Personal opinion...case studies are not needed. Only one of the 7 cases studies is referenced in one of the
homework quizzes...and you get unlimited attempts to get the questions right. There are no exam, midterm
or assignment questions on the cases
I'm surprised that you're overwhelmed by the course but i get it. It does come across overwhelming but it's
the easiest course in the program. This is a class where you only put in 4-5 hours when the homework are
out (not talking about the self assessment). I probably spent in the ballpark of 20-25 hours total on this class.
I am very slow at making my cheat sheets for the exams, so they took longer than intended.
Bottom line, there is nothing to be overwhelmed with when it comes to MGT 6203. Keep in mind that this
class doesn't represent the whole program and the expectations you will have from other courses.
My honest review of the course is as follows:
It's a waste of time. I completed the course with an overall score of 103% and I feel like I've learned next to
nothing. This might be shocking to you but honestly the material was presented and tested far below par.
Tests and exams frequently need multiple corrections, questions all read like they've been written by
someone who only has a passing familiarity of the english language. You can take a look at omscentral.com
reviews if you don't believe me. What annoyed me the most is that you have no choice but to take it—such a
waste of my $1126.
6203 is considered to be the easiest course in the program. I took it during the compressed summer semester
and it was still a very light, low-effort course. If you have already taken 6501, you will find it easy because
6203 assumes you don't know any R.
The main complaint is that some sections are boring (true) and that some multiple choice questions can be
tricky with the wording but I did not really have issue with the course. I found the office hours to be optional
(I skimmed through them but did not find anything I really needed for the course).
The first unit of 6203 is regression in R, so it could be helpful to take 6501 first (also R). However, the
regression in 6203 is very simple and can be picked up quickly, so taking them concurrently shouldn't be a
problem. There is no need to take 6040 (programming in Python) before 6203.
Preparing for Midterms
1. I'm in the class and I recommend you spend time on the coding part because it will force you to review a lot
of material. For cheat sheet, I am just going to review the slides and capture whatever info that I think
important based on the HWK/SAs questions asked
2. In class now too. Putting my cheat sheet together based on reviewing HW's and redoing SA's. Make sure
you put all the formulas on :)
Question for folks that have taken MGT 6203 in the past... I heard there is an extra credit assignment at the
end of the course. What does that look like? and how many points does it make up for? Thanks!
Last semester was about 4 whole extra points to the final grade. Format was fill-in-blank questions that
need coding to solve.
Again regarding extra credits:
I think they change it a bit every semester but for Summer 2020 we were given 4 questions (similar to the
programming section of the exams/hws) that were open answer, not multiple choice. Each question was a
full percentage point added to your grade (a possible max grade of 104 in the class).
Here's a rough outline of how it is:
4 sections: Regression (The math you'll need to know) + its application/use in the following fields: Finance,
Marketing, and Operations, each with its own sections :)
Material is fairly straight forward (But it might bc I have a Business Degree and took the Regression Analysis
course last semester)
MGT 6203 is the easiest course in the program and does not have a prerequisite. The benefit of MGT 6203 is
that they teach some R language. ISYE 6501 does not teach R but requires it for the weekly assignments (they
give hints but you have to learn it on your own). Pairing these two is perfectly fine. Just learn some R before
you start ISYE 6501 or you might feel stressed.
MGT 6203 does not have weekly assignments. You might spend just 2-3 hrs in some weeks and then maybe a
few more hours extra on the weeks that assignments are due. The weekly office hours can probably be
skipped. It was mostly discussion format with the students about real-life/current-event situations for
analytics.
This class is a combination of 4 topics with 4 different lectures.
Linear and logistic regression (Prof. Sridhar): The prof's teaching style is very dry (he just reads the slides)
but I think he's smart. He knows way more than what he is teaching in this course. Homework and midterm
were easy but his questions on the final were a bit more tricky, which was a good break from all the rest!
Finance (Prof. Jonathan Clarke): Teaches some good knowledge about the stock market, a few technical
tools and metrics here and there.
Marketing (Prof. Frederic Bien): Kind and very relational. Active on weekly office hour and personally
emailed those who didn't change their EdX email to connect with Vocareum. His marketing materials were
pretty broad but not so much technical depth.
Operation Management (Bob Myers): Very energetic in his lecture videos, I can see his passion in the field,
but the math don't seem to be strong in his materials.. Made me wonder what limitations/shortcut
assumptions was I missing out while watching his lectures.
Overall, a light and broad course, but I didn't like the organization and the many errors that were made in
the assignments and tests. Advisor made me take this prior to MGT8803, which also has a bad review. I
wish I could replace these 2 courses with other courses that I'm more interested in but they are compulsary.
