Berkeley Boot Camps

I started attending UC Berkeley Data Analytics program on June 2017 and I am in a first cohort of students for this course.  I took this class because I was looking for a part-time course that cover web development, programming and data analytics since I work full-time.  This course is Data Analytics course so the class focus mostly on technologies and skills on how to get and store data, how to analyze data, and how to visualize data but you also get learn introduction to other technologies too as well as currently hot technologies such as machine learning and big data.  This is the first class being offered so I was cautious in the beginning but it surprised me in a good way.  The class is very organized and structured in a way that you learn technologies in logical order.  I think all the skills I learned are very useful because I’ve seen those in majority of job descriptions when I was googling for jobs online and the mini-projects(homework) that I have to do are also fun and interesting to do because you get to practice what you learn in class and also you get to apply those skills in your own project too.  

In term of instructors and TAs, they are all very knowledgeable about what they are teaching.  I have to say my Instructor Pavan Katepalli, I have never seen an instructor who is passionate about programming, data analytics and very knowledgeable as well as great at teaching. He really wants to see his students succeed so you can ask question or schedule 1:1 with him anytime on anything.  And also, I think all the TA are amazing too because they give really good feedback (they are the one who grade your homework). And you can schedule 1:1 meeting with TAs and tutor or instructor which I think is great if you don’t understand stuffs in class or want to go over more on the materials.
Another best thing about the class is that it is always updating based on you feedback and they apply your feedback fairly quickly too so anything that you think which might enhance your learning they quickly get incorporated into the course.

In Career assistance side, they offer zoom session where you can call in to ask any questions and get answer right away as well as you can do 1:1 with career coach to go over any concern and get advices.  Also, they have special classes on interview practice and strategies so I think those are really helpful.  And there are career homework which are designed to make you organized and ready for job search, which I think is really good because they give you feedback on how your good resume is or what you needed in linkedin profile to be better and etc... Another thing I like is that they have people who work in the industry come to our class or remotely present share their experience with us, teach us new skills and get to network with them and ask questions.

Overall, for me I am happy with this course because with no background and having no idea where to start on learning about data analytics, I learned a lot from this course both on technologies as well as the analytics field.  And also, this is fast paced class so it covers a lot of materials but the class offer a lot of resources so if you are motivated you can learn a lot.  Also, it is a lot of fun working with classmates to learn these materials since I learn a lot through my classmates too.  I think this class covered a lot of materials and you can be successful if you can review and practice what they teach in the class and also it gives a lot of extra resources to learn on your own too.  This class gave me a really good foundation on programming and data analytics so I feel that if there are new skills that needed to learn, I feel that I can learn on my own in the future too.  I can’t wait to graduate in a month to continue practicing my new skills and start applying those skills in the data analytics field. 
 

As you may or may not know, UCB's coding bootcamp's course content is very similar to other bootcamps out there. I personally did a lot of research on bootcamps and other university's teaching the edX curriculum. I am SO GLAD I went with UCB. They gave me the support I needed to complete the work. They pushed me to challenge myself when I was unsure. And they gave SO MUCH INFORMATION. Seriously, I plan to go back through the course as much as possible in my own time. It's a treasure trove!

I got my Bachelor's in Business Administration, and was disappointed with the salaries when I entered the workforce. Not sure if this is the same outside the SF Bay Area, but I noticed a huge discrepancy between Computer Science and Data Analytics salaries versus Business/Marketing/Sales salaries. I knew I needed to learn those tech skills if I wanted to afford to live where I am going forward. Plus, I was always interested in technology, but wasn't young enough to grow up in an environment where women were encouraged to pursue careers in STEM. I feel like now it is a lot more common to see women in Technology, and I am happy to see it. 
I am planning to move to a different department within my current company, which is a tech company. After I obtain my certificate I will be eligible to go for Product Management, Business Operations, Growth Analytics, etc. – there are a ton of applications for data skills. I've found that coding is a lot like math (a lot of f(x) stuff) so if you feel comfortable with math, you should definitely learn how to code. Everyone I know who works in technology loves it. Soon I will be one of them  :') 
This bootcamp is definitely intense, so prepare to devote around 20 hours a week or more. Ask for help, the TAs and your fellow classmates are very helpful. There is tutoring available as well. 

