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I attended the Winter 2018 immersive data science boot camp at NYC Data Science Academy, and I highly recommend this academy.
I come from a mathematics background with nearly zero experience with data science, and prior to the boot camp I only know how to program with MATLAB. (MATLAB is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc., i.e., it is a serious commercial software not to be treated lightly.) I studied partial differential equations of mathematical physics, a subject intense in theory and numerical computations but very little to do with data business. Upon finishing the boot camp, how do I feel? At least now I will not embarrass myself when handling data/coding challenges with R and Python, answering machine learning questions, etc. for job interviews. Yes, I did get job placement within one month upon finishing the boot camp, and I owe that opportunity to the Academy too. It connected me with my employer at the hiring event hosted at the end of the boot camp, which alone is worth at least half of the tuition!
Now let me briefly reflect on how/why the immersive boot camp at NYC Data Science Academy is excellent, especially if your background is similar to mine:
My career before NYCDSA was one without numbers or Excel spreadsheets; past me wouldn't have dreamed of touching complex data modeling algorithms or cloud computing infrastructure. If you're like me, you probably are expressing some hesitation at how much a 3 month bootcamp can give you, especially when you're competing against graduates in STEM fields for a quant position.
No fear, though! NYCDSA gives you precisely what you need to succeed in today's competitive data science job market. During the bootcamp, you'll become well versed in almost all the standard tools and methodologies that data scientists use to do their jobs. While the curriculum isn't perfect (I definitely thought some days and sessions were on superfluous material, e.g. too many days spent on web scraping, and way too much focus on R as most companies are transitioning towards Python), it is more than sufficient to prepare you to compete with others.
Six months ago I was a journalist. Now I'm doing cutting edge data science at my new firm. Couldn't have asked for a better outcome.
I am extremely happy with my decision to attend this boot camp. Before this, I was very uncertain about what I wanted to do as a career path and never thought I would want a job that involved coding. With the excellent teaching, support, and guidance of NYCDSA staff and teachers, I found my passion. Within 3 months I gained skills in Python, R, Github, and SQL. Not many boot camps teach both R and Python, therefore this gave me a leg up against other people in the job market.
I graduated college with my Bachelors of Science in May of 2017, while many of my cohort-mates had a Master's or Ph.D. and had been working for numerous years. For this reason, I did not believe the boot camp was for me. It is not an easy course, but with hard work and dedication, it can definitely be done. I felt prepared for the job market once the bootcamp ended and really appreciated the job support provided by NYCDSA staff. They are extremely committed to getting you a job and do everything they can to help you and guide you. Because of the tools and knowledge I've gained from this boot camp, I've landed my dream job as a Data Analyst for MoveOn.org.
I was part of the full-time spring 2018 cohort, coming with a BA in social sciences and a previous business analyst role. I had down prior intro python/R/maching learning classes on Coursera and they proved a good starting point.
The bootcamp mainly involves buidling a portfolio of projects, each utilizing a new skill taught through the weeks, using mainly first R followed by Python. Also time is spend on SQL in the beginning and intro neural networks and big data architecture.
The program is legit and skills gained are real.
While instructors and management were always friendly and making efforts to assist when asked, everyone was very busy and there was not an intense structure. As a bootcamp, the progam focuses more on flexibilty and less on structure than a traditional graduate program and thus you must be humble, self-motivated, and vocal to succeed. There is a good broad strategy in the cirriculem but the various instructors could be better in tune with eachother in this goal. Management always asked our feedback and have itineratively improved the bootcamp each cohort.
Students were from a variety of backgrounds, all well-educated and friendly. Many international students.
From early on, management was focused on helping us gain employment after the bootcamp and have remained so after the program ended.
Now 2 months later, I just recently received a full time entry-level data science consulting position. I am very excited and credit my time at the bootcamp in opening up the new opportunity.
A very good place with knowledgeable staff.
Highly recommend.
I am very glad that I took the decision of joining NYC Data Science Academy to pursue the field of Data Science. The 12-weeks intensive program equips you with a strong and solid foundation for Data Science, even if you come with no background in data at all. The staff is easily approachable and highly knowledgeable. The academy makes sure that you have a good experience to showcase at the job interviews through four different projects (one of them being a live project, solving a real-world business problem for a company). The academic setup, which includes instructors as well as Tas, is excellent and ensures that you have required support and guidance at each and every step throughout the program.
They have a strong professional network and even hold a hiring event towards the end of the bootcamp, where you have the opportunity to interact with various companies (across different industries) looking for potential Data Scientists. The academy supports you throughout the process of finding the right job, even after graduating from the bootcamp. Vivian was very helpful with my interview process and providing the right feedback so I can be better prepared and get the job I desired.
Of course, as with any learning process, the real onus of making sure that you get the most out of the bootcamp lies with you. This is a very intensive 12 weeks program and you need to make sure that you dedicate this period fully to Data Science.
I thoroughly enjoyed the learning process at the bootcamp. It helps you grow not only as a Data Scientist but also as professional through the diverse mix of students coming from different academic and professional backgrounds. I highly recommend NYCDSA to anyone who is seeking to make a career in Data Science.
First of all, unlike many bootcamp students, I didn’t come from a background with coding or science, nor do I have a master degree. And I am currently a data scientist working at a startup, helping brands to understand their customers better through an emotional lens using Natural Language Processing. This definitely to certain extent proves not only the rigorousness of the course disciplines and the willingness from the bootcamp to go an extra mile to help the students who don’t come from a ‘regular’ background to succeed.
I picked NYC DSA as the academy’s overall rating was simply the best across all data science bootcamps on the East Coast and the backgrounds of the instructors listed on the website were impressive to me. Coming from a business and consulting background, I consider myself very hardworking and competitive - I only wanted the best and NYC DSA was simply just it.
