Assessment Options

You can choose from two assessment options: 

Standard Assessment

This assessment evaluates foundational Python knowledge, including:

• Variables and data types: int, float, str. mutable vs immutable
• Arithmetic, boolean, and comparison operators
• Lists: create, index, slice, update, append, sorting, list comprehensions
• Dictionaries: create key-value pairs, retrieve, update
• Functions: built-in functions such as print, len, sum; defining and calling user-specified functions with parameters and return values
• Input/Output: input(), print() formatting
• Classes and objects
• JSON processing
• Control flow: if-elif-else, for and while loops, basic exception handling
• Error recognition and debugging: predict simple script output, understand code flow, and detect common pitfalls: e.g. error due to no return result, variable type mismatch, index out of bounds

The standard assessment usually takes about 1 hour to complete. Students can prepare using the University of Michigan’s Python 3 Programming Specialization, a low-cost online course series, as a resource.

Advanced Standing Assessment

This assessment covers additional topics, such as:

• Preparing data for analysis using pandas and numpy libraries, including reading data from a file into a DataFrame, removing missing values, converting data types, renaming columns, and reformatting tables to meet requirements.
• Data transformation operations with pandas and numpy, such as filtering, grouping, shuffling, sampling, aggregating, and mutating, including the ability to plan and execute compound sequences of transformations to achieve an analysis goal.
• Basic statistical methods, including calculating and interpreting summary statistics about a dataset, properties of probability distributions, and basic significance testing.
• Strategies for debugging more advanced workflows.

The advanced standing assessment usually takes about 3.5 hours to complete. Students can prepare using the Data-Oriented Python Programming and Debugging Specialization, a low-cost online course series, as a resource. The advanced standing assessment is based on assignments from the Data-Oriented Python Programming and Debugging Specialization, so applicants who have already completed that specialization can submit their existing solutions for the advanced standing assessment. 

Benefits of passing:

• Admission to the MADS program with advanced standing
• 4 credit hours awarded toward your degree
• Course waiver for SIADS 500