Galvanize

The remote, full-time DSI program at Galvanize was a worthwhile experience. I started the program with no background in programming. The curriculum is created with all skill levels in mind and works you from the ground up. The instructors and staff are friendly and approachable as well as dedicated to helping you understand concepts. There was a great balance between lecture-style material as well as hands-on practical application of concepts in the form of individual, group, or paired programming assignments. There is a good mix of teaching types for all learners. During and after graduation you are assigned a career coach to help you achieve your career goals which I found to be very helpful and supportive. 

I had a wonderful experience during the Data Science Immersive at Galvanize. The course material introduces you to many concepts, tools, techniques, and other useful resources that will help you immensely as you continue your career as a data scientist. The teaching staff (Matt Z and Alex B) are super helpful when you are stuck and they provide very useful feedback during capstone projects as well as insight into industry standards and best practices. The program lead (Tim Asprec) provides the energy and logistics throughout the course, ensuring everyone is on the same page, performing at their best, and becoming an overall better data scientist. Tim really helps you develop your communication as well as presentation skills. 

As with any bootcamp, the best results will come from what you are able to put into it. If you dedicate yourself, put in the work, and prepare accordingly, you will learn a lot and develop new skills that will help you in your data science career. The staff are always there to guide and help you along the way. I personally learned and took a lot away from this experience.

I will say that finding a job is its own endeavor, so make sure you also plan and prepare for networking and building connections. Due to the pandemic, it is a bit more difficult to have in person networking opportunities, but I am sure we will find ways to have virtual networking opportunities. 

Galvanize Data Science Immersive was an amazing opportunity and experience.  The staff did a great job at every aspect of the course.  Matt and Alex did really excellent at providing professional and relevant course material to the students. With the material relating to the work currently being done by the industry. The Data Science Residents Lu and Mitch were there with us every step of the way providing support when required. Ben did and is still doing great at providing career services ensuring that we find job placement in a relevant field.Tim Asprec is the maestro that guides the way and puts all of the programs' functions together delivering a complete product. Really grateful to the staff and I am confident in my ability to perform in the job market.  

I really enjoyed the Galvanize Data Science Immersive. The program was online due to the pandemic. However, the experience didn't miss a step. The information was extensive and the instructors were excellent. My fellow classmates were all excellent and motivated to learn the material. The Galvanize team also had an excellent career team that gave great support in getting a job. With my learnings from Galvanize DSI I developed a new NLP training technique that got me 3 speaking engagements. My paper was technically reviewed and accepted by a Machine Learning Conference and the #1 Data Science Online Publication. The only thing that I would say is that the program was a little too structured for me. However, My time at Galvanize was truly life changing. I highly recommend

The DSi boot camp has a consolidated, well-organized lesson plan that is executed in an energetic, cohesive way, even during COVID's requirement of remote lessons. My co-hort team members are my friends and we still talk after the class. The instructors and staff show that they truly care. I feel like I get the instruction I need to succeed, the experience in coding I need to continue my journey, and the support in the job searching process. PROs-Well organized course and lesson material-wealth of knowledge from instructors and old materials-small, tight-knit cohorts -great PMs that keep the energy going-flexible and understanding with regards to personal schedule-listens to student feedback and tries to make the adjustments almost immediately-multiple payment support / optionsCONS-Can be rigid in certain areas regarding curriculum due to company policy-I would have liked for it to start earlier (currently 9AM to 5PM PST) -classes move very quickly and cover many many topics since it's supposed to be equivalent to a 4-year degree

Galvanize provides an excellent platform for those who are willing to put in the time to make a career transition quickly. This program is a full-time, when I say full-time, I mean if you're not in class you're studying. If you enjoy a fast-paced environment, then this bootcamp is for you. However, even if you do struggle with the faster pace this program brings, your instructors/classmates are there to help you along the way. 

Pros:  Staff are all extremely intelligent and their willingness to help is second to none. Lectures are fast-paced, but efficient enough to gain a basic understanding of each concept. Classmates are all highly intelligent and friendly. Galvanize provides a platform on which, if you are dedicated enough, allows you to succeed in learning the basics of what data science has to offer. 