What I Loved about the Bootcamp:
Some Suggestions:
I attended the bootcamp of NYC Data Science Academy in the summer of 2016. I started my career as Data Analyst one month after the program. I chose this bootcamp because my friend got Data Science training there and got a Data Scientist job right after that. It was a very intensive training program with systematic classes and materials, which covered frontier machine learning algorithms and applications, big data tools, and analysis tools with a path you would be able to further develop your career. The instructors are top notch with mathematic Ph. D degrees. They condensed the Data Science skills and knowledges to approachable class materials. Hand by hand coding help. Vivian, the CTO, pushed us to our limitation and to get good job offers. Almost 99% of our classmates got job offer, where most of them are Data Scientist, and others are Data Analyst. The training was a whole package with knowledges, skills, resume writing and interview mock.
The 12 months studies helped me get my first job in 2016 , and now the second job in 2018. What I learned from NYC Data Science Academy is still helping me in my career.
Strongly recommend.
The bootcamp provided absolutely everything we needed to boost our resume and give us the skills we needed to start out as a Data Analyst or Scientist. I was offered a position and started working immediately after the bootcamp, and it was due to the resume tweaking and data analysis skill set that I obtained in such a short time.
I joined NYCDSA for their 12-week bootcamp in fall 2018. I had graduated with a PhD in biology that summer, but I was looking to improve my data science skills (which were limited to basic knowledge of R) to work towards a more quantitative scientific career. My decision paid off, as I am now working as a bioinformatics data scientist after a relatively short (~2 month) job search and interview process.
NYCDSA has a great deal to offer to anyone looking to move into data science. They provide excellent career counseling throughout the course and connect students to a large number of opportunities in many different fields (finance, marketing, biomedical, business operations, etc) through in-course talks/panels, and a very large career/hiring event after completion. The career guidance is an invaluable aspect of the course.
During these 12 weeks, I learned more than I thought possible. I was one of those who considered trying to teach data science to myself. After doing the bootcamp, I would now discourage this for the following reasons: 1) The projects: You will complete 4 thorough projects, with experienced instructors and TA’s, which will serve as a critical piece of your resume during the application process. *I specifically went through my projects and code while interviewing for the job that I ultimately accepted. 2) The aforementioned career guidance, which was so indispensable. And 3) You will learn far more efficiently here than you would on your own. There is simply too much material to learn in such a short time – without knowledgeable instructors who know how to plan and execute a curriculum, you will take much longer to master the same amount of material.
Be warned – the course is very challenging and will require a lot out of you. It is designed, and is most effective, for driven individuals looking to push hard and create opportunities for themselves in the data science field. A small number of the students were frustrated by the amount of content and workload, but in my opinion, NYCDSA is teaching you as much as you need to be competitive as a data science candidate. Read other reviews from people with no coding experience who were hired as data scientists – this is only possible because of the challenging 12-week curriculum offered here. Bottom line, it’s a great career move if you are properly motivated – I highly recommend it!
I attended the immersive 12-weeks bootcamp during fall cohort 2018. It took me a while to write this review because I am busy but happily working as a Data Scientist, solving exciting and challenging data problems.
The instructors are very attentive and helpful. If you are Math/Statistics background, it would help a lot during the bootcamp. But the instructors make sure you understand the theories through well-designed course structure, examples and practices no matter what your background is.
Not only do they teach you on data science and technical tools, but they also offer exceptional advice on searching and interviewing for jobs. Their support is amazing and is what helped me get my current job. Special thanks to Luke and Vivian!
The immersive program was intense but I also learned a lot from fellow students. I made a lot of great friends through the bootcamp. You get to know people from various academic backgrounds and industries. You would learn how they formulate solutions to data problems in their domain, which are always enlightening. Shout out to team JLP aka team Ostrich Pillow!
Long story short --
I have a PhD in computational geoscience and worked as a geophysicist in Houston for five years. I joined NYCDSA for the 12-week bootcamp, and worked as hard as I could. I was hired after my first interview, with an offer in hand within two weeks post graduation. NYCDSA has helped me achieve this smooth transition into a brand new field in just 3.5 months.
How I made the decision to join --
1) The time commitment is right: I was willing to put in a few months of my time through well-designed highly-intensive training, rather than spending a year or so to learn on my own. I do not want to go through a one-to-two-year data science master's program, considering a) I have a computational PhD degree, and b) although many data science theories have been long established, data science platforms and tools are evolving fast.
2) Word-of-Mouth: I have friends in New York working in the data domain recommending this academy over other data science training offerings. "richer content", "up-to-date material", "good instructors" are among the key words that I recall.
3) A balanced focus on teaching and job service: I have interviewed with a few different data science bootcamps. Many of them gave me a feeling that they want me to be 90% ready for a data scientist role coming in, and they are only willing to do the 10% polishing to get me "sold". NYCDSA convinced me with their road map that they will first focus on teaching the content that they are proud of, then switch gear near the end to the job search part. They shared their online pre-work content with me, so I could get ready. I was impressed by the quality of the recorded lectures and coding platform, which further boosted my faith in the academy.
Experience at the bootcamp --
1) The content
The teaching material is well developed and feels fresh. They keep polishing the core content and introduce many newly developed "jump start" sessions along the way. You are well informed about what's new out there while learning all the fundamentals.
2) The instructors
They have a stable teaching team here. Unlike many other camps which keep losing instructors and hiring recently graduated trainees as instructors, NYCDSA has a stable team. The majority of them started working here from years ago when the 12-week bootcamp was initiated.
They are a knowledgeable, friendly and hardworking group of people, with finance, math, computer science, physics background. When they are not teaching, they either help the students or work together on their side projects. It is smooth to learn from people you respect and admire.
3) The fellow campers
A vast majority of the students here have or are working on a graduate STEM degree, with a solid quantitative background. Many also bring in years of experience from finance, health care, software engineering, marketing or other fields. What they all share is a strong will to perform and succeed in data science.
I feel honored to have worked with a few of them on the group projects. We helped each other not just during the bootcamp, but also during the job search period. I am convinced that it is a great professional and personal network to be in, for the long future after our time at the academy.
4) The career service
NYCDSA organizes hiring events for each cohort. You will see quite a few Fortune 500 companies coming to the event, as well as promising start-ups. The NYSDSA career team verify the job vacancies, collect details about the hiring teams, and prepare cohort members individually for a successful outcome (resume, LinkedIn, GitHub, blog posts, interview skills, and many other aspects.) They also utilize their own personal network to get interview opportunities when they see a great match.
