NYC Data Science Academy

You can read books about deep learning and in fact the instructor Jon Krohn has a new book out as well. However, there is a gap between reading and understanding conceptually and writing code to solve a real-world problem. This course completely fills the gap.

 

The instructor does give you the conceptual foundations, assuming no prior knowledge. I did have some prior knowledge, but still the class is self-contained.

I would say 30-40% of class time is spent discussing code that solves a practical problem. I think this is the perfect balance: you can't delve more into code without a global understanding why all those parameters may be required and you can't delve deeper into theory without neglecting the practical question of "where do I begin".

 

The instructor is very personable and easy to approach about his own experience in the industry.

I came across NYC Data Science Academy when I was looking for certification courses with classroom learning and I am glad I made a decision to take it up. It was a well planned course which was spread over five Sundays. Our instructor, Anthony Schultz, was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about teaching Python which made the whole course a very enjoyable experience. The course content had in depth coverage with examples to elaborate each concept, giving us the opportunity to learn as we progress. By the end of this course, you would get a good grip of Python which you can apply in your daily work.

I chose the NYC Data Science Academy over other bootcamps mainly because of its outstanding reviews as well as the fact that it offers its courses simultaneously in R and in Python. 
After working through the extensive prework in Python, R, and SQL (an absolute must if you do not have any previous coding experience), I was perfectly prepared to attend the bootcamp.

The bootcamp itself offered far more than I had expected. Phenomenal teachers that will give their everything to help you understand the topics, TA's that are always there to help with smaller questions as well as great classmates that made studying a lot easier. Nevertheless, you should not come here expecting a relaxed ride. Teaching data science in twelve weeks requires a fast pace and it will be up to you to put in those hours to complete the homework and review lectures.

The curriculum itself is centered around four projects that deal with all aspects of the data science process, from gathering data (web scraping) over creating a dashboard to working on machine learning group projects. My initial intention coming here was to learn as much as possible as fast as possible and this bootcamp turned out to be everything that I had hoped for.

On top of that, Vivian and the team offered several job search and interview preparation lectures and talks that I have not seen anywhere else. If you are looking for a data science bootcamp that covers all data science topics from start to finish and you are willing to put in the work, this bootcamp is the best decision you can make.

I took NYC Data Science Academy's deep learning course, taught by Jon Krohn. Jon is a terrific teacher, and I would heartily recommend this course! Jon had tremendous enthusiasm and patience for questions while still keeping us on track with the schedule. He really broke things down into bite-size, understandable pieces, while still covering a lot of breadth and depth. I appreciated Jon making available his draft book, this really complemented the lectures. I liked the format of once-a-week lessons because it gave time for concepts to sink in and to practice things with my own data in between sessions. I appreciated that Jon made time to troubleshoot challenges we experienced in our own projects. The course was both a great introduction to concepts and to some of the ways people are applying deep learning; here examples from Jon's day job were valuable. One aspect of the course that was very helpful was that Jon set up a Docker environment for us, and shared very clear instructions for getting our computers set up with it in advance. We were all ready to go from the start. I'm all the more grateful for Jon having set that up after recently spending half of a workshop (run by a different data science academy) wrestling with Anaconda. The Jupyter notebooks all just worked, so we could focus on learning. 

I entered the bootcamp with a background in Mathematics and some previous exposure to machine learning theory. Programming was relatively new to me at the time, so my first course of action was to familiarize myself with Python and R. Thankfully, NYC Data Science Academy provided over 30hrs of pre-bootcamp material (video lectures, in-person lectures, and textbooks), which included coding in Python, R, and some introductory statistics. The program kicks off with a small overview of the tools needed to begin studying data science (mostly to bring everyone up to the same page), and then dives right in to data visualization as the first major topic of study. There is a strong sense of camaraderie with students throughout the program, and there is a strong family-like atmosphere in the space. Most importantly, the curriculum is very strong, and the instructors have deep practical and theoretical knowledge on the material covered. I found it a privilege to study under some of NYCDSA's staff, as they really are the cream of the crop. On top of a strong curriculum, there are many career workshops during and after the program is complete. Some of the workshops include professional development, discussions with industry leaders and practitioners (Kirk Borne spoke to my cohort), and interview/case study prep. The post-graduation network is incredibly strong and supportive for alumni seeking jobs, with frequent interview and networking opportunities provided. Vivian (the program founder) has a vast professional network, which she utilizes for student and alumni needs.  I'm incredibly happy to have completed the program, and to have worked with such a terrific set of instructors, teaching assistants, and classmates during that time. I couldn't have asked for a better start to my data science career.