Context is I'm a PhD student in economics and took a leave of absence to take the Data Science Immersive. I started learning Python about a month before the program started, but made learning Python a full time job to get past the interview (which I failed the first time). My goal with the education is to go back to my PhD and get a part time research job. Going into research, I'm going to crush their starting income statistics, but as far as I can tell they don't care at all. I've received nothing, but sincere support in reaching my goals and their jobs team is top notch in getting you to present the best version of yourself. 

I've done a condensed masters program in operations research at a top program and gone through the naval nuclear power pipeline and I'd say Galvanize's Data Science is on par with either of those for intensity. The difference is the level of support for Galvanize was near instantaneous which allowed us to cover material faster. Through the trouble ticketing process, when I got stuck, I'd get pulled into a separate zoom room and step through my process with someone that knew more than me about the topic to correct the errors in my logic. My first project I did exploratory data analysis and hypothesis testing on the impact of local transportation and commutes on COVID cases and deaths. My second project I scraped product features and price from an appliance website and used inferential statistics (LASSO, Ridge) to figure out what I'd be paying for (I'm remodeling my kitchen). My third project I built a simulation of the board game risk and made different player behaviors so I could analyze winning strategies from the data generated by running thousands of games. Right now I'm building on this last capstone to analyze whether it makes sense to play cooperative. Again, I couldn't program in Python at all a month before I started the program and now I'm confident in Python and SQL. Most people did really cool machine learning projects, but that isn't as much my interest although I feel comfortable with the techniques now.

The community is great. I got to build my skills collaboratively with my classmates through pair programming. The instructional staff is top notch. They know the material well and they are good at pointing to quality resources if something is outside the scope. The material also stays with the student so I can continue practicing. The alumni slack is an awesome resource. Today I asked for resources for learning C and within an hour got two quality links from someone who could program in C. I learned lots of material and it was a collaborative and fun environment to do that in.

The data science program was very organized and provided an environment to build skills in statistics, exploratory data analysis, Python programming, and machine learning. The curriculum included extremely detailed lessons and assignments across major topics, frameworks, and methodologies in data science. The Galvanize instructors and staff went above and beyond to provide feedback and guidance for assignments, capstone projects, and career development. I highly recommend the program if you are interested in data science. 

Joined the free prep course in January 2020, as a complete noob. Had a great chat with an enrollment officer than decided to enroll in premium prep and never looked back. The complete experience from the enrollment officer, to the prep instructors and just overall support, was amazing. You really can't beat the price for the level of attention you get for a prep course (this would apply for any school that delivers the content the way Galvanize did and only charges $495). I was planning on using VET TEC but funding ran out before I attended the course in June but luckily they allowed me to use my 9/11 GI Bill. I was expecting the Data Science Immersive to not be as great since it got pushed to online due to COVID. I leaned into it and was pleasantly surprised that the delviery of the content was EXTREMELY seamless. The course pushes your comfort levels hard and if you're not into that kinda thing when learning then I would definitely say it's not for you, sadly. You should always be pushing your comfort when learning. 

This was one of my reviews during the course....

I am always very critical of people in positions as teachers/educators/instructors. I am the dot product of many not-so-great teachers and have many times felt frustrated that the learning process was either too rigid and/or not conducive to pushing the boundaries of our own understanding, without feeling judged or looked down upon. At every turn, you've always felt approachable, although it seems like you all practice stoicism - it's hard to get a read on what you're thinking or feeling by looking at you, nonetheless, you have created the learning environment that I believe should exist for every student that goes through an education process. I know it’s not easy going through 13-weeks of teaching topics that make complete sense to you and are easy in your minds, while people look at you cluelessly wondering how to do a dot-product, yet the only moments I ever felt uncomfortable were from my own insecurities of my previous teacher/student environments. In short, your approach to teaching is a model for what every teacher/student environment should be. Keep up the amazing work and hope our paths cross many times.

The support from start to end is truly fantastic!

