Data Science Flex

I am about halfway through the course and am liking it pretty well. Strong points have been finding the right mentor and communicating with technical support- getting the right people to help you through difficult concepts makes a giant difference. 

The curriculum at times jumps abruptly from subject to subject (somewhat expected given the 6-month span), which makes it hard to tie subjects together and learn cumulatively. My advice here is to click EVERY link to additional resources when provided-this info is much more helpful and central to helping you learn course material than it would initially seem. 

Overall, I enjoyed it, but since the target audience is people with little to no prior experience in programming there could be a bit more clear explanation of the code written in the curriculum for students to reproduce the results. 

I am going to endevour to be objective in the review and point out Thinkful's pros and cons. 

Pros:

- Cheap
- Self paced
- Introduced to a broad range of topics (...but at low depth)

Cons:

- They do not hold on to their more talented staff for very long as they underpay and under deliver on promises about workloads. I lost my mentor half way through due to Thinkful's inability to provide him with a steady stream of students. Instead they decided to funnel students to individuals who didn't even know the code the curriculum was written in. They do have a handful of awesome mentors, but many are just not up to the job and as I mentioned, the good ones don't always stay around that long.
- I hate to say it, but the curriculum sucks. Things are not explained in any depth, there's typos, mis-statements. The math is never addressed. Some of the assignments are completely non-sequiter. Many of the lessons end abruptly once you get into the meat and potatoes of the content - often with a glib: 'That's enough for now! We don't want to go too deep here!'.
- They take on way too many low quality students - their personell resources are strained due to the fact that they use their platform as a cash cow. Many of the technical (non-mentors) assume the students are bumbling idiots, and they're a reason for that. Can make group sessions difficult if you're engaged and knowledgable. 
- Employement rates are kind of attrocious...about 1 out of 3 people who start end up with a job.
- Horrible marketting campaigns that encourage prospective students to 'Quit your job!'

Now despite all of this, in the aim of being objective, I did learn a fair amount from Thinkful (not without quite a lot of extra work being put in outside the course load). I was offered a job before graduated and never ended up finishing the actual course (context: I also hold a PhD). I am inclined to believe I would have learned just as much by paying for a private tutor and teaching myself from other online resources (many of which Thinkful points to when the going gets tough)...overall I would not reccomend Thinkful. It can provide some useful resources at low resolution to motivated science and math graduates but i'm not sure the value for money is really there. 

Project-based and 1 - on -  1 mentorship is the secret sauce. I'm only halfway through this program but I've learned more than I could imagine. Great people working here to help as well! 

Starting the Data Science course to this program, I had no computer science background. I had earned a master's in biology 5 years prior and really enjoyed processing the data (Excel, sigma plot and sigma stat). After comparing a few programs, I decided Thinkful was the way to go since they are so sure of the program that they offered a money back guarantee if you don't get a job in the field within six months. I just graduated the program, so I will start my career search now. What I can say about the program is that I learned a TON. Some of it I may never use, but I am glad to have the information. Other info such as the supervised learning techniques I see as indispensible. I started with a mentor who eventually left the company and I therefore ended up with a really helpful mentor half-way through the program. He always gave great advice and was super encouraging. I did not find Slack, the online collaborative chat to be very helpful, as I would often just get responses that sent me to stack overflow links that I had already seen and did not help my situation. I would also say that the timing estimates were not all that accurate for me. Some tasks that were only supposed to take a few days took me weeks. I work 40-50 hours a week and was anticipating dedicating 20 hours to Thinkful but it ended up being closer to 30-35. I used all my pause days as I juggled work, a family emergency, and an unexpected trip so it took me about 8 months to do this six month course. But therein also lies the amazing thing about this program: I was able to balance my life with this program and I came out of it with so much more knowledge than I had 8 months ago. It's cheaper than some of the other programs I looked at as well and for someone who, again, was starting with no foundation, it was necessary to endure a longer program as I don't think I would have understood anything going into a 'Learn Python in a week' course. I also ended up with two different program managers in the course and they were both amazing. Super nice and encouraging and always very quick with their responses and help. I think the curriculum could use some tweaking as some assignments are a bit ambiguous, or show you something simple and then ask you to do something far more complex. Overall though, I learned a lot and was glad to work on real world problems and not just theory during this course.