They keep supporting and motivating the students during the course of job search. There are rooms set aside for graduates to come back to and work on things. Here you get daily check-in's from the instructing team and helpful discussion with fellow cohort members. I have been enjoying this cozy and welcoming space often, and plan to keep gaining knowledge and energy from this ideally located data science hub.
Advice for future students --
1) Complete the pre-work, have an initial plan for the projects coming in. 2) Work hard during the bootcamp, be curious and independent. Treat it as a 3-month internship. 3) Plan to jump right into job hunting effort right after. 4) When working with wonderful teammates, make sure to deliver your parts; after achieving your goals, remind yourself that you have been kindly helped along the way.
Closing comments --
It has been a great investment. With the guidance, help, and support from NYCDSA, my job preparation and search time frame has been shortened by at least 3-6 months. For people with solid STEM background and strong desire to work in Data Science, this bootcamp should be a challenging and rewarding journey. I would continue to cherish the relationship I have built with my mentors and friends met during Cohort 9 at the academy. I wish them well.
Going to NYC Data Science Academy is a decision I don’t regret for a second. These were ones of the most challenging 3 months but well worth it. I learnt a lot and got a lot of support that I would not have gotten anywhere else.
As long as you are ready to put in a lot of sweat, hours and effort, you will be successful and do extremely well because you will always get the support of the TAs, staff and fellow students. You are surrounded by a bunch of smart people and TAs who are here to support you and help you grow.
The fact that NYC DSA selects students with a Masters or PhD degree is a big plus because you end up working with people from whom you can learn tremendously. Their experience and background make the bootcamp that much more interesting.
The curriculum is solid and half of it is dedicated to machine learning. Some bootcamps only dedicate a few weeks to machine learning which does not make sense to me given that it is the core of a data science position. The curriculum keeps evolving based on the feedback the students give every week during the pulse check.
I believe that you won’t have any difficulty finding a data science position after attending the bootcamp as long as you have the drive and treat the bootcamp and your job hunting as a full time job.
Also, NYC DSA offers a lot of help in your job hunting. The last 3 weeks of the bootcamp are dedicated to helping you with your job hunt (don’t worry you’ll still be working on your data science skillset in the meantime with probably the toughest classes of the bootcamp happening at that time too…). You’ll receive a lot of support to find a job from the staff and they will prepare you for interviews.
All in all, get ready to work hard and if you do, this will be one of the best decisions you will ever make to advance your career in data science
WHY Data Science and WHY NYCDSA: I had no idea about data science until 2016 Feb when Alphago defeated Li Shishi and it was the first time for me to get to know what is Artificial Intelligence and what is machine learning. Bringing my huge curiosity, I self-learnt an online Machine Learning course on Coursera and was able utilize the skill , for the first time, in my working project and had a positive outcome. Being proud of my achievement, I also realized there was still a long way down the road. This is actually the reason why I decided to join bootcamp - fully armed myself with comprehensive data science skillset and then shifting my career towards a new page. NYCDSA is a perfect choice for me as it teaches anything you need to know to work as junior data scientist and allows you to keep full time job as the same time.
Experience: Even though it is an part-time online bootcamp, I was investing 40+ hours / week on studying slides, having office hour with TA and doing projects with current full time students. The bootcamp starts with an introduction Toolkits (Unix,Git,SQL,etc.), followed by introduction to R/Python, then followed by statistics and machine learning immediately applied using R and Python. The comprehensive curriculum is completed by an introduction to Big Data tools. I was able to finish a strong portfolio with 4 projects in Shiny App, Web Scraping, Kaggle and Capstone. I learned a lot especially by collaborating with full time students and TAs, so I would strongly recommend those online students who are physically in NYC, walk in the classroom and collaborate with full-time students on your last two projects.
In terms of job assistance, NYCDSA can provide tremendous assistance on your job hunting after your graduation. Vivian and Chris know what you need to have on your resume to catch HR’s eye and get an interview, and they have a strong network which can expose you to much more opportunities.
Outcome: I finally received offer from 2 Top insurance companies, 2 Top hospitals, and 2 boutique consulting companies. I feel my investment of 7 months of study and $16K totally worth as it allows me to finally launch my dream job. Thank you New York City Data Science Academy and I would recommend it to anyone who has same dream to be a data scientist.
I would highly recommend anyone who wants to switch career to data science or strengthen data science knowledge to apply NYC Data Science Academy.
Before I joined the Boot camp, two of my close friends already graduated from the program and landed their dream jobs. So unlike most of people who don’t know too much about this program and have to do some research before applying it, I applied the program without a hesitation and also had a high expectation as well.
The curriculum design was excellent and really taught you how to learn new tech skills, frameworks quickly. It could be hard for people who are not exposed to programming or statistics to keep up the pace. Make sure to go through all the pre work and learn basic statistics before attending the boot camp. Once you started to work on your final project, you will notice that you’ve learned so much.
All the instructors are very talented and very patient to students.
Vivian and Chris work hard to help you to find a good job once you’ve graduated. After you graduate, NYCDSA sticks with you. Vivian and Claire emailed us frequently with new job opportunities and openings.
It’s not going to be easy. You will have nights you have to stay up to finish the project, missed parties that you don’t have time to attend to. But it will be worth it! The knowledge that I’ve learned in 3 months are way more than my two years master degree and I got my dream job too.
I’ve never regretted to attend NYC Data Science Academy. I’ve met so many amazing friends in the boot camp. It’s a very valuable experience to me in terms of career development and personal growth as well.
If you are passionate about data science and big data and you are willing to put hard work to achieve the goal in a short time of period, there is no better place than NYC Data Science Academy to learn data science skills.
What impressed me most about my experience at NYCDSA was that it exceeded all of the expectations I had from speaking with the instructors and researching the program online. The entire team truly went above and beyond and I have only positive things to say about the instructors, the curriculum, and the way the experience changed me personally.