In three decades of attained achievements and shaping experiences, this program has directly and indirectly impacted me in ways I could only have prayed for.  I am not just drinking from the proverbial fire hose of UC Berkeley vigorous curriculum. If this were the case, the greatest takeaway could be what's stated on the syllabus. This boot camp has been so much more. In its entirety, this experience will not only allow me a competitive edge as a cyber sec professional, but the brilliance/inspiration demonstrated by the instructors/assistants and success manager offered lessons in mental fortitude, gratitude, and compassion that extend to all realms personal/professional/academic. Some of my takeaways could arguably be attributed to the unique composition and timing of my specific boot camp, but by far, the potent constant, student success manager, Krishana Anderson, is an incredible mind and person that is willing, eager, able to help you maximize your experience as you get closer to your goals (just come driven to advance yourself because she can't do it for you).  Whether you never graduated high school or just finished an ivy league doctorate, this boot camp offers the knowledge, tools, and support to advance a path in IT/cyber security.  This is NOT empty rhetoric.  Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn to verify claims or ask more specific questions.  As evidence to my bold statements, my class enrolled brand new entrants to the IT space as well as industry veterans actively employed, and the course provides the content, structure, and support for BOTH groups and everyone in between. I am humbled, touched, and eternally grateful.

Berkeley FinTech Bootcamp is one of the best way to start your career in FinTech industry. I loved the way they helped me in learning basics of coding with real life experiences in a form of case studies to be covered in weekly assignments. Teaching faculty is very cooperating and helpful, they pay attention to each individual to overcome his problem or doubts. I have made new connections and advanced my knowledge in the world of finance and technology. This 6 months course is amazingly designed to boost one’s confidence to start his/her career right after this Bootcamp. 

I was quite reluctant few months ago while writing a code but now Im very confident and happy that I chose this program to transform myself in the world of FinTech. I highly recommend this course to individuals who are looking for a new start in their career.

Firstly, this is not a beginners program as it is very fast-paced. I would recommend going on Udemy and buying programs from Colt Steele
https://www.udemy.com/user/coltsteele/ and  Maximilian Schwarzmüller https://www.udemy.com/user/academind/ for $14.99 when they have a sale.  What is important is really learning what they teach and apply it to a project or 2 to get attention from recruiters and then practice coding challenges on leetcode and hacker rank. 
Secondly, it does not begin to cover everything you need to know about Full Stack Development especially the backend stuff. You need to know systems design, deployment to AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, etc that are not taught here.  It is a lot of money to just gain the basics. 

I decided to switch careers after a long stretch doing economic modeling.  I looked into options available and suitable and found the Berkeley Data Analytics Boot Camp.  It ticked many of the right boxes:

• Broad curriculum that would give me exposure to a large set of tools.
• 24 weeks duration, not too long and not too short.
• Could be completed remotely 100%.
• Recognized University in the tech industry.
• Right price and payment scheme.
• Career Services aimed to help me find a position within Data Sciences.

Currently we are half way through the course and I am extremely happy with the program. The material is well structured and provides guided hands-on learning on the multiple tools and technologies.  There are also lots of support available.  There are multiple Office Hours where the Teaching Assistants (TAs) can provide support and answer questions.  It's also possible to request additional tutoring one-on-one sessions and even post questions to the entire class via Slack.

The instructor Ryan, and the TAs are very knowledgeable and willing to answer questions. A few of the TAs have been through the Boot Camp themselves, so they are familiar with the type of questions and issues that we may have.

I have also found some of the Career Services presentations very informative and have helped me feel more confident about my future.

However, it's a fast paced course with lots of tools and programming languages presented.  I feel that I need to put in at least 20hrs/week are needed to get the most out of it.  
One piece of advice that was given to us at the beginning was to stay ahead of the lectures, reviewing the online module materials ahead of the lecture and not letting much time pass before completing the week's challenge.

Cheers,
Jose.