Pre-Skills

Updated June 27, 2025

Students join the Smith School with a variety of technical skills and educational and professional backgrounds. The resources below have been compiled to assist incoming students with preparing for their master's coursework.

UMD students have unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning, an online library of instructional videos covering the latest software, creative, and business skills.

MS in Information Systems students must have the following software ready to use on their personal computers before the first day of class:

Incoming students do not need to be proficient with these tools prior to the start of classes, however, having some prior experience will be helpful. 
MS in Information Systems students will also be utilizing the following software:

  

Required Pre-Skills for BUDT 731: Data, Models, and Decisions Using R

All students are required to complete "Spreadsheet Modeling: Introductory Section (SM)," an online course from Harvard Business Publishing. This online course focuses on fundamental skills in spreadsheet analysis that will be used in DDDM. This assignment accounts for 5% of the grade for this course. 

Study Time Required: Students should go through the various units making sure to constructively use the active learning method that is the basis of this online course. The faculty instructor for DDDM will be able to monitor your progress through the various parts of this online course. Harvard Business Publishing estimates that it will take 6 hours to complete this course. Students should assume this as a minimum to be safe and plan accordingly. Students are urged to register for SM and begin studying the course material as soon as possible.

Performance and Due Date: SM includes a Final Exam with only one chance. Performance in this online exam will account towards the 5% of the grade for BUDT 731. The deadline for taking the SM final exam is Sunday, August 24, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. eastern time. 

Academic Integrity: Students will complete this assignment under the University of Maryland's Code of Academic Integrity. 

Harvard Business School Publishing Online Course Registration Information:

Course Number and Name: Spreadsheet Modeling Online Course, Excel 2013: Introductory Section
Cost: $45, to be paid individually by the student directly to HBSP
Login Information: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/1306208

Technical Difficulty? See step by step instructions. Contact the Harvard Business School Publishing Technical Support at custserv@hbsp.harvard.edu or 800-810-8858 or see https://hbsp.harvard.edu/contact-us/.

Questions about the BUDT 731 pre-skills assignment or course content can be directed to Professor Eaman Jahani (eaman@umd.edu). 

 

Required Pre-Semester Asynchronous Courses 

First semester courses will focus on analytical principles to guide complex decision-making. A strong understanding of basic business math, basis statistics, and spreadsheet skills will be critical to successfully completing the semester. Students who do not already have a strong familiarity with these topics should complete the following no later than August 17, 2025:

 

Required Pre-Semester Online Synchronous Workshops

The Smith Master Student Association (SMSA), together with the Masters Programs Office, frequently hosts Academic Skill-Building Workshops for current students. There will be three sessions offered that are required for incoming MS in Business Analytics students who do not have prior experience with these topics. 

Workshop 1: Introduction to Data Science with Python Workshop

Content includes:
-- Basic programming in Python
-- Reading different file formats in Python
-- Data Manipulation: Exploration and Cleaning NumPy and pandas
-- Data Visualization with seaborn
-- Saving different file formats in Python

Date: Sunday, August 3, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon 
Registration URL: Coming Soon

Workshop 2: Introduction to Data Science with R Workshop

Content includes:
-- Basic programming in R
-- Reading different file formats in R
-- Data Manipulation: Exploration and Cleaning dplyr and tidyr
-- Data Visualization with ggplot
-- Saving different file formats in R

Date: Sunday, August 10
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon 
Registration URL: Coming Soon

Workshop 3: Introduction to Structured Query Language (SQL)

Content will include:
-- Basic SQL concepts
-- How to access and manipulate data with SQL

Date: Sunday, August 17
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon 
Registration URL: Coming Soon

 

Optional Asynchronous Assignments and Reading

Incoming students do not need to be proficient with all of these tools prior to the start of classes, however, having some prior experience could help them learn more effectively.