Galvanize

No, you won't become a data science expert in 3 months.

Yes, the fundamentals you learn at Galvanize will put you well on your way and make you highly employable.

I'm happy with my choice of Galvanize because:

• My fellow classmates were intellectually curious and excellent partners
• The instructors focused the curriculum on a first-principles understanding of key machine learning concepts, followed by project-based applications of those principles.
• The startup community surrounding the campus is vibrant, and provided several opportunities for collaboration.

Onward and upward!

A little background on me. I came to Galvanize as a Colorado Native with a college degree and 5 years of working experience running a financial planning practice. I had no coding or technology background. I decided on Galvanize over some other boot camps because of their sales pitch and culture. We will teach you a little about a lot of things, but more importantly how to learn a new programming language quickly. When you get in front of an employer you can say I may not know a ton about your code base, but give me 2 weeks and I will. 

Every boot camp and campus has its own culture and people so you should always shadow for a day to see if it’s a good fit for you. I shadowed at 3 different boot camps and Galvanize was the best fit for me. Galvanize is not for everyone though. If you are looking for someone to hold your hand and guide you as you learn about coding then Galvanize is not for you. They take the approach of you need to struggle at times to really learn some topics or concepts. I like this style and it worked well for me. I also got a lot out of helping my fellow students. This would help reaffirm a concept in my head.

Galvanize – Denver had great instructors while I was there. This is always in flux though. One of the Galvanize Denver biggest weaknesses is they don’t have a timely process of replacing an instructor when they leave.  They also have changed the curriculum while I was there so I can’t speak to how the new one is. Mine was self-paced and that worked great for me. I would also say I got lucky with my job search post-graduation.  I only applied to 15 jobs and had 2 interviews. A lot of my fellow students are still looking. It typically takes several months to hear back from companies and you might end up working some contract work or other odd jobs while you wait. Like the teaching style of Galvanize, jobs aren’t handed out for free. You must work for it and continue to code post-graduation. 

I really enjoyed my time at Galvanize – Denver. I liked the teachers, culture, and the learning style. I would recommend anyone thinking about going to any boot camp to do the following. Shadow a student for half the day, Talk to current students, new and about to graduate, and if you live in Denver attend their learn to code meetup they do every Wednesday. You will meet current students and get a taste of coding.

After working at a boring and non-challenging job as a tech writer, I decided to learn to code. Galvanize surprised me by not only giving me the coding skills I needed, but also teaching me to teach myself any technical skill I want. The career services were excellent and helped me land a great contract-to-hire job 6 weeks after the program, and 4 months later I've been hired full time at that company.

The curriculum at Galvanize is definitely the cutting edge of what you need to be a strong front-end developer (and probably back end too, but that's not my interest so I didn't really dig past the basic back end skills I needed to get my own app up and running). New-ish technologies like React, CSS Grid, and testing with Cypress are examples of things that my very smart and experienced colleagues at my new job simply aren't as familiar with as I am.

The thing that surprised me the most about going to Galvanize was the community. Not only at Galvanize, but even after, every tech event I attend in Denver it feels like I know EVERYONE because I met so many people that were in school with me, the instructors, and our guest speakers. I'm not even that good at making friends and I've made a ton of close connections which have served me well navigating through the Denver job market, as well as just having awesome people to hang out with. 

I highly recommend Galvanize.

I attended the Web Development immersive program through Galvanize’s Phoenix campus. I graduated in July 26, 2018. I went into this program with zero programming or computer science knowledge and came out after 6 months skilled and prepared to be offered a position as a Software Engineer for a Fortune 500 company. I am three months into my job and absolutely love every minute. Galvanize gave me all the tools I needed to succeed in this industry and helped me create a brand new life that I could only ever dream of up until this point. Yes they give you the tools but it also takes a lot of hard work and dedication on your part. If you follow their advice and treat the program like a bootcamp and invest 100% of yourself then you will be successful. My experience with Galvanize has been completely life changing and it was the best decision of my life to go through their program!