Great, another class where we do simple linear regression for the first couple of weeks. Seriously, you will
do simple linear regression for about 8 weeks of total time between some of the entry level classes. And if
taking classes online you have less options on what to take so you will take a LOT of simple linear regression.
The second half of the class is a mixture of new material and material from MGT8803 in the OMSA program.
The class is not hard, but it is boring. Perhaps they can take the content that is in 8803 and put it back in
8803. Then pull some of the content out of 8803 and put it here so it is less rushed.
Part of me feels there are classes that exist in the OMSA program purely to pad the schedule.
Homework pretty easy. Tests, pretty easy (I still have to take the final). Open notes on coding portion of
the final and untimed was a good call.
Office Hours were a mixed bag. The content is pretty basic so very few people joined in them. Then in the
end of class they became useful, but no one was coming to them because of the bar that was set over the
first several weeks.
This is an "Advanced Core Class" but has to be one of the easiest ones they offer. It could be a better class
with some restructure of it and other classes.
I am half way through and the stats prof on linear regression topic is really just reading the script and his
slide is awful. He often just says 'and this is the result' without any explanation at all. I am a straight A
student and I will not suggest anyone to take this course if possible. A total disaster, EVER.
Overall, it is a fairly easy course. Homework assignments probably took me the most time (30%). A large
portion of the grade is open book practical exams with no time limit (35%) - you can achieve an A without
much effort. The theory section (35%) of the mid-term and final allowed for 1 & 2 pages of notes
respectively. The self-assessments (10%) allow for unlimited and feedback on what was missed. You could
spend 3 hours studying for each of the 10 or you could just iteration the options and be done in 3 minutes.
Obviously you learn nothing with the latter approach but it is compensated when completing HW and
studying for exams.
Homework - 3 assignments each split into two parts: Part 1 T/F & Multiple Choice, Part 2 coding in R. SelfAssessment - 10 total amounting to 10% of your total grade. These were all multiple choice and didn't have
a limit on the number of attempts. Exams - 2 exams each had two parts similar to the homework
On the exams Part 1 was proctored and timed, 3 hours was allowed for 20ish questions. In total they
recommended allowing for 90 minutes to take the exam. Part 2 was not proctored and open
notes/internet. This was mostly code based question but was still multiple choice.
The exams and homework tend to have mistakes or unclear wording. I would recommend using Piazza to
follow up. Often TAs were responsive and willing to answer questions. This did cause issues on the exams
because clarifications would be posted after people had already started and/or finished specific sections.
This is the true introductory course, and I think you should take this course before taking ISYE6501. The
course starts with regression, then covers finance, marketing, and operations management. Some lectures
are more interesting than the others (and I'd highly recommend downloading a chrome extension of video
speed controller so you can watch these lectures at 2x - 3x speed).
The course is taught like a middle school class, where they guide you through all the equations, how to
use each function in R, how to interpret results, etc. If you have not taken any courses in a while or don't
have strong background in math or programming, THIS is the course to take. I lacked this prereq, so I really
appreciated how they guided you through everything and practically spoon fed you the information.
TAs and Professors in this class are much more accommodating and courteous than most others. I feel like
they really listened to the students and acted on any requests that we made right away. They held finals
review recitation, changed test question styles, how they upload documents, grading for HW, based on
student feedback. So there were a lot of changes that were being made throughout the course and could
have caused some confusion but this is really impressive and appreciated. Even Prof B held weekly office
hours!
If you do not do very well in this course after submitting all the assignments and taking all the tests, I would
highly highly reconsider pursuing a degree at tech, because other tech classes are not going to be like this.
at. all. This is probably the course with the lightest load, easy material where they spoon feed you
information, and the nicest prof/TA's you'll ever have. Other course will demand a lot more of your time
and lot more learning on your own outside of the class.
1. Regression - the lecture material was extremely dry with minimal examples. Basic linear regression
and logistic regression. Regression is used throughout the course, so it would have been nice to
have a better intro. The saving grace here is that the material is simple, so you can easily go
elsewhere and learn it. Unfortunately this part of the course cannot be dropped as it's pretty
important - but I'd recommend cutting a week off this material and moving it to Finance...
2. Finance - Prof Clarke is enthusiastic and the material is interesting. Unfortunately, its the shortest
part of the course. The topics covered (transaction costs, market efficiency, factor investing) are
just skimmed through so you're made aware of the concepts but there is no time to get into any sort
of depth.
3. Marketing - Prof Bien runs this part and I think despite his best intentions, this material seems
disjointed from the rest of the course. There is a lot of discussion on Google Analytics, social media
and digital advertising but its taught in a way that is not really applicable to analytics. Sometimes it
seems like a history lesson in the evolution of digital marketing. There are also several case studies,
which one is recommended to purchase from HBR. These case studies may be an interesting read
but again, the material is very peripheral to the course material and does not need to be purchased. I
felt there was a missed opportunity here and the material should be revamped.