I enjoyed and strongly recommend Thinkful.  

The program is fundamentally a broad, though shallow, overview of the core data science toolkit. It’s primarily designed for people without a coding background. The curriculum features a structured, top-down, conceptual overview of topics and algorithms followed by hands on exercises, challenges, and capstone projects.  Thinkful does not provide a holistic, nor deep-dive, into the math behind the algorithms but the lessons often have links to additional resources for the students to consider in due course. Given that students come from diverse backgrounds, I think this is smart.

The real highlights of Thinkful are the things which go beyond the actual data science curriculum, namely all of the technical support. This includes: one-on-one mentorship multiple times a week, open technical coach "office hours" multiple times a day, an active student message board with mentors available 10 hours every day, and finally, a career support team to assist with your job hunt after graduation. It amazes me that they offer so much personalized technical support.  This is the strength of the program in my eyes.

They created a successful program to lift students into the data science field. I couldn’t have asked for more from a bootcamp. 

I chose Thinkful over other boot camps because of the cost, the mentorship, and the job guarantee.  My experience has been positive on all fronts.  I can't say enough about my mentor and my program manager, they were the key to my success along with my hard work.  My program manager was there to assist with any questions I had about the program, such as staying on track to graduate on time.  My mentor was patient, helpful and knowledgeable about various Data Science topics. If you don't have the math and programming skills, you will definitely have to put in more time. I am glad I stuck with this course and finished strong.  If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.  It's never too late to start something new!

For context... I am almost through the first phase of the course and getting ready to submit my first capstone project.

So far my experience has been fantastic and I don't expect that to change. The curriculum is challenging yet there is that flexibility of completing it on your schedule.

In my opinion, the way they have it set up is great. You get a mentor, program manager, career coach, and career services manager. So far I have only had the pleasure of interacting with my mentor and program manager, but if the career support team is anything like what I have experienced so far then I would expect 5 stars all day long.

For me, it all comes down to that mentorship. That is what really sold me.

Yes, I can sit there and read lessons and examples and comb through StackOverflow until my eyes fall out... but the fact that you have a mentor available to you that you can bounce ideas off of or just ask that one questions that helps you breakthrough with that thing you been struggling with, is invaluable.

Thinkful's data science program provides the flexibility to continue working full-time without losing the support I need to succeed. I have a mentor that I meet with 1-on-1 twice a week, technical coaching for any problems that I run into that I can't solve on my own, and plenty of open office hours for other issues. The non-curriculum support team  (finance, program manager, etc) has also been very helpful with anything that I need.

The work is challenging and rigorous. I've learned so much already and can't wait to continue my journey into data science!

I started Thinkful's Data Science part-time flex bootcamp about a month ago.  As I have worked my way through the curriculum, I have been impressed how every subject builds upon the one before.  In such a program where there so many disparate, evolving subjects, having a fluid transition between subjects has made my journey feel so natural.  In addition, the curriculum has been very in-depth and rigorous.   

Everything I have learned, I have been able to practice and gain a deeper understanding through projects and capstones.  Every step of the way, I have had amazing support from my mentor, who is an established Data Scientist.  Through our biweekly conversations, he helps me solve any problems I have encountered throughout the curriculum, tests my understand of some of the more challenging concepts, and trains me to think like a Data Scientist.  The other part of my support system is my Program Manager.  Her enthusiasm and passion for her work and supporting her students really enhances my experience. 

And last but not least, the monthly dinners where everyone in an area gets together to have dinner, chat, work on projects, or hear a speaker is one of the highlights of the program!  

Great program for those wanting to learn Data Science from scratch. Should be willing to put in the time and effort on your end to see best results. You have Mentor video sessions which are great (probably the best part of the program).

I took on this course with very little programming experience and left with a breadth of knowledge beyond what I could have imagined.  The program covers a ton of information and does a good job diving deeper into certain topics.  My one piece of advice to future students would be to make sure your schedule will accommodate the amount of work that this course requires.  While 25 hrs/week is what is supposed to be allotted for the course, there is such an intense amount of material to cover that the more time you have available the better.  If you are taking this course part-time be sure to recognize when to draw the line with certain projects because it is easy to get caught up in one and find yourself falling behind.  Other than that, this was the best decision I have made for my career.  I had the best mentor imaginable.  He was extremely knowledgeable and all in all a great guy to work with.  I truly enjoyed our bi-weekly meet ups and wouldn't have the skill set I have today without him.   I am very grateful to have had this experience with my mentor and the Thinkful program and look forward to continuing a career in data!

