Background: I grew up in a third world country, like every engineer, MIT was/is a dream. With some luck, I ended up with a Ph.D in ML from an R1 university (non-top 10) and currently working at big tech company as a research scientist for about 4 years. I do have papers in top ML conferences along with significant impact in projects at my job and I make over 300K.

I thought after finishing my Ph.D, I will get over my MIT dream and find something more interesting but that has not happened yet. So, coming back to the question, is spending 80K worth the dream or I am just plain stupid?

Just to add, I am interested in management route.

EDIT: I visited the MIT campus on Friday and absolutely loved it. I will definitely be applying for MS SDM.

1. Is this a sane financial decision? Absolutely not.

2. Is this degree going to add anything to my profile? Probably nothing apart from passing through ASMs.

Thanks everyone.

I haven't seen (or been able to find) much talk about the SDM certificate here recently and I'm considering applying and very curious to hear what people have to say about the program.

I have a BS in IT Mgmt from a no name (WGU) online school, and an MBA from Boston University. Im currently a Solutions Architect at AWS and have a decent resume with 10 years in tech. 35 y/o male and ideally I'd like to accelerate my path into senior leadership in tech, perhaps even pivoting to strategy or product.

I applied to U Penn's MCIT program but was rejected, likely due to lacking any rigorous college level math courses, and no GMAT/GRE.

My question here is, do you think the SDM certificate would be worthwhile for my goals above? Obviously the Masters program would be better, but the lower cost, shorter time, and brand recognition of MIT are all very appealing to me.

Thanks in advance!