Saturday, April 5, 2014

Data Science Bootcamp Programs - Full TIme, Part Time and Online

I've gotten a lot of inquiries on options to move into Data science. This is my attempt to answer that question. If I excluded any programs from this, please feel free to ping me. You'll see that there are quite a few options and you need to find the best fit based on your profile. This list does not include any university programs.

Everyone seems to reference the quote from Google Economist Hal Varian "Being a statistician is the sexiest job of the 21st century" and the McKinsey report about the shortage in Data Science talent.

For a guide on factors to consider when Choosing a Data Science Bootcamp Program, the article should be helpful.

We are collecting and publishing detailed Data Science Bootcamp Reviews from students that have attended and graduated from the various Data Science Bootcamps

Visit this link for more in depth coverage of Data Science Bootcamp Programs including Interviews with Data Science Bootcamp Founders

Regarding Data Science Interview Resources, I hear from a lot of people including those asking about interview resources and the most efficient way to prepare for Data Science Interviews. At a lot of companies and startups, a very important component of the interview process is either the Take Home Data Challenge and/or Onsite Data Challenge. Another important component is the Theory interview, I'll talk more on this later..

This is a also a great resource for individuals who feel they have the background and experience to interview for jobs without going through a bootcamp type program.

To become more familiar with and get efficient working on Data Challenges, I recommend taking a look at the Collection of Data Science Take-home Challenges book. It gives very clear and realistic examples of some of the types of problems you could face on a Data Challenge and projects you could potentially work on as a data scientist



Here we go...

Full Time

Zipfian Academy : This is not a 0-60 school. It's more like 40-80. They are currently about to graduate their second cohort.

  • Notes : Of all the Data Science bootcamps, Zipfian has the most ambitious curriculum. Graduates from the first cohort are currently working in Data Scientist roles across the Bay Area. I'm currently part of the second cohort
  • Location : San Francisco, CA
  • Requirement : Familiar with programming, statistics and math. Quantitative background
  • Duration : 12 weeks

Update : Since the initial post went up a few months ago, Zipfian Academy has added two more programs

Data Engineering 12 - week Immersive : This follows the same format as the Data Science Immersive. The first cohort for this program will start January 2015
  • Notes : This follows the same format as the Data Science Immersive
  • Location : San Francisco, CA
  • Requirement :  Quantitative / Software Engineering background
  • Duration : 12 weeks
Data Fellows 6 - week Fellowship :  The first cohort for the fellows program will start Summer 2014
  • Notes : This program is free for accepted fellows
  • Location : San Francisco, CA
  • Requirement :  Significant Data Science Skills, Quantitative background
  • Duration : 6 weeks
Also see a recent google hangout explaining these new programs :  Zipfian Academy Data Fellows Program  - Information Session 



Data Science Europe Bootcamp : This looks like its modeled after the Insight program. Select a small group of very smart people with advanced degrees and help them get ready for Data Science roles in 6 weeks. 



Interview with Data Science Europe Founder

Data Science Eutope Student Reviews
  • Notes : It enrolls the first cohort January 2015. Also if you don't receive an offer for a quantitative job with 6 months of completing the course, you'll receive a full refund on tuition paid. They're currently on their second cohort and have a 100% placement rate 
  • Location : Dublin, Ireland 
  • Requirement : Quantitative Degree, Programming knowledge and Statistics background. It looks like they prefer graduate students and Post Docs but are open to applications from undergrads.
  • Duration : 6 weeks 

Insight Data Science : Accepts only PhDs or PostDocs. They have completed 5 cohorts in Palo Alto and are opening up a new class in New York this summer. From their website, it does look like they have almost perfect placement. It is project based self directed learning, so if you need some hand holding or you're not already very familiar with the material this may not be the program for you



    • Notes : No Fees, pays Stipend
    • Location : Palo Alto, CA / New York, NY
    • Requirement : PhD / PostDoc
    • Duration : 7 weeks 

    Insight Data Engineering : They'll enroll the first cohort this summer. Bootcamp will focus on the data engineering track. It is project based self directed learning, so if you need some hand holding or you're not already very familiar with the material this may not be the program for you

