Ken S Graduate • Data Science Immersive • San Francisco
May 13, 2021
For prospective students considering doing a bootcamp, let me demystify some things about how they work that will hopefully help inform your decision. Let me first preface by saying that I am a graduate from the Galvanize Data Science Immersive so my experience is anchored to that program and your mileage may vary.
Q: "Is this program going to give me everything that I need to get a job in data science?"
A: Yes and no. Data science is such ...
For prospective students considering doing a bootcamp, let me demystify some things about how they work that will hopefully help inform your decision. Let me first preface by saying that I am a graduate from the Galvanize Data Science Immersive so my experience is anchored to that program and your mileage may vary.
Q: "Is this program going to give me everything that I need to get a job in data science?"
A: Yes and no. Data science is such a multi-faceted and constantly evolving space that it's impossible, let alone in 3 months, for any program anywhere to cover EVERYTHING. That being said, Galvanize does an amazing job of touching on all of the major topics that are making their rounds in the professional data science world today. I would say that going through the program makes you a jack of all trades where you have at least some working knowledge or awareness of any data science subject matter that may come your way. However, by virtue of how they structure their curriculum, there's plenty of extra content for each topic covered that you can revisit after the program if you want to fortify your skills/become specialized in that discipline. In this way, I believe that Galvanize gives you all the tools that you need, so long as you're motivated, to gain the skills required to land a job in data science.
Q: "Is Galvanize worth it? Could I acquire the same knowledge using other resources like freecodecamp, Udemy, Coursera, etc?"
A: In a sentence: Yes, I believe Galvanize is absolutely worth it and I'll explain why. Before starting, I too was apprehensive about committing such a large sum of money when I wasn't sure if I could get the same output from cheaper alternatives. Having done it, I can now say that there's no way that I would be where I am today with my technical knowledge and understanding of data science going through self-taught platforms and online courses in 3 months. Don't get me wrong, these are also extremely valuable and useful ways to supplement your learning (which I still use now). However, the biggest differentiating factor with doing Galvanize is that it gives you STRUCTURE. Before joining, I aimlessly practiced Python, some SQL, and tried a couple udemy courses I saw from articles online. These are good for learning pointed skills but Galvanize picks relevant material and organizes it in such a way that's conducive to building a solid, wholistic foundation for you as a data scientist. This way, they can handle the learning roadmap and topic selection while you focus on the learning itself.
Q: "Why Galvanize?"
A: Galvanize is about more than just your education. Through the program, you join a community of like-minded and driven individuals. It's a place where you can network, a space where you can learn new skills, and a program which has top-tier instructional staff to teach you about data science. If you're on the fence about which program to take, here's another vote urging you to try Galvanize. It's a hard program - yes, but the knowledge and friendships you gain from pushing through the hardship are everlasting and worthwhile.
TL;DR Galvanize was one of the best decisions I've made in my career and I can't imagine where I'd be on my data science journey without it. If you're considering doing their DSI program, I can't recommend it enough.