I found the instructors at NYCDSA to be not only incredibly knowledgeable, but approachable, thoughtful teachers. They seemed to really care about each student’s development and regularly stayed late in the evenings to offer help. If they could not be present in person, the instructors were always an e-mail/Slack message away and made it a point to check in with students and offer additional resources. I also liked that they not only taught the theory behind machine learning algorithms, but explained their most common applications and pitfalls to watch out for.
The curriculum at NYCDSA is constantly updated to reflect the most valuable skills for the real world. I found during interviews that whenever I was asked whether I had experience with a certain data science technique or language, I could either say “yes” or show a project to demonstrate my skills directly. What I was taught always matched up with what was requested of me in the interviewing or working world. Even after the end of the bootcamp, I kept my slides and materials for review, and was provided with hundreds of interview questions to help me succeed going forward.
Most importantly, the NYCDSA provided an amazing support group and helped me transform myself during a critical point in time. The other students were dedicated, kind, and came from all different backgrounds. I learned a huge amount from them and the instructors about the process of learning a skill like data science/programming and collaborating successfully. Apart from teaching the curriculum, instructors also provided resume reviews, listened to elevator pitches, and made themselves available to discuss interview experiences. I felt as though I had a whole village behind me, rooting for my success.
I would without a doubt recommend NYCDSA to any friends or colleagues looking to learn data science. It was an exceptional experience and I feel grateful to have found it.
I came into NYC Data Science with experience working as a data analyst at several companies and active data consulting work.
At NYDSA, I wanted to spend three months solidifying my existing skillset as data analyst and learning areas that I did not know much about like machine learning and big data. In my jobs, I had previously worked with both Python and R, and appreciated the value of both languages. I also liked that NYDSA wasn't part of some big cookie cutter data science bootcamp chain.
For the first month of NYCDSA when we covered topics like data wrangling, visualization, shiny, and web scraping, it was mostly review for me. That being said, I learned some new tools and tricks, and was able to work on some interesting projects with some help with from our great teachers. I also got to meet and learn from a lot of interesting classmates. The students at NYDSA come from a wide variety of backgrounds, from PHDs to straight out of bachelors programs, and are definitely part of the value of the program.
After watching me instruct classmates on web scraping, which I had a lot of experience with before the bootcamp, NYCDSA asked me if I wanted to record web scraping lectures for their online data science bootcamp. I agreed to record them and got to have some experience teaching while I was still a student in the bootcamp, which both solidied my skills and helped me earn back some of tuition.
During the machine learning and big data portion of the bootcamp, I was exposed to lots of new material and learned a lot. While I still have a lot to learn, I now have a good understanding of different machine learning models and techniques, and some of the big data technologies.
One month after the bootcamp ended, I started working full-time at a consulting company that I was consulting for during the bootcamp. With my experience in the program, I was able to negotiate better terms on my contract with the company. In addition, I have been doing some additional data science consulting on the side (one project referred by NYCDSA) and the skills learned at NYDSA have benefited me in all my work.
If you invest your time in the program, you will get three months of data science learning with awesome teachers who know their stuff and are willing to help you through any learning hurdles. As someone who has and continues to learn most of this stuff on my own, three months with expert teachers definitely accelerated my learning pace. So if you want to spend three months learning a lot of data science, I would recommend you sign up
I came to New York City Data Science Academy because I wanted to become a better coder, to become more knowledgeable about machine learning, and to get a better job. Having completed the bootcamp in the Spring of 2017, I can say that through the Data Science Academy, I was able to accomplish all three.
Before the bootcamp
Previous to the bootcamp, I had a job as a data analyst which gave me the exposure SQL, Linux, Hadoop, and some Python - all tools that are taught in the academy. I knew I wanted to improve my overall problem solving approach, specifically using Python and R. After a few years as an analyst, and many months of debating if enrolling in a machine learning bootcamp was worth the time and money, I decided to go for it. Although I do not have a masters degree like many of my fellow cohort members, I knew that I could use my work experience to my advantage in preparing for the bootcamp. Like many others have stated, giving yourself enough time to go over the 100+ hours of prep work before the bootcamp is highly advised - being able to perform the basics of Python and R will set you up for success.
Preparing before the bootcamp is also crucial in another way. As you spend more time studying, you spend less time doing all the other normal things you’re used to doing in your life. In order to make the most out of the bootcamp, sacrifices must be made, from your social life, to your eating and sleeping habits, and to the amount of coffee you normally drink. If you don’t get used to it before, adjusting to these changes midway through the bootcamp can be a challenge.
During the bootcamp.
If you spend enough time preparing before the start of the bootcamp, then the first month or so should not be too challenging (but still very useful). Many of my fellow cohorts actually became nervous, thinking that our investment in the bootcamp might not have been worth it. Don’t fret. After going over the basics again, the fun truly begins.
After the first month, you will spend every day learning machine learning concepts, applications, statistics, and then applying these techniques in both Python and R. This is no easy task in a few short months, which is why the instructors, teaching assistants, and Vivian, deserve so much credit in churning out so many qualified data scientists in such short time. The instructors are always, at all times, helping and guiding you in the right direction. On top of that, you have the additional resource of working with your fellow cohort members, all who have unique backgrounds and always willing to help.
In the end, the journey would not be worth it without days of extreme struggle and frustration. Some days I felt really confident in the material, other days I did not think I had what it takes to be successful. What I believe the instructors are best at is instilling the confidence in each and every student, spending as much time with you as needed to successfully complete the projects.
The last few weeks are spent on tidying up your resume, github, blog posts, and interview skills. Aside from learning both R and Python in the bootcamp, one of the reasons why I chose the Data Science Academy was because of the strong professional connections that Vivian and the team have developed over time. The final day is dedicated to a networking event, where the ratio of companies to students is almost 1 to 1. Although it can be a bit nerve wracking, Vivian and the team do a good job of preparing you on what to expect.