    • Notes : No Fees 
    • Location : Palo Alto, CA
    • Requirement : strong background in math, science and software engineering
    • Duration : 7 weeks 

    Data Science Retreat : Follows the same format as Zipfian but is based in Europe


      • Notes : Curriculum is mostly in R, though they support other languages (python). They have tiered pricing for the class, so you can pay for which tier meets your needs
      • Location : Berlin
      • Requirement : Experience with programming, databases, R, Python
      • Duration : 12 weeks 

      Data Science For Social Good : hosted by the University of Chicago. The students work with non-profits, federal agencies and local governments on projects that have a social impact

      • Notes : they focus on civic projects or projects with social impact
      • Location : Chicago, IL
      • Requirement : It looks like they target academics (undergraduate and graduate students)
      • Duration : 12 weeks 

      Metis Data Science Bootcamp  : This looks like its modeled after the Zipfian program from a duration / structure / curriculum stand point. It is owned by Kaplan which also recently acquired Dev Bootcamp. Looks like the big .edu players are trying to make a play for the tech bootcamp space

      Interview with Metis Data Science Cofounder
      • Notes : It enrolls the first cohort Fall 2014. For individuals who are not already in the US or are international students, you could obtain an M-1 visa to attend. They're probably the first bootcamp that are able to issue M-1 student visas
      • Location : New York, NY and San Francisco, CA
      • Requirement : Familiarity with Statistics and Programming
      • Duration : 12 weeks 

      Science to Data Science : They accept only PhDs / Post Docs or those close to completing their PhD studies. We are seeing more bootcamps adopt this model.


      • Notes : It enrolls the first cohort August 2014. There is a small registration fee for the course otherwise the program is free for participants
      • Location : London, UK
      • Requirement : PhD / Post Doc
      • Duration : 5 weeks 

      Level Data Analyst Bootcamp : This is one of the first full time Data Analyst bootcamps we've seen and its run by a University which is also a first. I think folks in academia have realized that the typical university structure can't keep up with the pace of innovation in the space



      • Notes : Curriculum looks standard for the Data Analyst and Marketing Analytics job track. They also run hybrid and full - time programs
      • Location : Boston, MA, Charlotte, NC, Seattle, WA, Silicon Valley, CA
      • Requirement : 
      • Duration : 8 weeks 


      Praxis Data Science : This is another program coming with an interesting approach. Another option for individuals with a strong STEM and programming background who want to make a move into Data Science


      • Notes : It enrolls the first cohort Summer 2015. They also offer a money back guarantee and will refund up to half of the fees paid if you're unable to find a job within 3 months. This speaks to the fact that they have a vested interest in their students' success. The curriculum also seems to focus on building the practical skills needed to both land a role and continue to grow as a Data Scientist.
      • Location : Silicon Valley, CA 
      • Requirement : Looks like they're looking for people with a STEM background (advanced degrees preferred) and programming / quantitative experience 
      • Duration : 6 weeks 

      Insight Health Data Science : This is the first significant deviation we've seen from the norm (focus - wise). This program seems to have the same structure as the other Insight programs but the focus here is solely in Healthcare and Life Sciences. It is project based self directed learning, so if you need some hand holding or you're not already very familiar with the material this may not be the program for you

      • Notes : No Fees
      • Location : Boston, MA
      • Requirement : PhD / PostDoc
      • Duration : 7 weeks 

      Startup.ML Data Science Fellowship : Startup.ML is taking an interesting approach to Data Science education. Their fellows work on real problems with established Data Science teams or on undefined startup problems.



      • Notes : No Fees. They also enrolled their first cohort in March 2015. I would imagine the typical profile here is someone that may be much further along.
      • Location : San Francisco, CA 
      • Requirement : Background in Software Engineering, Quantitative Analysis. Advanced Quantitative degrees 
      • Duration : 4 months

      ASI Data Science Fellowship : This is another program modeled after the Insight program. They pair students with an Industry partner which allows students to work on real business problems / data. They also have a modular program which allows for some customization.