I really enjoyed and gained a lot of knowledge partaking in the Introductory Web Development course at Galvanize. Prior to attending this class, I only knew the basic functions of HTML. By the end of the course, I learned in-depth knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript and how it functions into our web browsers. 

The instructor and teacher assistant were one of the best teachers I have ever worked with (Coming from someone who has a 4-year degree and military experience.). They made themselves available for additional help and assistance to every student in and out of class. I have seen the instructor and TA work carefully to ensure the students are successful, whether the students had little or vast experience in the topic. 

Galvanize hosted events with employers to network with prospective employees who are interested in tech careers. It’s a great way to get out and talk to employers to learn how the tech industry can improve by applying the skills and knowledge we learned from Galvanize.

The location of the schoolhouse was very convenient for commuters. I was commuting from the East Bay side of the Bay Area. I took BART and walked from the Montgomery Station which is about a 5-minute walk to the schoolhouse. From my experience, Galvanize is very accessible to anyone in the Bay Area.

I highly and would recommend Galvanize to anyone interested in the coding field to enhance their skills. It also a great network for anyone seeking jobs, as well and keeping up with the coding knowledge in today’s tech industry.

I was in the Data Science Immersive program from Feb. 2018 - May 2018 and it was by far the best thing I've ever done. Not only do the teachers pour themselves out to make sure you understand what is being taught, but the faculty also spends a ton of time helping you get a job. I honestly considered doing it a second time because I loved the experience so much! I would definitely recommend this for anyone who is excited about data science and wants to explore or work in the field. 

This was best educational course that I have ever participated in.  Anything I needed in order to succeed was made available to me. The instructors, facilities, and staff were excellent.  The instructor for this course was so incredibly patient and passionate. I was so excited to complete my project but wasn't glad to have the course end.  I hope to attend more courses at Galvanize. 

I'm a recent graduate of the Galvanize Web-Development immersive program (<3 months) and I will tell you to absolutely stay away from the program right now, at least the Denver campus.

For starters, I would be extremely leery of any data you see from Galvanize on their job placement rates.  The last data the website shows is from 2016.  In my cohort of 20 graduates, only 3 have solid paying jobs now three months after graduation (and one of them works for Galvanize, so that barely counts).  The only people who have jobs are people who showed up to the course already having strong coding backgrounds.

Their admissions process is a joke.  You solve a logic problem, submit "code" (which can be basically anything), and make a simple animation on a website that is designed for children.  The interview portion is hysterically easy.  Once the course actually starts it gets even more absurd.

Galvanize's whole idea now is that they aren't a traditional 'school' anymore.  They give you a bunch of various drills and projects you have to complete and throw you out there to go do them, with instructor help if need be.  There are no tests, no quizzes, no grades, no homework, essentially no real checks to make sure you actually understand anything.  While this might be ok for someone who already has a solid foundation in JS and coding, it's basically the equivalent of giving someone an essay written in a foreign language and telling them to go translate it when they don't speak a single word of the language.  Without the fundamentals, you may as well be trying to squeeze blood from a turnip.

This wouldn't be so bad if they were staffed well, but they aren't.  During my time in the course, I think we lost 5-6 different instructors.  On top of that, the vast majority of the instructors are people who just graduated from the course, and have never actually worked as Web or Software Devs.  They're so understaffed that half the time when you have a problem they tell you to go to other students to teach you.  Except I'm not paying those other students $21k for help, I'm paying you.

Because there are no exams or grades, it's pretty much impossible to fail the course.  If you can't figure out a coding drill, they'll eventually just walk you through it and then decide that you  "understand" it because you've seen it done one time.  If you tell them you have no idea what's going on and are falling behind (like I did nearly every day) they'll insist that you're doing fine.  Since there are no grades or tests or any real way of knowing how well you're doing, you take their word for it.  Then suddenly you're graduated and don't know anything.