After the bootcamp
I was lucky enough to land an internship at a startup as a data science intern from one of the participating companies at our networking event. I have to give my experience to the bootcamp all the credit for this. Had I not had relevant experience and projects to speak of, I would not have been able to land the job. As my internship was coming to an end, I spent more time with Vivian and the team doing mock interviews, going over practice questions, asking for help on take home assignments, and constantly reviewing. Without a doubt, I can say that the three months of the bootcamp was the second hardest thing I’ve ever done - the first hardest thing was getting a job afterwards.
Vivian and the instructors have the uncanny ability of knowing what specific skills you need to improve on, based on constant back and forth communication based off of past interviews, as well as the interviews you eventually take. You will fail, and fail a lot. Most data science interviews are designed to test you on the very limit of your knowledge on data science subjects. With practice, you will answer the questions confidently, and even if you are unsure of a question, you will be able to communicate a thorough data science process on how you think the question could be answered. If you fail an interview, it’s another lesson on how to improve for your next interview, which Vivian will most likely have helped you set up already.
After months and months of dedicating my life to all data science related activities, I have landed a job as a data lead at a media company, and have the entire NYC Data Science Academy program to thank for it. If you are seriously considering a future career in data science, then I can 100% vouch for the academy, so long as you are ready to work harder than you have ever worked in your entire life. At the end of the day, it’s all worth it.
It's important when learning anything to get the fundamentals right. If you build bad habits, it can become difficult to fix them later on, especially if you have also built many dependencies on those bad habits. This is why when I wanted to start learning about data science, I chose to take this course to help me make the right choices from the very beginning.
I would say that I got exactly what I came for. Tony is a very good instructor. He is able to express complicated concepts in an understandable way, and I would definitely say that now I understand enough about the Python ecosystem that I could start learning on my own if I wanted.
I was a postdoc at Duke University (Engineering) and my background is control and optimization. I participated NYCDSA Online Data Science Program (10/2016 - 02/2017).
NYCDSA online video lectures have a very high quality. I found that the well-organized class material and lecture notes very helpful to prepare for data scientist job interviews. I can review the material repeatedly until I am ready for the interviews. Also, almost everything I need to pass a data scientist job interview is covered in the program, which can certainly facilitate my interview preparation.
Finally, Vivian and the entire NYCDSA team are extremely helpful for data scientist job searching. From resume/cover letter revision, coding practice, to data scientist technical interview preparation, NYCDSA has enabled me to make a smooth transition from academia to industry.
I found a job at Citibank as a Fraud Data Scientist. Without NYCDSA online program, I would have to spend much more time to find the right direction to achieve what I have been able to accomplish through this online program.
This course was the best thing to ever happen to me. In 20 weeks (4: pre work, 12: course, 4 job hunt) I went from someone who couldn't write 'Hello World' in python to a full blown Data Scientist, making six figures, with multiple companies vying for my interest.
What you should know:
You will get as much out of this course as you put in. I had many, many days where I was working well past midnight and back in class by 9:30am. You learn how to learn, which is THE skill required for any coding job. The curriculum is intensive, and a lot of times I couldn't totally complete the homework without checking for answers from my peers, and that's okay! In the real world, much of your job will be interacting and working with a team.
Course: Go every day, work hard, finish the projects on time, and hold yourself accountable. The lecturers do a great job, but ultimately when you're 24+ years old, nobody is going to spoon feed you. The homework is great, but when you try to put everything you've learned together into a well rounded project (there are 4-5 projects), that is when you really understand what is going on. Throw yourself full bore into the projects, and take pride in your work. 90% of what I learned, no exaggeration, was in the 3-5 days before projects were due. Its one thing to figure out homework by looking at the example sets, and a different thing entirely to apply those concepts to a data set with different structure and goals. If you are proud of your projects at the end, you will get a job. Period.
Job Hunt:
The job is the ultimate goal for 99% of people entering the camp. Unfortunately, there is some confusion about how the search will work. For one, you will not be "given" a job. For most people, the job search will take 1.5-3 months. Vivian has excellent contacts but she also has 40+ students. In order to guarantee yourself a job, you need to approach the process like a data science project. For me, I did "easy apply"s on LinkedIn, 50 a day. These take literally 15 seconds each. I then selected 15 companies a day with a more formal interview process, and sent them a variation of a pre-written cover letter. For my top picks, I tried to find a hiring manager or data scientist on the team, and add them on LinkedIn. I put my name on AngelList, and got many companies reaching out. I humbled myself and told everyone I was more interested in a great learning position, not a great salary. I iteratively changed my own interview methods, including voice tone, inflections, negotiations, honesty levels, until I found a balance that worked for me. You cannot just apply and hope. That is not a method.
Basically, the bootcamp is the first big step. The second big step is learning how to apply and interview. Many people send out 5-10 applications to their top picks (who are often everyone else's top picks as well) and then sit on their hands and wonder why they haven't gotten a job. When entering a new field, you have to make concessions about your salary and place of work, in order to reap the rewards down the line. Also, without multiple options, you will not be able to negotiate because you'll feel this is your only chance. BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS!
Overall:
The camp was the best decision I ever made. I read a book called Design Your Life, which basically said take how you want your life to be, then decide what is necessary to get it there.
I wanted to live in NYC, with a six figure job, working in an office with low stress, and love what I do. NYCDSA made all of that possible. If you have gotten a degree that isn't taking you where you want to be, but you know you're smart and can work hard, I strongly urge you to apply to NYCDSA today.
Honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Yes it’s a reasonably difficult course, but if you are truly interested in data science you enjoy every second of it. Like anything, you get out what you put in. If you’re ready to work as hard as you need to in order to master this wealth of knowledge in 12 weeks, this course is 100% for you.
The instructors and TAs are excellent, all accomplished data scientists with a wealth of skill and knowledge. The resources, from slides to code examples and practice questions, are things I will continue to use throughout my career as a data scientist. There is ALWAYS more to learn in the field of data science.
If you’re thinking about going because you simply want a pay raise, then don’t. The course is relatively difficult, and if you aren’t willing to put in the work to master everything you need to land a job, then you won’t get a job. Simple as that.