      • Notes : No Fees
      • Location : London, UK
      • Requirement : PhD
      • Duration : 8 weeks

      GA Data Science Immersive : General Assembly was actually one of the first outfits to start part time Data Science classes. It looks like they've decided to also jump into the fray with a full time Data Science Immersive


      • Notes : They've been doing part time Data Science classes for at least two years already
      • Location : San Francisco, CA
      • Requirement :  Seems like they're interested in folks with quantitative backgrounds looking to transition to Data Science
      • Duration : 12 weeks 

      Catenus Science :  Catenus is also taking a very different approach here. Catenus Science is a paid apprenticeship program helping skilled Data Scientists explore opportunities at different startups / domians



      • Notes : Paid Apprenticeship. Rotate through three different startups applying you skills to month long projects with these startups. The next sesison starts June 2016
      • Location : San Francisco, CA 
      • Requirement : Background and Experience in Statistics, Machine Learning, Programming, Product Development. They're probbaly looking for people who are much further along.  
      • Duration : 13 weeks

      The Data Incubator : Accepts only STEM PhDs or PostDocs. The first class is starting summer 2014.

      • Notes : No Fees
      • Location : New York, NY
      • Requirement : PhD / PostDoc
      • Duration : 6 weeks 

      NYC Data Science Academy : This looks like its also modeled after the Zipfian 12 week immersive. Another option for non-postdocs on the east coast looking to make the transition to Data Science

      • Notes : It enrolls the first cohort February 2015. Just looking at the curriculum, it appears well thought out and seems to cover a lot of breadth. They focus on R and Python and spend significant amounts of the course time covering both ecosystems. 
      • Location : Manhattan, NY 
      • Requirement : Looks like they prefer people with STEM advanced degrees or equivalent experience in a Quantitative discipline or programming 
      • Duration : 12 weeks 

      Silicon Valley Data Academy : This also looks like another program modeled after the Insight program. It does look like they skew towards applicants that are much further along the skills spectrum

      • Notes : No Fees and they run both Data Science and Data Engineering programs
      • Location : Redwood City, CA
      • Requirement : Advanced Degrees / PhD / Post Docs , Extensive quantitative / engineering background 
      • Duration : 8 weeks 

      Microsoft Research Data Science Summer School  : targets upper level undergraduate students attending college in the New York area. Program instructors are research scientists from Microsoft Research
      • Notes : Each student receives a stipend and a laptop
      • Location : New York, NY 
      • Requirement :  upper level undergraduate students interesting in continuing to graduate school in computer science or related field or breaking into Data Science
      • Duration : 8 weeks 

      Part Time
      • General Assembly - Data Science : San Francisco / New York. Part time program over 11 weeks (2 evenings a week) 
      • Hackbright - Data Science  San Francisco. Full Stack Data Science class over one weekend
      • District Data Labs : Washington DC.  Data workshops and project based courses on weekends
      • Persontyle : London, UK. Offering R based Data Science short classes
      • Data Science Dojo : Silicon Valley, CA /  Seattle, WA / Austin, TX. Offering data science talks, tutorials and hands on workshops and are looking to build a data science community
      • AmpCamp : This is run by UC Berkeley AMPLab. Over two days, attendees learn how to solve big data problems using tools from the Berkeley Data Analytics Stack. The event is also live streamed and archived on YouTube
      • NextML

      These bootcamps are popping up and thriving because there is currently an imbalance between demand and supply of Data Science talent and the acceptance rates at some of full time bootcamps are anywhere from 1 in 20 to 1 in 40

      p.s : I need to stress that with any of the programs listed above, you need to do your due diligence and ask the tough questions to find out if it's a good fit for you. You probably want to be on the look out for programs that are not transparent about their placement.


