How Dedication, Support, and Data Courses Helped Graduate Priti Agrawal Land Her Dream Job

This interview was originally published in 2019. Priti now holds the position of Sr. Data Engineer at McKinsey & Company.

What interests you most about computer science? Do you have a particular focus within the broader field?
The most fascinating element of the computer science discipline is its versatility. I’ve always wanted to study a variety of subjects, many of which are unrelated, but CS is my way of keeping options open. It’s also a field that allows for easy access to others, partly because computing has become such an integral part of so many aspects of modern life. It has fundamentally changed the way we live and propelled our economy forward through innovation, which it will continue to do for the foreseeable future. My particular focus area within CS is informatics—which is the science of information, information processing, and information systems engineering. Informatics offers a variety of flavors inspired by different disciplines and applications, ranging from data mining to information retrieval; database systems to computer graphics; image processing to computer vision; and geo-informatics to bioinformatics.

Did you always intend on going back to school, or did the need arise at a particular moment?
After finishing my undergrad, I began working immediately. I never thought I would go back to school. But during my nine years of experience in IT, my passion for further broadening my knowledge in the data field encouraged me to pursue a master’s in computer science with a focus on data analytics. It was bold, but the decision turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever made.

Congratulations on your high achievement in the Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS) program and your Award for Excellence in your studies! Looking back, what do you consider to be the main ingredients of your success?
The two main ingredients to my success were purpose and support. By purpose, I mean my strong will and desire to upgrade myself by strengthening my technical prowess with sound data analytics techniques that can be employed in the domain. Regarding support, I was able to thrive thanks to aid from my family—my parents, husband, in-laws, close relatives, and even my close friends. That blended well with the ultimate guidance I received from my professors at BU, especially Professor Eugene Pinsky, who energized and motivated me to be at my best, which allowed me to achieve such a prestigious level of success.

How were you able to successfully balance your studies with your commitments outside the classroom?
Nowadays, we are all distracted by something or another, which immediately introduces that element of the balance it takes to be mindful of our responsibilities. I always enjoy multitasking in my personal as well as professional life. I actually prefer to have many things going at once, it keeps me interested and moving forward—one semester, I took three courses to go along with my teaching assistantship responsibilities. But I was lucky to have my very supportive husband (although he is a responsibility, too), who I was able to rely on from the beginning. It was primarily thanks to his efforts that I was able to zero in and focus as much as I needed to handle studies and keep up with my responsibilities outside of the classroom.

Was your success in the program driven by a particular outcome—such as professional advancement, educational achievement, personal satisfaction, or something else?
Professional advancement was the absolute driver for me in this program, and the sole target destination for my purposes. The surge of energy I felt each moment that I was a part of the program—doing the classwork, investing additional energy into studying, employing the concepts practically—throughout it all I kept my focus on learning as much as possible and acquiring the skills and techniques I’d need to display effective data analytics technical prowess in the profession.

Is there a particular course or project that enhanced your experience in the MSCS program?
I want to mention two main courses that really enhanced the experience in my MSCS data analytics program. One of my expectations for this program was that I would learn to unfold the untold truth about data, and Data Mining (MET CS 699), with Professor Jae Young Lee, was one course that really helped me to develop a strong base of understanding. Through data mining, I learned various machine learning algorithms and how to discover patterns and relationships in data in order to help make better decisions or predictions.

The second course was Big Data Analytics (MET CS 777) with Professor Kia Teymourian, which introduced me to the world of big data and large-scale data analytics. This course taught me tools and techniques to store large-volumes of data, as well as the important mathematical and statistical models. And I should mention—these two courses helped me to receive offers for my dream job!

How do you plan to apply the skills and competencies you gained during your studies moving forward? What is next in store for you?
My goal is to apply the skills I have learned through this program towards artificial intelligence coupled with data analytics. Having been introduced to data science and machine learning techniques, as well as having learned to understand analytic concepts from data mining and visualization, I plan to research and solve some of the life-changing problems and attack the heaviest data challenges.

I intend to take these concepts I now grasp and continue learning (of course) to bring together data in the elemental fashion of harmonizing, aggregating, and presenting in real-time, so that users may instantly draw precise conclusions relative to the business purpose.

You were recognized by faculty and peers for your hard work and dedication to the MSCS program. What words of advice or encouragement have served as a guiding principle, or simply inspiration, for you?
During my previous working days, one of my mentors told me, “’Look at each day as a new opportunity to be your very best. Set high goals, be honest, never say no, and work with people who share your passion for doing their best.”

I’ve always remembered that advice and try to live it every day. Be self-motivated, determined, and honest, and remember that a dream does not become reality through magic—it takes sweat, determination and hard-work.

Published February 2025

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