However, if you are committed to becoming an expert data science, the job support here is immense. There are mock interviews, code interview practice questions, linkedin workshops, presentations from hiring companies and data scientists etc…I myself recently accepted a dream offer from a company I was connected with through the bootcamp.
You likely won’t get a job immediately, it’ll take awhile and a lot of interview practice. It took me about 3 months. If you haven’t mastered the skills you need to be a data scientist, then you don’t have the skills to pass through the interview process. But again, if you are committed there is no shortage of resources made available to you. If you do not succeed here, it is because you did not put as much effort into them as they did into you.
Finally, an underrated part of the experience is the other students. Some of my best friends in the city I met through the bootcamp, and we still go out for drinks all the time. The course not only provides you with knowledge, but connections. It’s a room full of intelligent, driven and entrepreneurial people. You could expect nothing less.
If you want to be a data scientist, and more importantly you have the drive to learn and succeed, you’ll thrive here. Simple as that.
Overall:
100% YES!!! I wholeheartedly recommend NYC Data Science Academy! If you want to switch into data science, the bootcamp will help you land your dream job. I got an internship offer shortly after the end of bootcamp(~2.5 weeks) through the bootcamp’s hiring partner event, and recently became a full-time data scientist at the same company. All of this would not have been possible without the help of NYCDSA!
Full Review
When I was reading through bootcamp reviews, I personally thought it was more helpful to find people of similar background as mine and see how well they fared. For instance, knowing that people with only bachelors degree attended NYCDSA and got data scientist jobs helped to not only inspire me, but also to set realistic expectations on what type of jobs I could get and how long it could take. So here is a blurb about myself:
TL-DR;
Prior to coming into the bootcamp, I asked myself: “Is the bootcamp worth the $16,000 investment?” Is it going to give me enough skills to find a job as a data scientist?”. If you read my introduction, the ultimate answer is an obvious YES! Below, I am listing the top 7 reasons why I think NYDSCA was a worth investment for me:
If you made it all the way to the end, thank you reading this review! All in all, NYCDSA was great!! It worked perfectly for me as it gave me the skills (both technical and soft) I needed to land a data scientist job. BE PREPARED TO WORK HARD. Treat both the bootcamp and job hunting as a full-time job and you will be rewarded. :)
Three months ago I had no idea what I had signed up for. I wasn't even sure I had made the right choice--not just with NYCDSA, but data science in general. I didn't know how to code and all my statistics experience came from an academic setting. Three months later and I can hardly comprehend how I got to where I am now, but I know for certain I wouldn't have gotten here without NYCDSA. On the first day it was clear that I was a bit of a minority. It seemed that everyone had more experience than I did--I had been a classroom teacher for 6 years, and an English teacher at that--but this wasn't a time for excuses. No matter what level you arrive at, you can't survive the program without being all-in, and that might be its greatest strength. I (and the rest of my cohort) kissed goodbye to our social lives and fought through three of the most challenging, stressful months of our lives. Suddenly I'm a proficient coder in two languages, I understand the statistical nuance behind complicated machine learning algorithms, and most importantly, I landed a job that is wildly better than what I imagined I could get. Seriously. I took the screening interview just for the practice. And then I got another interview. And then another. And then a job offer. And throughout, I knew the answer the virtually every question they threw at me. And for that, I have to thank NYCDSA.
I had a great experience at the NYC Data Science Academy.
To give you a little background, I have a PhD in Biochemistry and did a Post-Doc in computational biology and bioinformatics and then worked in industry for a couple of years in both technical and non-technical roles. With the recent advent of data science, I made a decision to make a transition to data science and wanted to get up to speed in data science, Python and R, as well as machine learning, in a rapid but focused manner. The NYC Data Science Academy provided the perfect opportunity to do so.
The things that stand out about the Boot Camp were:
A word of caution about participating in the Boot Camp. Be prepared to work like crazy. I worked 12 to 14 hours a day, 7 days a week for three months straight.
I had an interest in data science but was making slow progress learning it on my own. This program gave me a strong foundation to build my future growth upon. It covered all the statistics necessary to apply statistically learning methods appropriately. It taught the most commonly used machine learning methods across industries. These methods were covered in both R and Python. Seeing the material in both languages was great, it gave you two chances to be exposed to each topic. All of the material was presented with clear lecture slides that will continue to be a resource. Each topic was also presented with sample code and exercises to explore the material in a hands on fashion. We also had the chance to work on real world data science projects that applied the material covered, with the assistance of our teachers and TAs. The bootcamp hosts a monthly Meetup that gave us a chance to present our work publicly. We had weekly speakers who were leaders in their respective fields come and speak to the class about different facets of data science. In some instances these speakers also had projects we could work on if we were interested in their field. The bootcamp went to great lengths to get us access to hiring partners, actually bring data science managers/HR managers to us. To be successful in this program you need to work as hard as they work for you. It wasn't uncommon to work with instructors late into the night or on weekends. This has been a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about becoming a data scientist.
I attended the Data Science Bootcamp in summer 2015. It was a very enriching, useful and enjoyable experience. It offered plenty of important things that one couldn't hope to find by taking online courses or reading textbooks. The instructors possessed valuable knowledge and perspectives in the data science industry, and were able to share them with the students through various activities (e.g. lectures, invited talks, meetups, company visits, individual counseling, etc.). Also, students had a lot of opportunities to interact with established data scientists, as well as collaborate with other aspiring ones on real-world projects.
Data Science Bootcamp was the best experience in my career. Instructors were not only helpful in teaching the regular materials but also guide you to establish your confidence in yourself to be a Data Scientist. They will help you even after completing your bootcamp. Nice and honest environment.
I took Machine Learning with R and Hadoop data engineering classes in 2015. They are all well-structured classes with extensive information coverage and concrete learning process design. All the techniques been told in the class are very practical and can be applied to work very fast. In addition, it is also a great opportunity to build your "data science" fellow network because all your classmates are "Pro" in this domain with a lot of wonderful industry experiences to share. I would definitely recommend NYC Data Science Academy to my friend!