The course organization is atrocious.  Ideas start (like remedial training, advisor groups, etc.) and then either get tossed aside or end up getting altered constantly because there's little to no planning.  There's no syllabus and the curriculum seems to change like the wind; it's just sort of chaos.  Ideas are also just sort of chucked in at random.  We didn't get a "breakout" (a lecture) on the basics of how the internet works until halfway through the course.  We didn't even touch basic computer science concepts until about a week prior to graduation.

The only real positive I can say is that Career Services is actually very good.  They clearly care a lot, work hard, help you improve your resume, LinkedIn, cover letters, etc.  The problem is that without strong coding skills to back it up, a good deal of that is just window dressing.

I don't think Galvanize is a scam: the people who work there are good people and clearly want you to succeed.  But just wanting something is meaningless without results, and right now the course feels disorganized and rudderless.  Stay away from G-School (at least the Denver campus) until some serious changes are made.

The insructors of the course were very knowledgeable and professional; I appreciated their insight and experiences as they taight the curriculum. I went into with next to no experience in Python but I'm very intrigued by the possibilites of the language, and feel like I got a good enough foundation to carry on my own learning. 

I would say the pace of the course felt uneven at times; the first half of the course felt very thorough (programming basics, working with dataframe, visualizations), while parts of the second half felt rushed. 

Overall I'm glad I took the course and am looking forward to carrying on my education in the subject. 

I'm really glad I chose Galvanize in San Francisco over General Assembly, Hack Reactor, App Academy and Learner's Guild. I first discovered the Galvanize community in Seattle and their focus on entrepreneurship, project based learning, and diversity of student and teacher backgrounds really caught my attention. When I visited the San Francisco campus, I found very much the same culture. Having six months, compared to just three months at other schools, to learn and absorb and practice such a vast amount of information and skills, also grabbed me as a much more sustainable and healthy way to learn. Luckily all my instincts ended up leading me toward the right decision. All the teachers, students, staff, coworking space users, and event throwers that the Galvanize community brings into their circle fit with their ethos. My expectations have been continually exceeded. I have met countless new friends and collegues with the same goals and worldview, I have been gifted complete control over what I want to learn and how I want to learn it, and I have been constantly challenged to challenge myself more than I thought possible and I have consisently achieved those goals with support and guidance from everyone around me. Even as I am graduating I am being pushed to try bigger and fail harder, and learn faster. This is everything I've ever dreamed of from a school, and that is coming from 7+ years of traditional college (one technical degree and one Bachelor's). As a prospective student, I think it helped me greatly that I had a very clear picture of my goals and what I wanted to get out of the program. For others without such clarity, I would definitely recommend some deep thought about why you are choosing web development and what you want to get out of it and who you want to become by the end of the program. However, if that is not the case and you are just feeling drawn to it, if the culture fit feels right, go for it and ask for all the help and all the questions you can and Galvanize peeps will be there to help you figure it out. Because the culture fit coming out of Galvanize and into the workforce feels like an effortless extension of why I chose Galvanize in the first place.

I went to Galvanize to change my career path and the staff helped me every inch of the way. Including before I got in! The instructors take the time to sit down with you every day and make sure you don't get lost in the intimidating ammount of work. Most of the instructors went through the program, so they know how difficult it is and they empathize with the struggling students(literally every student will struggle). The course is always evolving to adapt to the best and newest technologies that are current in the workforce. The course sets the students up for success and being comfortable in high pressure situations in the real world because Galvanize is non-stop. What an incredible experience!

Galvanize granted me contacts and the technical edge necessary to land a data science job within a week of graduation.

Galvanize has a very jobs oriented approach towards their data science immersive. The curriculum is structured such that if you follow it well and apply yourself, sometimes going beyond what is simply required, you can develop a functional understanding of the language of data science, targetting knowledge relevant to employment. This grants the toolset necessary to converse and work in almost any context where data science is used, from classification and regression algorithms to natural language processing and recommendation systems, and everything inbetween. Due to the sheer volume of material covered, the course moves quickly. If you keep up with the pace, likely through either hard work or prior knowledge, you can gain significant insight into the various fields of data science. That said, their curriculum is tailored towards employment rather than pure knowledge, for better and worse. For instance, in the Phoenix Galvanize Data Science immersive I took, neural networks were not explained in the coursework (though the instructors were happy to teach me about them when I asked anyways) because local employers don't use neural nets much. In this way, Galvanize's coursework provides a tool custom built to grant the skills necessary for employment in the local job space.