Just graduated so we'll see how the career search goes but I have high hopes. I'll rate after everything is said and done. 

I came into the program with a technical background and had previously done some software development - so please understand this review comes from that point of view.

I believe the data science immersive (DSI) is absolutely a worthwhile program if the fit is right.   There simply is not enough time in three months to go from beginner-programmer to well-rounded data scientist. However, Galvanize does a great job at giving you as much academic load as one can handle, fantastic career services, and sufficient skills to be able to get an entry- level data science job. 

I thought the staff was amazing and the content presented was usually the right balance of breadth and depth.

That said, the program caters to self-starters and problem solvers with a decent handle on Python.  The students who seemed to have less success exhibited at least a couple of common traits: they struggled to write clean code quickly, they struggled with moving on before concepts were thoroughly understood or assignments were completed fully, they didn't enjoy collaborating with their peers, or they struggled with the math. 

I think Galvanize tries to assess incoming students to make sure they are properly prepared and a good fit- but am not sure if this process couldn't be improved to ensure that the students in the class are the students who will get the most out of it. 

If you are confident in your ability to solve problems in Python AND feel prepared to take on the math involved AND are willing to put in a lot of work both in and out of class AND are prepared to make peace with moving on from a topic before you are completely ready AND enjoy working and learning as part of a group- I am sure the program will give you a 5-star experience.  The less of those things that are true, the less you will enjoy what Galvanize has to offer.

Received a bachelor degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering from University of Texas and then served in the Marine Corps for 13 years.  Decided to end my career in the Marine Corps and pursue a new career in Software Engineering/Data Science.  While waiting to separate from the military was introduced to the concept of boot camps in software engineering and based on the reviews of course report and recommendations from others attended Skill DIstillery in Denver, Colorado and The Coding Dojo's online course.  With this training I was able to get my first job as a software engineer at the Washington Post.  While working as an engineer at the Post it was apparent that Software Engineering and Data Science are equally important.  Though I could have attempted to learn Data Science over time while working, I decided to accelerate exposure to this new field by pursuing a master's degree in Data Analytics Engineering and attend Galvanize's Data Science Immersive (DSI).  Over the course of two years I have applied to Galvanize's Data Science course twice (first time in San Francisco, and second time was for remote) passing both technical interviews the first time.  However multiple factors are preventing attendance including the overlap of their courses with the fall and spring semester of  college academic year and funding.  The first time I applied and was accepted and got a scholarship for military veterans covering tuition however no funding for housing leaving me to figure out how to pay $3,000 a month while attending the DSI full time.  Second time around, I decided to attend the remote DSI and was accepted, unfortunately no more scholarships for military veterans, and getting an additional loan as a graduate student also wasn't possible.  My budget is already limited as a full time graduate student so finding this out six months after paying for the prep course and deposit that I was not going to secure funding was a bit of a disappointment.  I was recently emailed a newsletter from Galvanize about an "Opportunity Fund" that will provide financial support for Black Americans so that they can attend their Software Engineering and Data Science courses.  My response to Galvanize is this, as a Marine Corps Veteran, black American, and software engineer if you can't figure out how to get me funding for the DSI in a way that does not force me to stop or delay other academic commitments I would urge you to consider if you are helping the black community or providing lip service like many other Americans on the BLM bandwagon.

I was part of the January Cohort for Data Science in Galvanize NY for 2019. 

During my time at Galvanize, I found the program itself to be intensive. Everyday, I learned lots of applicable ML models for production. For our assignments, we would have to write out how the algorithm really works. Even though most of the time I didn't end up finishing the assignment, the struggle was what made my experience worth it. The fact that I didn't know the answer, made me want to learn more.  Depending on how good your coding skills, you might fall behind, but the pair programming experience does help. 

In terms of job prospects, I was able to speak to my career services manager every week until I found a job. The journey, like any other bootcamp experience, is extremely hard. You will be applying and networking as a full time job. At some points, you wish that you went for that master's degree, but at the end of the day, you do receive many opportunities to get that data scientist job. Companies and recruiters do take a look at your resume loaded with real world projects.