April 26, 2024 | Madeline Papcun - College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Mathew Chandy ’24, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 

Mathew Chandy reflects on his time at UConn

Mathew Chandy

Mathew Chandy '24 (CLAS), a statistical data science major, outside the Austin Building on April 17, 2024. (Bri Diaz/UConn Photo)

Mathew Chandy ’24 (CLAS) will be the first student to graduate as a statistical data science major in May — that’s on top of completing a major in statistics and minors in computer science, economics, and mathematics. And he was able to do it all in three years. 

Why did you choose to go to UConn? 
I’m from Storrs, so my hometown is right next to UConn. A lot of my friends from high school were going here too, so it just made the most sense. 

What drew you to your field of study?
I was originally just a statistics major, and I chose that because I’ve always been a math-oriented person. Statistics allows you to apply math to very tangible problems. I also started coding early on, so data science allowed me to integrate my coding ability to statistics. 

Did you have a favorite professor or class?
My favorite professor was the one I’m currently doing research with, Jun Yan in the Department of Statistics. I’ve been doing research with him for the past three years. My favorite class was probably Introduction to Data Science, which was also with Yan. I liked that class because it allowed you to learn things by yourself and become accustomed to new software very quickly. That helped me grow in my ability to use different technology in data science. 
 
What activities were you involved in as a student? 
Research has been my main focus, but when I was a freshman, I was in Model United Nations as a volunteer for the UConn competition. This year, with a few other students, I helped found the Joint Statistical Club (JSC) and served as vice president. The objective of JSC was to create a community for statistics students and help connect undergrads with graduates as well. 
 
What was it like being in college during the pandemic?   
So, I’m going to graduate in three years, meaning I actually started in 2021. But it is kind of weird to remember that when I started college everyone had to wear a mask, or your class might get cancelled if cases were high.

What are your plans for after graduation?   
I’ll be pursuing a Ph.D. in Statistics at UCLA in the fall. 

How has UConn prepared you for the next chapter in life?   
I think being really research-focused during my time at UConn will help my ability to be successful in my Ph.D. program. Also, UConn provides a lot of resources to help students be successful, like the STEM Scholars program and the Honors program. The Department of Statistics also encourages students to participate in conferences and competitions to build up experiences. 

Any advice for incoming students?   
Take your time and explore different things. 

What’s one thing everyone should do during their time at UConn? 
 Go to basketball games! Hopefully we “3-peat,” but in general, students should go.

What will always make you think of UConn?   
Well, I’ll always come back here because I live here, but when I watch UConn basketball in the future, I’ll look back very fondly on my time attending UConn.

How has being a student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences impacted your UConn experience? 
I enjoyed the fact that CLAS was very diverse in its course offerings. I had to take biology and chemistry classes, which are pretty distant from my major. At the time, I might’ve thought, “Why do I have to take this?” but now I realize it’s good because it widens your scope.