Vivian came to our company and taught us five one-day sessions in R from entry level to intermediate level. I had no experience in R before. But I have learned a lot from Vivian and from the resources she provided, both from online and from the books. The homework and the office hour are also very helpful. After the classes, I have started to use R in my job from very basic stuff to more advanced data manipulation and analysis. Vivian is very knowledgeable in R and a warm person to work with. Thank you, Vivian.
I took Machine Learning with Python and Data Analysis with Python in the Spring. I found both course useful and informative. The courses have given me a comprehensive and yet in-depth introduction into Machine Learning and Python. And these skills turn out to be invaluable at work. Most importantly, Vivian is an excellent instructor. She is immensely helpful and supportive which makes the learning process quite enjoyable. Definitely recommend NYC Data Science Academy!
I took the Data Science with Python: Machine Learning course and I learned a lot. This course helped me to improve my data analysis and general Python skills. It introduced me to several new libraries and algorithms, most of which I plan to use at work. Overall, I had a very positive experience.
I took Vivian’s Data Science course and had a fantastic experience. I networked with Data professionals from the NBA, the Federal Reserve Bank, NYC startups, and more. I learned a lot very quickly and had a lot of fun. It’s a nice part of the city and the building has a great startup feel to it. …While I was still enrolled I implemented a hierarchical clustering algorithm and put it into production. I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I hadn’t learned Data Science at NYC Data Science Academy.
Thanks to NYC Data Science Academy, I was able to find a great job as a data scientist at a startup before the 12 weeks was even up. Had it not been for the Data Science Boot Camp, I would still be looking for a job. The Boot Camp builds confidence in data science through exercises, homework, lectures, and personal projects. These projects are immensely helpful when job searching, and students are encouraged to take on as many as possible. Over the 12 weeks, I gained proficiency in R, Python, Hadoop, and SQL, just to name a few. Vivian, the Program Director, is truly devoted to her students’ success. She continuously challenged us to step outside our comfort zone and dive head first into the most difficult concepts. The other staff members at NYCDSA including Bryan and Janet, are also extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Students have the full support, encouragement, and expertise of the NYCDSA staff. This experience, while extremely challenging, exceeded all my expectations. The skills and knowledge gained from NYC Data Science Boot Camp is well worth the price, and the effort.
Great class. For only a 5 week class it is very comprehensive. Covers the basics and commonly used libraries used in python for data analysis as well has how to use them. Notebooks used in the class are a great go-resource after the class ends. Also a great community of data professionals and networking if you are thinking about a new gig.
Vivian led two training sessions for our team at our company location, and covered both introductory and intermediate data analysis using R in five days. We very much enjoyed Vivian’s engaging teaching style and the hands-on exercises. She was able to draw on a broad array of real world experiences she had with clients in many different industries. This helped us feel the excitement of how data science techniques were used to solve challenging problems. I particularly like the fact that she insisted on the post-training projects that were completed by all attendees. It was satisfying for me to see what our team could do in a very short period of time using the skills gained in the training.
Great comprehensive course that give you a thorough overview of Python and how it can be used in the field of Data Science.
As a novice coder, this class was a great way to learn how I can manipulate and analyze data in Python. Would recommend for anyone interested in learning how to use python and apply to daily work.
Excellent 2 days of GIT and GITHUB training! The trainer, Bryan Valentini was very personable and took the time to answer everyone’s questions as well as provide desk-side assistance. Would definitely recommend to others new to GIT and GITHUB!
The intermediate python machine learning course was a fascinating time. It gave me a much better feel for the variety of practical techniques that can be used in the field, and I’m frankly really excited to apply what I’ve learned in the near future. Make no mistake, the course and topics are challenging, but your perseverance will be rewarded.
I found Vivian’s Intermediate Python class to be very refreshing, given the formulaic approach that most books I’ve read on Data Science tend to be. She definitely knows her subject, clearly communicates that to her students, and fosters lively debate during class. Can’t wait to see what my fellow students present for their final projects!
As the business world becomes increasingly data-driven, the Data Sciences classes at NYC Data Sciences Academy are invaluable to driving career success, not only for actual data science practitioners, but those who collaborate with them day-to-day to execute on insights to be gleaned from data sciences. I just completed the Intermediate level Data Sciences with R class and have immediately benefited from the ability to understand the different type of advanced analytic techniques that are available to help my clients with their business issues, to better communicate and collaborate with our Data Sciences team on a tactical level and then to take their output and accurately translate it into our clients’ business language. The course was comprehensive and Vivian brings a lot of passion and dedication to the class and ensuring her students’ success.
It was only a four-day entry-level training, but it turned out that I made the right choice to come along, join Vivian and her talented colleagues, and benefit tremendously from the lessons, discussions and on-site exercises. What’s more, with the encouragement from the teachers, I managed to complete my own small R project, and have been interested in further my studies on R ever since. I strongly recommend any one, who is intrigued by data management, visualization, data mining, statistics, or critical thinking using mathematical tools, to learn R, or preferably, learn R with Vivian and her colleagues, to expand his or her horizon, and make use of R in many ways possible.
I took both the intensive beginner and intensive intermediate R classes back-to-back on weekends over a four-month period. Although 7 hours a session may feel hefty, once you’re in the class time will fly by. Sessions split time between lecture and hands-on exercises, so you have lots of time to ask questions. Homework assignments are manageable – Vivian is very accessible should you have a question by email or in-person office hours. Each class ends with a Demo Day of a project of your choice. You will access real data from the Internet using APIs and analyze this information and ways you never would have thought possible using Excel or even SQL! Because of the initiative I took to learn the material, I have accepted a position as a Data Scientist at Google. A big thank you to Vivian and the team at the NYC DSA for helping me make the leap in my career from business analyst to data scientist!
I took the Data Science by R programming (beginner level) class taught by Vivian. The class material was very well organized and consisted of tips and tricks that only someone who has worked extensively with R would know, some undocumented features included. The course, home work, and project are quite intensive, so be prepared to put the time in; but when you are done, you will be a much more valuable professional! It’s all well worth the effort and hard work. The beginner course has set the stage for me to take the next level data mining class, which I am eagerly looking forward to.