As a personal example, Galvanize granted a large scale overview of the various concepts of data science such that I could hold a conversation with people at any level of experience on them. The was relevant towards impressing people while networking that I was knowledgeable, and having intelligent conversations in interviews.

In addition to its coursework, Galvanize has projects purposefully built to teach employable skills and make connections. Every student does a capstone project which is done with real world data, and often real world connections. This provides an excellent opportunity to develop skills for a resume, and also to develop connections and leads on jobs. They also provide interview preparation, resume building assistance, mock technical and personal interviews, networking events, and personalized job search assistance.

As a personal example, after a guest speaker came to talk about data science in their field, the instructors mentioned that they were looking for capstone projects. The speaker gave them ideas for projects that he was interested in based on data their company had, and I ultimately chose one of those projects as my capstone. This put me directly in contact with a potential employer, doing data science for them. Using the tools Galvanize had equiped me with, especially those related towards data manipulation and visualization, I was able to impress them such that they hired me prior to my graduation. In addition to getting an opportunity to become a data scientist, I've found that the toolset that Galvanize equiped me with allows me to use bleeding edge technology to manipulate data, providing assistance to data scientists decades my senior.

Ultimately, if you're looking to get into the data science field, I am hard pressed to imagine a better opportunity than what Galvanize has with it's Data Science Immersive program. It provides the technical skills relevant to success, the contacts to impress people, and the assistance to help you along the way there.

A big believer in the idea that instruction, mentorship, community, and focused study can take one much further, much faster than studying on one's own a few hours a week from various online, spotty, online resources, I began researching data science immersive programs. At the end of extensive research on the different "bootcamps", I concluded that Galvanize was the best fit for me and would get me where I wanted to be.

Instruction. The core group of instructors that taught my cohort were intelligent and passionate about teaching. Our lead instructor went above and beyond with his preparation and giving of his time to make sure we succeeded, and all of our instructors were generally always happy to stop and chat or help with anything we needed. For the capstone project (the culminating experience of the entire program), my cohort was split into several groups of 5-6 students and we had an instructor who we were able to consult with about our project and any difficulties we encountered throughout the process. Overall, I always felt supported and felt comfortable to ask questions (and learned a ton!).

Career. The career team (James and Mary Ann) are very talented and good at what they do. For myself and my peers, I know that they helped drastically in making connections, understanding your background and where you want to go, all the way to salary negotiation. The career team was generous with their time, meeting one-on-one with students and giving us their attention and care. Even after Galvanize, after getting a job, I felt comfortable asking the James and Mary Ann for career advice, and they were always so supportive and helpful.

Wellbeing and success. Bootcamps are stressful. Yes, you learn a ton, but some days you will also cry, wonder if you're working hard enough, doing enough, being enough. In addition to the instruction staff who will give you pep talks, there is designated staff (Jenny, for my cohort) who ensure students are succeeding in the program as well as maintaining wellbeing, emotionally, physically, and mentally. Jenny led sessions on skills and tools to be successful, such as prioritizing, timeboxing, growth mindset, and overcoming imposter syndrome. We also had regular check-ins and were asked how we were doing and asked about our feedback into the program. Jenny always listened attentively and with empathy.

Community. Galvanize is an education program, but it is also a coworking space. Because of this, there is pretty much one (or, usually, more) event(s) that take place every night throughout the week. This fosters a great sense of community and is really positive for networking. In addition, Galvanize does a good job in their admissions to make sure that all of your peers are persons who will contribute to a positive community throughout the duration of the program and far beyond. I made some very close friends from my program, who I still regularly keep in touch with.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Galvanize and am excited to have gone through it in my data science journey. Through the program, my expectations were, overall, met and often exceeded, and I'm happy to belong to a network with so many smart and talented people.