  I went to NYCDSA in hopes of changing careers. My undergraduate degree was in statistics, and I worked as an actuary for 6 years and earned my actuarial credentials in this time. I was bored of actuarial work and was looking for a change into data science since my background was related. While I had the statistics knowledge, I needed to beef up my coding experience.   After reading tons and tons of reviews of bootcamps, I narrowed it down to NYCDSA, Metis and Galvanize. NYCDSA had the most comprehensive syllabus and it looked like students found jobs relatively quickly after the bootcamp ended.   NYCDSA lived up to my expectations with respect to how comprehensive the program was. The projects really helped me solidify my knowledge in Machine Learning techniques and my practice with coding. I will say, as an actuary and statistics major, my knowledge of statistics was already pretty decent. NYCDSA went through a semester's worth of course material in 1-2 days at times- this may be too fast to get a thorough understanding, however it's up to the student to study more outside of the bootcamp if needed.   After the bootcamp, NYCDSA helped a ton with finding a job. After the hiring partner event, I had 5 interviews lined up with well established companies. Further, Vivian has connections with TONS of companies in NYC and her connections helped a lot with securing interviews beyond those at the hiring partner event. Vivian would reach out to us regularly to see how our job hunt is progressing and even offerred to have 1x1 sessions to make sure there was a constant pipeline of interviews.   After 2 months of interviewing, I received 2 job offers. Both offers were from insurance companies that valued my actuarial background and my newly acquired data science skills. I can definitely say, I wouldn't have been able to land these jobs without being able to speak to the projects I did at NYCDSA during those interviews.

NYCDSA is definitely a great program for anyone looking to get into data science. I can honestly say it was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have done. Despite not coming from a STEM background or having any sort of relevant experience initially, the bootcamp still prepared me to be able to land a data science job after. 

Prior to deciding to join the bootcamp I was referred by a friend who also did not come from a STEM background that highly recommended the program. I decided to try a part time Python course that was offered by the academy to see if this was something I could continue to pursue while also doing more of my own research. After the class I applied and got into the January cohort but decided to defer my acceptance to the following cohort. I think that if anyone is considering the bootcamp and does not have any sort of applicable experience like myself, I highly recommend giving yourself time to complete as much of the pre-work as possible before diving in. Between Python and R, I would try to get as familiar with Python as possible through the pre-work and even beyond that if possible. The staff emphasized this during the interview process and after being accepted, but this became even more apparent once the bootcamp started. The first few weeks of the cohort were more of a review from the pre-work and the class I had taken as we quickly learned both R and Python. However, because I had completed the course and completed a good amount of pre-work, I was able to focus more on solidifying concepts rather than struggling to understand and keep up with learning the code on the fly. This also helped towards the end when completing more complex projects, but I think that if I had dedicated an even greater amount of time beforehand, this could have helped me to push myself even further during the bootcamp. 

The reason I picked NYCDSA was because it had the best overall reviews and I wanted to learn both Python and R (I noticed some other bootcamps focused only on Python). The whole program was well structured and organized, but quickly became very intense once we started going into completely new material. It is all definitely manageable however, and what you get out of it really will be what you put into the bootcamp yourself. The staff also makes sure to simultaneously help you get your resume ready by the time you graduate and prep you for what to expect for interviews. 

In terms of my experience post bootcamp, the staff still does everything they can to support you in the job hunting process which I really appreciated and have a pretty large network to tap into. For myself, there was a lot of work to be done in terms of networking and preparation given that I was pivoting into an entirely different field, but I found that domain experience definitely helped in my case in terms of getting some interviews. 

When I look back on the bootcamp I'm really amazed at all we accomplished and learned in a relatively short time. I also made a lot of close friends in my cohort given that the majority of our time during the three months was spent together. It was great  to learn alongside people with diverse experiences/backgrounds and I feel that for the most part everyone was supportive of one another. If you're interested in the field, willing to sacrifice the time, and want to challenge yourself, then I highly recommend signing up!

This course has been my first attempt to learn how to code. I have enjoyed it a lot. Very interesting, and I would recommend it to anybody that, as myself, has no prior experience with coding. Among other things, our teacher ( Tony Schultz) was outstanding. He is extremely well prepared, very focused on actually making us learn and like Python, is well organized, and has a very engaging way of running his lessons. Overall it has been a great experience, and it's very likely that I will take other classes at NYC Data Science Academy.

This review is for the Introduction to Python course. My background is in business intelligence, business process and data governance. I use SQL at my job daily but have had no formal programming training.

The introduction Python course was perfect for beginners. Tony, my instructor was extremely knowledgeable and did a fantastic job explaining concepts clearly.  I was very impressed with the number of topics that were covered in 8 sessions and how organized the course and the communication was. For an evening class after a full work day, his personality kept the class lively and interesting.

If you’re like me and coming in with no programming background, I highly recommend reading up and taking some free online Python courses beforehand. Overall, this was a great learning experience and I highly recommend NYCDSA.