I enjoyed this class — I would give it a 4, only because it went a little too fast for me at some points. I am a beginner of the most clearly beginner level. I had played with some front end programming, but never attempted backend work. The 5 hour classes on Saturdays were tough because it required a lot of homework and studying during the week, but the instructor was good about answering questions and pushing us to keep working on new and interesting things. The program was extremely supportive of me while I was trying to learn new material, I have and will continue to recommend this class/NYC Data school.
I took the first offering of Data Science using Python a few weeks ago, and definitely recommend it to anyone who loves hands-on learning with some guidance. Let me explain: Last year, I took Coursera’s Machine Learning/Intro to Data Science courses and did well, but did not do a hands-on project that would enable me to retain a lot of knowledge. But this course required me to pick a detailed project and present it to a live audience, who then determined whether I did well or not. So I learned how to do web scraping, extract social media API data, write object-oriented Python, utilize a NoSQL database (MongoDB) to store results, and finally create visualizations in D3 and HighCharts. And then the pressure to present well, just to pass the class. Our instructor John was competent, knowledgeable and helpful, and covered a variety of useful tools like Pandas and Scikit Learn, including machine learning algorithms. And Vivian is always pushing us harder to do better. Sounds familiar?
The instructor, John Downs, was very knowledgeable and did an excellent job of providing an overview in the key areas of Python. After the five week class I went from knowing essentially nothing about Python to using it as one of my “go to” tools in which I am able to accomplish tasks at work on a daily basis.
I took the beginner level Python class with John Downs and really had a great experience. John is very knowledgeable about Python and programming in general, and was able to be helpful to students of all levels in the class. The exercises in class and the homework got our hands dirty with the language and the final project was a great way to create a real result by the end of the course. Overall it was challenging, but a valuable intro to a useful tool that was easier to approach with real-life sessions than self-study demos on my own. I’ll definitely take classes with NYC Data Science Academy in the future and would recommend it to my friends.
John Down’s Python for Data Analysis class was a helpful introduction to using python toolkits such as Pandas and Scikit Learn to work with large and complex data structures. John started the class off slowly to get the group adjusted to Python syntax, but made sure to include all of the essential data management/analysis techniques to get started (e.g. dataset merging, manipulation, basic stats/regression, etc). In a short course, John did a great job of including numerous examples in ipython notebooks that he gives to the class– this approach was very helpful for exposing beginners to more complex techniques that they can go back to when they are ready. I definitely recommend this course to any beginner interested in learning how python can help make data analysis faster and easier.
Very informative class. Vivian uses intensive exercises and hand-on practices to make sure you understand how to use the packages she teaches!
I completed the Intensive beginner course for R and I highly recommend it! I’ve learned a lot in 5 weeks and I can say that I am now an R convert (from SAS). I’ve learned so many functions and packages that I am now able to use them confidently at work. Vivian was also a great, hard working teacher who encouraged every one in the class to study harder which means she really cared that that her students would become great data scientists sooner than later. I like the class so much I am now taking the R intermediate class.
I strongly recommend this class to all potential students who have some programming background. The pace at the beginning is necessarily rapid to cover the basics of syntax and structure, so that more time can be devoted to numpy/scipy/pandas/etc. John was a fantastic instructor, and impressively it was his first time teaching the course! Super nice/patient/knowledgeable, and he has a real knack for explaining stuff. Taking introduction to Python for Data Analysis was a great decision for me. In a relatively short period of time, I was introduced to the top analytical code libraries in Python and gained experience using them. Well worth the time and money: I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
The D3 class was a great intro to the library. After finishing the class I can create simple data visualizations (bar, line, scatter, chloropleth, etc) and know some more advanced concepts (brushing, reusable charts). I also know enough about how the library works to continue learning on my own. I’d recommend coming in with some JavaScript knowledge as that will help you grasp the concepts quicker.
As an employer, I have found NYC Data Science Academy classes significantly improved the data science and visualization skill set of our research and business analyst. The courses are practical, compressed and come with lots of support. We sent a motivated team member to the Intensive Beginner R class. Previously he had no R experience and in one month’s time he was able to achieve proficiency. Since completing the course, our analyst has built, analyzed and presented data in valuable new ways.
I just finished the 002 session of the beginner R class. We certainly got a lot of “bang for our buck”, because Vivian is preeminent in the field of data science, and she was able to move through a lot of material very quickly. She worked extremely hard in preparing well organized slides, and for me the key was to go through the day’s presentation, provided beforehand, during the week prior to the class, running all the code and seeing what it does. This allows you to keep up and absorb her lesson when you get into class. In addition to getting a solid start on the use of R, the class also provided valuable insight into the field of data science, which is a career into which I am interested in transitioning. Lastly, Vivian made herself available to us weekly for extra help, either in person or via web interaction, which was much appreciated. Like I said, she is very dedicated and works extremely hard at seemingly everything she does. Thanks Vivian!
I attended the beginner’s workshop for R and I found it extremely useful. The classes were very well organized. The slides were well paced with many practical examples. I especially like the hands on format of the class, you work through the slides on your laptop. I had very little knowledge of R before and I learned many tools during the course. I was particularly interested in the visualization tools. Since the course, I have used some of the charting tools that I learned in my presentations at work as well. Both Scott and Vivian did an excellent job teaching R basics. They were very helpful and answered questions in person, email and piazza (online platform where we would post our solutions). Vivian also shared with the class a lot of material and practical examples. I would highly recommend this course to users who are interested in learning R.
I took the initial version of this class late fall 2013 and found it to be well worth the time. The slides, examples and exercises were well organized. Scott Kostyshak’s presentation style is clear and concise. The second iteration will have twice the classroom hours and cover a lot of material that there wasn’t time for in the initial format. It’s worth the investment if you want to dive into the R ecosystem.
The Introductory R class covered a broad range of information, and for a statistics and programming newbie like me, was indispensable for coming up to speed on a variety of related subject matter. Vivian is passionate about R, open data, statistics, etc.. Her enthusiasm is contagious!
Super helpful. Vivian is a fantastic teacher. She really pushes everyone to dig in and start solving problems.