Galvanize Phoenix is a great choice for anyone looking to up their skills in tech. I attended the Web Developement Immersive course and could not be happier. The curriculum, instructors, and career services are top notch in my honest opinion. I attended a university and received my BSIT and even though it was a good experience, I can say with confidence that Galvanize was an overall better learning experience. 

Intro 

I used to work as a principal software engineer at a big software company for many years doing full stack Java web development. I wanted a new job but everything in web development has changed from Java/php/Ruby to JavaScript frameworks. I looked at a few bootcamps (Coding Dojo, Hack Reactor, Dev Mountain and Dev League in Hawaii - nice but no time to surf) and was accepted by them all. They are all good schools but Galvanize was 6 months (24 weeks), not 3 months to help us learn more and one of their instructors, Josh, used to teach at Hack Reactor and gave us a free Saturday course in JavaScript. 

Precourse

I was accepted at all the schools. Hack Reactor had a one month prep course, other schools were easier to get in and Galvanize had an online test with an instructor, Oli. Josh gave me some last minute tips and I passed with flying colors but I would recommend people learn JavaScript first. They also like us to have a pre course project making a web page. I reached out to a few grads who helped me with Galvanize.

Quarters

The course was taught by Nestor and the resident was Michael (a recent graduate). Both were very knowledgeable in the materials. 

The first quarter was web (HTML, CSS) and JavaScript. We created an image scraper JavaScript web application. Each quarter we get about one week to work on a final project and between quarters we get a break week.

Second quarter was on React. This was the first cohort to learn React in the second quarter and probably the first to really deep dive on Redux, Thunk middleware and JS testing! We all made React web and React Native mobile apps projects for second quarter!

Third quarter was on Node and database development with the project to be integrated with our React projects to be hosted on AWS (Amazon Web Services). We all worked together and got everything done right before the Thanksgiving holiday break week.

Fourth quarter was our final project (3 weeks) and prep work, CS concepts for interviews. I worked on a React Native mobile app and our cohort had the most diverse set of applications throughout the program (5 mobile apps, e-commerce apps, video game for 2 players) and technologies (React, React Native, GraphQL, Python, Socket IO, and many more)! The limited amount of time the students had (1 to 3 weeks) to build full stack applications was truly amazing and inspirational!

As for career services, James encouraged us to go to informational interviews (I met with 18 tech professionals and wrote a blog about it http://siliconvalleycoffeetalk.blogspot.com/2018/03/interested-in-silicon-valley-coffee-talk.html), set us up to interview with many companies and even had follow up interview preps to help us months after graduation. This was free to graduates and we also get six months access to Galvanize workspace and lifetime use of the Alumni lounge. 

After graduation, there weren't that many companies hiring and we went to Galvanize interview prep with help from Galvanize director Sherif. He gave me a few pointers which I tried at an interview and it got me an offer from a start-up. Overall I received multiple offers two months after graduation, had interviews with big companies (had to cancel a few due to the job offers) such as Apple, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Netflix, Amazon, IBM and many more.

Thank you Galvanize. Even though I graduated and got a job, I still go there to help with the new students and go to meet ups as it encouraged me to pay it forward with people new to tech. I highly recommend this school!

Intro 

I used to work as a principal software engineer at a big software company for many years doing full stack Java web development. I wanted a new job but everything in web development has changed from Java/php/Ruby to JavaScript frameworks. I looked at a few bootcamps (Coding Dojo, Hack Reactor, Dev Mountain and Dev League in Hawaii - nice but no time to surf) and was accepted by them all. They are all good schools but Galvanize was 6 months (24 weeks), not 3 months to help us learn more and one of their instructor Josh used to teach at Hack Reactor and gave us a free Saturday course in JavaScript. 

Precourse

I was accepted at all the schools. Hack Reactor had a one month prep course, other schools were easier to get in and Galvanize had an online test with an instructor, Oli. Josh gave me some last minute tips and I passed with flying colors but I would recommend people learn JavaScript first. They also like us to have a pre course project making a web page. I reached out to a few grads who helped me with Galvanize.