4. Operations - I thought this was the best part of the course. Prof Myers brings a lot of energy to his
lectures and he is clearly passionate about the material. There should be more time dedicated to this
material.
Course structure - 3 assignments (10% each), split into a coding section and multiple choice questions.
Much of the coding is covered in the TA office hours. Piazza is also helpful if you're stuck. There are also
10 Self-assessments, which are just a bunch of multiple choice questions. There are unlimited chances to
do these questions until you get them right. Its a 10% giveaway. Midterm and final is split into coding (open
book, you get a week to do it) and proctored 3hr closed book exam. The midterm had some unnecessarily
ambiguous questions and ended up being curved up. There was also a 4% extra credit available in the
final, so technically you could end up with 104% in the course.
There was some frustration due to repeated mistakes in assignment and midterm questions, however the
TAs were responsive to queries raised on Piazza.
Overall, I did learn stuff here - particularly in the Finance and Ops sections. With the relaxed pace of the
course, I also found time to practice R. This course is required for OMSA, so you can't skip it. Should be an
easy A - as per the data, 86% of students got an A last semester.
Grade policies, assignments, and course expectations were constantly changed on the fly. And many of
these changes were only mentioned in comments on random Piazza posts, not even in Course
Announcements. TAs and the Professor were less than useless in helping navigate through the course.
Despite the huge headache caused by the disorganization, it was still an easy class. If you need an easy
class to pair with a difficult one, this should be it.
The textbook was completely useless. I tried on several occasions to use it, but it really had absolutely
NOTHING that was relevant to the course.
The midterm for this course was awful. It covered topics that were not even briefly discussed in class. The
wording was, and I apologize if I offend anyone, written in a way that a native English speaker would have
trouble understanding.
The material on this could use some rework, as this is essentially a mashup of ISYE 6501 and MGT 8803.
Many of the first module lectures are tired rehashes of other course material (regression -linear/logistic).
This module felt like a pretty big waste of time considering you learn regression in other courses in the
program that make more sense. That being said, a big chunk of this course content is just various linear
regression schemes (finance, marketing, etc.), so it would be hard to get rid of the regression content since
there are no pre-reqs for this class.
Overall this just feels like a weird class stuck in between something with a business tilt and a stats tilt, and
not in a good way; it misses the best of both. The lectures are fine, but most are just profs reading
verbatim off of slides. All that being said, this class was exceedingly easy and required a minimal amount
of effort.
High points for me were:
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Professor Clark's finance section
Professor Myers' operations section
Exams felt true to the material, and were generally easy if you paid attention to lectures and were
able to complete homework
TAs and Professor seemed responsive to changing circumstances (thanks, COVID-19!)
Low points:
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Regression module
Marketing module (interesting material, but felt loosely structured and difficult to follow)
Difficulties in deploying homeworks
Topics
1. Regression
Professor Sridhar Narasimhan just reads directly from the slides and doesn’t explain anything any further.
At the end of each module, he gives a 1-2 question quiz. He never explains the answers. I suggest skipping
watching the lectures for this topic. You’re better off studying the slides and going to the office hours to
ask the TAs to explain anything you don’t understand.
2. Finance
Professor Jonathan Clarke explained concepts clearly and was easy to follow along. This was my favorite
part of the course. You’ll learn a thing or two about things that apply to you in real life!
3. Marketing
Professor Frederic Bien has the worst lectures I’ve ever seen so far in the program. They were incredibly
long, boring, and not very insightful. Anything useful that was tested on any assignment could be
summarized into a few slides. It felt like I wasted so much time watching his lectures.
4. Operations Management
Professor Bob Myers explained concepts well and I enjoyed his lectures. Pay attention to the mathematical
formulas carefully while watching lectures.
Office Hours
My first office hour was my last office hour because of how terrible it was organized. TAs were late, didn’t
have an agenda, and found myself listening to silence for most of the time. I suggest going only if you have
questions to ask.
Exams
Exams were fair and did a good job testing your ability to interpret outputs from analysis.
The regression professor is beyond boring, but the content is useful. We go deeper than what we saw in 6501.
My advice: just read the slides, since the teacher only reads them anyway.
It felt like the syllabus was just a suggestion, and the teaching staff could change it as they wanted.
We had a proctored theory midterm (one two-sided cheat sheet), and an open book/not proctored final
exam (because of COVID-19).
One thing that was not OK was the peer-grading process. Both times we had a peer-graded homework, it was a
total disaster (confusing rubric, unclear explanations...). In the end, the TAs had to regrade each homework
manually.