I am three months in the full time Data Science program now. Before reviewing the program, I would like to share some experience first. 1) If you have no previous programming experience, I suggest taking some free intro classes online first. There are lots of free intro classes on the Internet, and taking these intro classes will really help you at the beginning of the bootcamp. I have little bit of programming experienc before when I was in college 6 years ago with MATLAB and VBA, so I took the time to study a little bit of python, get to know the syntax, how to write python codes, and some basic plotting. I also learned how to use Jupyter Notebook and pycharm, as well as some basic statistics classes on Khan Academy before admitting to the bootcamp. This whole pre-boot camp thing took me about 3 months, and the time really paid off at the first month of bootcamp. 2) If you plan on admitting to an online boot camp, try to avoid end of November or December since it's holiday season and it might effect your schedule. 

So I started my Thinkful program around the end of November, before Thanksgiving holiday. Before I admitted to the bootcamp, I was able to speak with Thinkful staff and get better understanding of the program. Thinkful also provide workshops to give you a better idea of how the program will be like and Thinkful staffs will answer your questions at the end of the workshop. Thinkful provide you a 2-week trial class so you can test the water. The material of the trial class will carry on to the actual bootcamp. If you got admitted into the program, you will keep working on the pre-bootcamp materials, it took me about 2 weeks to finish all pre-bootcamp materials, which I think the 3 months studies before the bootcamp really help me a lot here. 

At the third month of the program, the bootcamp itself is going very well. I have two mentor sessions per week, and I can discuss the course materials or industrial news with my mentor, and the Program manager is always there to answer my questions. There are also lots of office hours and workshops available so you can join and see what other people is doing in the program. You can also attend other student's capstone presentations and get some general ideas of how your capstone project will look like at the beginning. Thinkful also have community events you can attend. I lives in Los Angeles and the community here is huge. They have bi-weekly events so you can meet with other Thinkful students. 

There is one think that I suggest Thinkful to improve is to provide more realistic and well-rounded examples in the course material so students can understand the concept much better. I believe most of the students join Thinkful or other bootcamps have the same goal, which is to land a job after the course. I found that some of the course material and its examples are too simple, and not practical, and it lead to a result that the course material is not helping me to finish my assignment. In some cases I end up spending 3 or 4 hours outside of the course material try to find an answer or solution for the Thinkful assignment. I have a full-time job in the day time, and I only have a few hours at night to study. Therefore, spending these extra hours outside of Thinkful materials slowing my pace or it may effect my schedule as well. But again, the Thinkful community at their Slack channel and the mentor are extremely helpful. 

I was looking for a Data Science bootcamp because I wanted to be more competitive in the job market and learn some new professional skills. After some research, I chose Thinkful. For me, the best things about 
the course were the mentoring and the careers support. I also met a lot of fellow Thinkful students 
in my local area to network with. About a month after finishing the course, I got hired as a Data Scientist.
All in all, it's been well worth the investment.

I got my undergrad in Computer Science and thought jobs would be thrown at me. I was wrong. Though I did have a lot of programming knowledge, I didn't have much of a portfolio or know much about what people in the industry use now. I decided to take the Data Science course at Thinkful while I drove for lyft. Everything is different now. I have two great jobs, although I don't need both, I enjoy them. I am a Software Engineer / Data Analyst at a great company and also a teaching assistant at a data science certificate program at UCSD. 

So, for the course... I don't want to sugar coat it, this course is hard. I spent many many hours going through this course and had many pitfalls and struggles. That being said, I am glad I did. I was lucky to have a great mentor, Mike, who was knowledgable and encouraging to help me through the course. The data science course I TA for now is a class of 30+ students with only 1 instructor and 2 TAs, although it is a good course, I am very thankful I went with Thinkful and had the 1on1 support. Being able to go through it on my own time and having 1on1 time to ask questions was terrific. By the time I was 3/4 of the way through the course I felt confident enough to do work as a data scientist and talk about the complexities of it. I would strongly reccomend this course to anybody who wants to learn a lot and has the time for it. 