Quarters

The course was taught by Nestor and the resident was Michael (a recent graduate). Both were very knowledgeable in the materials. 

The first quarter was web (HTML, CSS) and JavaScript. We created an image scraper JavaScript web application. Each quarter we get about one week to work on a final project and etween quarters we get a break week.

Second quarter was on React. This was the first cohort to learn React in the second quarter and probably the first to really deep dive on Redux, Think middleware and JS testing! We all made React web and React Native mobile apps projects for second quarter!

Third quarter was on Node and database development with the project to be integrated with our React projects to be hosted on AWS (Amazon Web Services). We all worked together and got everything done right before the Thanksgiving holiday break week.

Fourth quarter was our final project (3 weeks) and prep work, CS concepts for interviews. I worked on a React Native mobile app and our cohort had the most diverse set of applications throughout the program (5 mobile apps, e-commerce apps, video game for 2 players) and technologies (React, React Native, GraphQL, Python, Socket IO, and many more)! The limited amount of time the students had (1 to 3 weeks) to build full stack applications was truly amazing and inspirational!

As for career services, James encouraged us to go to informational interviews (I met with 18 tech professionals and wrote a blog about it http://siliconvalleycoffeetalk.blogspot.com/2018/03/interested-in-silicon-valley-coffee-talk.html), set us up to interview with many companies and even had follow up interview preps to help us months after graduation. This was free to graduates and we also get six months access to Galvanize workspace and lifetime use of the Alumni lounge. 

After graduation, there weren't that many companies hiring and I went to Galvanize interview prep with help from their director Sherif. He gave me a few pointers which I tried at an interview and it got me an offer from a start-up. Overall I received multiple offers two months after graduation, had interviews with big companies (had to cancel a few due to the job offers) such as Apple, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Netflix, Amazon, IBM and many more.

Thank you Galvanize. Even though I graduated and got a job, I still go there to help with the new students and go to meet ups as it encouraged me to pay it forward with people new to tech. I highly recommend this school!

I first went to Galvanize to complete their Coding Bootcamp, which was taught by one of my first professors at the real Immersive course later on. The sense of community and genuine care for a critical understanding of this material was very strong and apparent from the moment I got started. I knew that even though I didn't understand how to code, if I invested in the program they invest back into me. 

Also, not only do you get the education, but you get the entire network and community of people there who have experience and can help you with your work, or finding work. Which is exactly how I got my first job. 

A year after knowing very little other than some basic HTML and CSS, I am now working with one other person on a fully functional mobile app for a startup here in Phoenix. It was seriously a life-changing experience, and has given me the confidence to ride this wave of momentum and continue learning and growing and helping newer students as they arrive in the same position I was in. 

Great experience!  From my inquiry, all the way through the end of the Accelerated Java Script class, I felt well taken care of.  First of all, the intake staff are interested in getting to know you, your background, where you want to be, and helping to get you on the right track.  If you need help to get to the point where you can take the Accelerated class, they have a free online program to help you get started.  Once in the class, the instructor offered information in what I feel was several great ways.  Not only did he cover the basics of Java Script in an intelligent, interesting, and FUN way, making it so even total n00bies ( like me!) could understand and enjoy, but he also covered the material in a way you can't just learn anywhere; offering many many tips on best practices, what to expect in the workplace, and other tidbits you could only learn by listening to an experienced developer discuss the topic.  I definitely recommend this class!  Big thanks to Galvanize Phoenix!

This is a total career shift for me. (You can do it, too!) I have had a lot of different kinds of jobs over the last decade and discovered that wanted to become a data scientist. After looking at three clearest paths, self-study, bootcamps, and masters programs, I found that the bootcamp model fit my requirements and timeline best. I chose Galvanize's Data Science Immersive, and I couldn't be happier with my choice.

I evaluated several local bootcamps and masters in my area (Seattle). I read reviews, talked with industry people about their perspectives (relative to ROI), talked with recruiters (both at boot camps and tech companies), to narrow my field downI visited the campus and had an immediate feel for the place and culture; I felt like I was home, as the people were kind and inviting, and the facility was warm and welcoming yet professional and focused. 

