BrainStation

This was a really great course that helped me transition to a data science position.

Overall it focuses more on practical data science skills - which is a good thing. Typical topics and modules started out with the theory, but then the majority of time was spent using the tools and methods to solve problems - visualising, coding, testing, and completing assignments.

We worked with a wide range of tools which prepared me well for a role as a data scientist. Python was used extensively, and also SQL and databases, Tableau, bash and R to name a few. I was impressed with how much knowledge of these areas that I gained over the course. When I started my role following the course I was still expecting that I would be the most inexperienced in these areas, but actually I felt confident that I knew what I was doing and even was able to help out others who had been working for a few years.

The capstone project was a great opportunity to showcase the skills learnt. I was nervous before the day, but I really got a buzz out of presenting my project to people in industry, discussing complex issues with them and seeing how far I had come. As an Alumni, I still make sure to go to demo days and see what people are working on. The quality has gone through the roof, with people solving complex problems in areas like image segmentation, recommender systems and NLP. Given that each person might have only 6 weeks to work on these projects part-time between the rest of the course it is really impressive. If you are thinking of BrainStation, I would definitely recommend looking online at some of the projects that recent Alumni have completed to give yourself an idea of what you can expect by the end of the course.

One thing to add is this is definitely a full-time plus course. There is a lot to fit into a short time period and to make the most of this course you will want to spend evenings and some weekend working on your capstone project,  the assignments and exploring the topics, and practicing the skills that you are learning. Read less

 The course was pretty detailed with plenty of examples. The final project & its review really helping in broadening the understanding. The instructor was approachable and always clarified any questions we had. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn Machine Learning!  Read less

I come from a Marketing background and the course fit well for me, having little formal analytics training. It was rooted with practical consideration, such as work environment and capacities. I learned many new tools, was able to network with similar (and from other industries) individuals as well as critical thinking skills in approaching data problems. Instructors were professional, very helpful, and made sure everyone was on the same page before moving forward. They came in with much industry experience. I was able to apply what I learned at my current workplace, in analysing our sales, user behaviours and larger trends.  Read less

I used to work in retail before I started the web development course at Brainstation. They were very understanding about my financial constraints and offered me a scholarship to help as well.
I studies part-time at the Toronto campus and it was great I loved the course structure, our instructor was very knowledgable and a great teacher, we were given a lot of guidance and also became a part of the Brainstation community which is super supportive and has people from all over the world with great expertise and advice. 
When the time is right I would love to go back and do the full-time web development course with them. Read less

I took the 10-week Digital Marketing course via Online Live, and it was excellent. The course platform is intuitive and easy to use, creating a seamless learning experience. The material was relevant, and my instructor was not only knowledgeable and experienced but always open to answer any questions and great at encouraging us to learn more. I'd recommend BrainStation for anyone looking to improve their tech skills.

Read less

I thoroughly enjoyed my learning adventure through Brainstation's Digital Marketing Course. The instructors presented the information clearly and concisely, enriched their pedagogic approach with perspectives derived from their own professional experiences and made themselves available to provide clarification and supportive assistance. Brainstaton's strategy enhances the rewards and benefits of life-long learning. Read less

I like the learning experience in the campus. And how the curriculum is balanced. The instructors with their work experience bring a lot of input to the group. I really appreciate the environment and the connections with others. Although I did a part time I felt invited to be part of a big family. Read less

I knew I would learn the technical skills involved in web development but I got so much more out of the experience than I ever would have expected. BrainStation has made me a more confident person and has helped me find what I really want to do with my career path. The culture in the classroom is unlike the culture I've experienced in traditional schooling - everyone is a lot more supportive of one another and not only focused on their own progression. I learned how to learn quickly and apply quickly - a lasting skill that will definitely be beneficial in the web dev industry in the long run. Read less

My instructors were absolutely amazing and answered any questions that I had. The course material was very relevant and definitely helped me to get my current position in the tech industry. I am still in touch with one of the instructors and has been helpful to this day. My learning experience was really great and definitely useful. Read less

My Intro to Digital Marketing course was a succinct and focused deep dive into all things Digital Marketing in 2019. I've since been able to leverage the information and insight that my two instructors delivered in order to see tremendous growth in both personal ventures and my business' footprint online as well. Read less

My overall experience with the User Experience Design 12-week course at BrainStation was amazing! Not only were the educators well experienced in the field and great teachers, but they also offered many insights about the real-life industry. I enjoyed being able to participate in many sprints with other classmates, which I think is an experience that you can't get while self-learning. I do wish however that the program would be more hands-on with the career finding process. Any resources or interview opportunities hosted by BrainStation would've been a great addition.  Read less

Never thought how much my professional life can change in 6 weeks! 

I have taken Web Development part-time online course in Spring of 2020. I had 0 experience and knowledge in Web Development, but I decided to pursue it anyway. From the very first class, I realized how much I love learning coding. It was taught in a very simple, understandable and fun way. During 6 weeks of classes, I never felt like I was overwhelmed with information and every question was answered right away with examples provided. What I loved the most was my instructor, who taught us how to approach an issue and where and how to find a solution. There is no such a thing as "One rule for everything" in Web Development and he provided us with resources and tips on how to find a way around challenges and get the job done. Even after 6 weeks went by and the course was done, I knew which way to go and what else I needed to learn to grow my skillset. 

The class size was amazing and everyone was engaged during the class. Zoom is an awesome platform for online learning :)
I'm now learning Javascript and planning on becoming a full-time freelancer. 