I want to stress that last part. You need to put aside lots of time for this course. That being said, if you do have the time you will come out very happy you took the course.

Also, clarrification on the starts. Overall was great, super glad I took the course. Instructors were better than expected, really happy with them. Cirriculum gets 4 stars because some small exercises have you find a data set to work with (which is cool because you get to work with something that interests you) but I really think the course should offer datasets it thinks would be appropriate for the exercise. And Job Assistance gets 4 stars because I really didn't have to use it much. But hey, this course changed my life so I would definitely reccomend it. 

What initially drew to me to Thinkful was the various concentrations I could choose from in the Data Science course. Compared to other programs I looked at, they had the most variety. For reference my interest is in Biological Physics and they offer a Bio-statistics concentration. 

What keeps me at Thinkful is another story. At first i thought no face to face meetings or classes would be a drag but between my two weekly 45-60 minute sessions with my mentor I get to ask any questions that cross my mind. They can be about Data Science, the curriculum, or anything I ran across. My mentor is probably my favorite part of the program. They're invaluable in terms of their knowledge, work experience and their desire to teach. I honestly couldn't ask for a better mentor. She has a PhD, runs her own labs, does research, consults for firms... If I have a question my mentor knows the answer or can point me in the direction.

In addition to my mentor, my program manager checks on me weekly and between her and the Student Success team I can reach out for any other issues i may have during my course. They were even available when I felt overwhelmed by some deadlines due to constraints from my job. These people really care and are invested in my success and I appreciate the support from every direction. The minute I reach out to one of them, instantly they're all aware and everyone reaches out to me with advice. Can't ask for more.

The other benefits are the lectures other mentors, students and contributors post on your main Thinkful page. These can cover topics from mathematics, AI, Web design etc... If you're serious about becoming a programmer you need to learn some basics and have some general knowledge about different topics related to your work. For an interdisciplinary field such as this, these "office hour" lectures are very useful.

This is a great program and you will definitely be joining a community dedicated to your success and learning above all.

Things that I love about this camp:

-5 Unique Capstone Projects

What I like most about these projects are that you are able to select which data sets to analyze. You have complete freedom to take your analysis in whichever direction you'd like. Thinkful does a really good job of letting you get creative so you can stand out from others while also holding your work to a really high standard of quality. My mentor has been nothing short of fantastic and has been pushin me on all of my projects to go above and beyong what I originally intended.

-Mentor Sessions/Workshops

The Mentor sessions are great. You can ask you mentor any questions about your code, resume, careers, and really develop under their guidance. It's a great opportunity to build a relationship with someone who could be a reference for you later on in your job search.

If you ever run into issues, there are a ton of workshops hosted by the other mentors during the week where you can come with questions. It's kind of like going to office hours for a TA/Professor back in college.

I gave the curriculum a 4 solely because you do need to be very self-motivated to find answers on your own. Though you have access to tons of material, there honestly isn't a "perfect curriculum" that can address all of the skills you need to make your projects progress. The curriculum is not cookie cutter at all and does a great job providing a scaffolding for your success. The statistics course has room for improvement and I would suggest taking a supplemental stats course along with what Thinkful provides(there are literally tons on the internet that will do)

-Really supportive community and curriculum eases the learning curve(A BIT)

The curriculum is created so that first timers can succeed and does a great job simplifying concepts. I have 0 programming background prior to this camp but I really never felt my lack of programming knowledge was a hindrance but the learning curve is really steep. We also have a slack channel where all students can post/answer questions and issues. We also have different meetups as well!

I have to say that I am enjoying my experience thus far with Thinkful. Not only is the course material challenging (in a good way) but it is relevant to what you expect. 

 This program doesn’t come without its hiccups but they recover from it quickly. I had a mentor, who was great, that didn’t show up to the assigned meetings. I notified my program manager and not only did they fix it within hours, they credited me any time missed. The whole team was fantastic. I got a new mentor and plugged away without missing a beat.

I am beyond extremely satisfied with my experience so far!

I encourage those to seek out Thinkful for their Data Science needs!