My tipping point was, by happenstance, meeting a couple Galvanize DSI alumni at my local grocery store, and I asked them about what they thought. They were ecstatic about their experience, and that was my tie breaker data. I decided to apply. My friends and family thought I was being bamboozled. They asked about what kind of degree it was, and there is none. They asked about guaranteed job placement, and there is none. They asked how much it would cost, how long it would take, and why I would do this. I didn't care; I knew what I knew and I was confident that I knew what I was doing. Upon application, I was not accepted to the program, my first time applying, but was encouraged by the admissions advisor to try again as I was close. I ramped up my self study and got in on my second attempt.

From day one at Galvanize, I was supported, encouraged, and challenged to my limits. Every single person on the academic or administrative team embodied the life-changing nature of the program. Each day was its own and though my stress built up over the weeks, I was working my brain harder than I could remember in recent history. I was building towards my goals. Some days I wanted to quit. Some days I felt like I really knew what I was doing. Most of the time, I tried to focus on what the big ideas were and how I would use them ‘in the wild’, while not letting myself become too overwhelmed by the complexity and depth of the material. The students in the class were my support network; we were in it together. The instructors knew what we were up against, and mitigated our workloads and stress levels, as much as the schedule and syllabus would allow. There were no easy days. There were no wasted, throw away days. Every bit was valuable, but only so much could be integrated. Expectations were achievable, if you were willing work hard.

After graduation, I felt such a sense of accomplishment and pride that I was able to keep up with the extremely smart individuals I had come to call friends through the process, which includes staff. (The networking aspect of Galvanize is not to be underestimated; networking is how you get jobs, it seems.) I was very lucky to have been made an offer by a local, data analytics consulting firm just a few weeks out of the program. (This is not the average, but it does happen.) I couldn’t be happier with my experience at Galvanize. My friends from the program, as well as my instructors, have continued to keep in contact and have been amazing. These people are committed to your success.

Pick what is right for you; bootcamps are not all created equal, though there are some excellent programs out there. (There is more than one way to become a data scientist, as you know.) I would strongly suggest evaluating them on your gut feel, after doing your homework, of course. You will get out what you put in. Talk with staff and alumni. Read the reviews. Talk to your friends and family. Go for a walk and think about what you really want. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it if you trust the process and do the work, (you can do it!). For me, it was Galvanize and I’d do it again. Galvanize has changed my life, and I am happier than I have been in years.

Bottom line: Galvanize DSI offers great upside. However, even the best bootcamp is not a guarantee of job success.

I came into the DSI with minimal coding experience, a military leadership background, and a college degree in Ancient History. In other words, making the jump into a technical field was a tall order for me. Galvanize offered a phenomenal introduction to coding, statistics, machine learning, and Data Science practices. I was very lucky to move quickly into a contracted Junior Data Scientist role at a startup I had good connections with, followed a few months later by a Data Scientist position at Facebook. I couldn't be happier with my outcomes, but I have to be honest that they are not representative.

The instructors are all passionate, well-qualified, and supportive. The career assistance was exemplary. The curriculum is the best one can expect from a 3-month data science course, though I think it could stand to be expanded to 4 or 6 months in order to get more hands-on time with some data science fundamentals. The job assistance was great and really helped me prepare for the interview process. 

The most important thing to recognize, though, is that the course is demanding and to get the most out of it, students need to push themselves even harder than the baseline challenge. This is particularly true for those with weaker technical or STEM backgrounds. Do the readings every night for the next day's lecture. If you have time, revisit the challenging parts of each day's exercise. Ask the instructors for clarification on subjects you don't feel comfortable with. And be prepared to continue learning aggressively even after graduation. 

I'm enormously grateful to the Galvanize staff, and highly recommend the course to people who are interested. Just make sure you've done your research and are willing to put in a lot of work (and still job hunt for ~6 months after graduating).