Data Science with Python

***RMOTR has merged with another online education company as of Sep 2019, so the course curriculum may have changed.***

I completed the Python Data Science course summer 2019. Personally I think a lot of self discipline and commitment to apply what you learn on some passion projects are required in order to make this worth while, but the same can be applied to any other online remote bootcamps. That's why it is 1/10 of the cost of an onsite fulltime bootcamp. The first two months were python fundamentals (those were great intro with awesome teachers) and the last month was data science libraries. Towards the last month, the subjects get more challenging with less time to go through in details during the weekly 2 hour (twice) online live sessions. The mentoring session availability was very limited to specific time and day during the week. 

The downside here is that they decided to make the "final project" as optional and promised that we could schedule and/or request for feedback on the final project if students decided to pursue it, but that was not the case. In the end,  they issued certificates without reviewing the project. I assume it is most likely because RMOTR was busy merging with another online education company. I am happy for their success, but I would appreciate more if they actually finish their commitment with students to review final projects as part of the course. It felt very unstructured at the end. 

Did I learn how to write basic Python functions? Yes

Did I learn how to explore and apply basic data science libraries? Yes (a lot of self discipline to learn and google on your own is required here)

Is this a hands-on course? Yes (in the beginning for Python fundamentals, they have test driven examples for you to practice with) and No (towards the end especially when creating your final projects, I felt I was left in the dark)

I am not sure what will happen after the merger as they are changing their learning platform, but I hope they will learn to be more transparent and accountable with their students to follow through the completion of the course. If this becomes purely an online course with self-paced materials, I believe there are other resources at a much cheaper price (ie. Udemy Jose Portilla data science and machine learning course for $13), but otherwise (if it still has live sessions), it is worth exploring. 

I'm very happy I chose RMOTR as a first online introduction to Data Science. 

The main reason is how the course is structured. Most online courses will have you start working on data science libraries right away. This is a mistake in my opinion. 

It is important to understand and know the basics of Python before using these libraries. Otherwise, you're going to miss the fundamentals which will hinder your development if you want to take things further. 

RMOTR starts with 2 months of Python before teaching you data science libraries which I thought was very helpful. 

Something else that is very important: teachers are great and knowledgable. They are always available to answer questions of all types, whether about an exercice you are stuck on, or even career development. 

Joining RMOTR means you are part of a community which helps staying on top of news, interesting articles & projects. You can also post your problem to the community and get help from other students. 

Obvisouly not everything is perfect. Here is what I think they could do better:

 - Sometimes the exercices they give are pretty difficult compared to the material we learned in class. I would have loved it if there were hints in some of the exercices to help solve the problem. 

 - During Christmas holidays, it wasn't 100% clear what the schedule was. The agenda switched a bit during that period, and communication could have been better. 

Overall, I recommend this program if you are looking to get into data science, and especially if you prefer taking an option where you have an actual class and community with a teacher going over the material. This is what I was looking for in contrast with the self paced options. I wanted to have classes every week to stay motivated.