Awesome job, Brainstation! One of a kind. Read less

I signed up for the 5-week Product Management class scheduled to run on Sundays. I am based in Nairobi, Kenya, and this meant that I was always going to be 7 hours ahead of my instructors and classmates. The time-zone difference was no hinderance to the online live class. The course content was rich enough to see me actualize a business idea into a live product. Through the class project, and working jointly with a classmate, I managed to define user stories, a unique value proposition and a minimum viable product. I have today enhanced this product based on customer feedback using techniques that I learnt in class. It is noteworthy that the instructors were excellent. Their expertise brilliantly showed as they delivered the course content and the learnings from their working experiences. I would recommend BrainStation to anyone, from any part of the world, seeking to advance their skills for career or business. Read less

I had an amazing experience taking BrainStation's UI Design Course. My instructors were very knowledgeable and engaging. I am currently working as a Graphic Designer and took the course in hopes of learning new trends and refreshening up on some digital design basics. I am happy to say that it truly exceeded my expectations! Would absolutely recommend. Read less

Product Management course helped me tremendously while I started my job as a product manager in an agile scrum team. I was learning in school and applying it at the same time. My questions were replied to in the class. The classes were always clean and neat, I loved the space and the collaboration between students and professors.   Overall, Brainstation is empowering a lot of students to enter the tech market of BC. I enjoyed my time studying there and met awesome people.  Read less

I took the User Experience Design full time course at Brainstation from September 2019 - December 2019. This course gave me a great understanding of the basic end-to-end design process typically undertaken when creating a digital product. Unfortunately, due to the length of the course, I felt that we only ever touched on a topic for a week at a time. This means that you often did not have the time to soak in the information you were learning. Instead, you were expected to immediately understand the material and apply that newfound knowledge for the assignment that was due at the end of the week. As you can imagine, this forces the student to scramble and get something (anything) together to submit at the end of the week. I felt that the focus wasn't on doing it right, but rather, just doing it. And that is the unfortunate nature of bootcamps. They provide an amazing structure for you to be exposed to everything you need to know, but there is rarely enough time for you make mistakes, learn, and ask questions. That being said, I graduated the bootcamp course and I worked hard to learn what I didn't get right during my time at Brainstation and was able to get a job. I'm still not working at a FAANG company, not even close. But I am in the industry and that's what I paid Brainstation for. One pet peeve I had while attending Brainstation was that they market their classes as full day classes - especially in the full time course. This is not the case. They lecture in the morning and leave the rest of the day as "work periods". One other thing they could improve on is their field trips to different tech offices. These field trips are better marketing for the companies we visit, than anything related to the material we are learning. More thought needs to be put into these trips so that the students are actually learning something valuable, instead of just admiring offices with a snack bar. Read less

I recently completed the BrainStation 5-weeks Data Analytics course online! This course is a foundational overview of Data Analytics, where you learn to use tools such as Excel, MySql and Tableau. It doesn't go completely in-depth, so you're not quite an expert yet but it's a great start. Nevertheless, truly grateful for this experience as I'm looking forward to applying these skills to my background in post-secondary admissions and marketing. The 5-weeks went by very quickly; and it was very manageable with work as the classes are in the evening. There is definitely a lot to learn and a lot to go through in a short amount of time, so do expect the need to do additional research and practice on the side to help grasp concepts. Completing the homework is also helpful; and self-learning is a necessary part of the course. Instructor was knowledgeable, friendly and able to use real-life examples as a Data Analyst himself - I always find having experienced instructors is important! Tuition is a tad pricey for a short basic course, but you can contact their Advisors and ask about scholarships. Overall, I would recommend this course to those who are in data-driven roles and want to gain new and relevant software skills, in marketing and sales, or just curious about being a data analyst! Read less

This was my second course at Brainstation, and it was done 100% remote via Zoom. I took a 5 week Bootcamp on data analytics instead of regular 10 weeks, thinking I will get to finish earlier and focus more on studying in that period of time. And I have to admit it kept me on my toes!  The course itself has major blocks: Excel, MySQL and Tableau. The first two classes were about working in Excel from basics to more advanced level, and it was ok. I understand that it was a necessity, and lots of students come with different levels of experience. Although I wish we either focused more on advanced Excel or covered that material within one class. After that, we moved on to MySQL and I found that part of the course the most interesting and exciting. For the next 4 classes, we were learning basic as well as advanced commands in MySQL Workbench and participating in the class exercises. The last three classes were with Tableau, where I wish we had more assignments and tasks to do.  Somewhere in the middle, we were broken into teams to prepare for our Final projects. And that was the most important part of the class. While you get all the necessary knowledge with Brainstation to get started, a major part of learning comes from the work that you do outside of the class. I cannot even describe the amount of reading I had to do to solve one problem that was standing on our way. By putting extra time into learning I ended up feeling very confident in my knowledge and skills.  Now I understand that you don't always get to choose your teammates, but I got very lucky. My team was great, and we were working in sync until the end of the course. Communication was the key and I could clearly see the teams that had such a problem in their final presentations. By working together you can really create an amazing experience and enjoy the process.  Our instructor was Ramin Amin, who over the length of the course was very direct in his approach, and could explain the material very well. I have to admit that the level of support that he provided outside of the class was just great. Anytime I had a problem or a question, he would get back to me within a few hours with advice or a solution.  Overall I really enjoyed the course, it really helped me to step up and expand my knowledge. BrainStation really proved to be valuable in my career.  Read less

I took the User Interface Design 5-week long course (part-time, online) at Brainstation during summer 2020 - and I really enjoyed it! It's an excellent opportunity to learn the basics of UI design in a short period of time and build on that knowledge later on. Our teachers, Gerard Dolan and Rose Matsa, taught us about a range of topics, from colour theory to prototyping, and almost every class included some kind of design demonstration to help us grasp the ways to use design tools (e.g. Sketch, InVision). I feel that after sitting through the classes and practicing while preparing my final project, I gained an understanding of the UI design process and principles which is really useful when I'm working with product teams and designers. Read less