      Update 1 - 05/14  : Added the new Zipfian programs, Persontyle
      Update 2 - 07/14 :  Added Metis, Data Science Europe,  Science to Data Science
      Update 3 - 08/14 :  Added Data Science Dojo
      Update 4 - 10/14 :  Added AMPLab
      Update 5 - 11/14 :  Added Coursera/UIUC, Udacity Data Analyst Nanodegree, Thinkful, DataInquest
      Update 6 - 12/14 :  Added NYC Data Science Academy
      Update 7 - 01/15 :  Added Next.ML, Bitbootcamp, DataQuest  
      Update 8 - 04/15 :  Added Praxis Data Science, Insight Health Data Science
      Update 9 - 05/15 :  Added Startup.ML Fellowship, ASI Fellowship
      Update 10 - 09/15 : Added Silicon Valley Data Academy
      Update 11 - 01/16 : Added GA Data Science Immersive, Level Data Analyst Bootcamp, Udacity ML Nanodegree, Leada
      Update 12 - 05/16 : Added Catenus Science 

      40 comments:

      1. Wanted to warn against the Berlin "Data Science Retreat": this is a scam, trying to extract money from unsuspecting developers. Stay away.

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. What is wrong with them? Could you please explain?

          Delete
        2. can you please elaborate more? many people might apply and maybe interested in your experience

          Delete
        3. Jose here, director of Data Science Retreat. We are now on our 4th batch, with companies who have hired from us coming back for more and reporting to be very happy with their hires. Our teachers are very serious and well-respected in their fields (as google would reveal to anyone interested). If have never had a participant named Pete Frank, and we don't refer to our people as developers. If you want a first-hand report on how it is to do DSR, feel free to contact me, any of the mentors, or any of the former participants.

          Delete
        4. @Pete would be interested to hear how you arrive at your conclusion! I'm a participant of DSR's 3rd batch earlier this year and believe it's an excellent course and feel i got great data science bang for my euro. Especially compared to the cost's of similar courses. And i doubt any course has so many big name data scientist's sharing their knowledge face to face. No scam here sir.

          Delete
      2. Thanks a bunch. Really helpful list.

        ReplyDelete
      3. I wonder if you have any information on the master degree program offered UCSF and USF?

        How does a degree program from accredited university compare against bootcamp style class like Zipfian Academy? I got a lot of kick from doing free MOOC classes but I am still contemplating doing a formal class.

        ReplyDelete
      4. Sorry I mean UC Berkeley and USF in my previous comment.

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. I'm not very familiar with the program at USF. The UC Berkeley program just enrolled it's first cohort so we don't have a lot of data points to assess it

          Delete
      5. Hi, I'm not familiar with the term: "This is not a 0-60 school. It's more like 40-80". Could you explain me what it's all about?

        Thanks

        Mauricio

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. You need to come into the program at least at the intermediate level

          Delete
      6. There is also the Kaplan/Metis data science bootcamp: http://www.thisismetis.com/#bootcamps

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. Thanks for bringing this to my notice. I'll add it to the list

          Delete
      7. Don't forget S2DS, Science to Data Science, starting in London in August: www.s2ds.org.

        ReplyDelete
      8. Thanks for the post. It's a nice overview of existing data science programs. Looking forward to more reviews on these programs if possible!

        ReplyDelete
      9. Thanks for the great information. Does anyone know of a course to get teens interested in Data Science as a career. My nephew is 16 and lives near Boston. If I can open his eyes to the cool things he can do with DS, I might save him from being an accountant.

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. Checkout GA's part-time course

          https://generalassemb.ly/education/data-science?where=boston

          Delete
      10. Does anyone have personal or second-hand experience with the Data Incubator? Specifically I'm interested in how well they support their Fellows (relative to Insight for example). Does the class essentially strike out on its own when the program wraps up? Are instructors in touch with fellows throughout their job application process? Any catastrophic fails?

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. Just from my personal conversations, I think only a few of these programs have a decent post - bootcamp support structure setup besides career services. Unfortunately most of them don't. For most of these programs, the goal is to get people in and out into data science jobs. Anything beyond that is just icing on the cake

          Delete
      11. Would you be able to be more specific? More detailed reviews would be so helpful!

        ReplyDelete
      12. We're running a similar Data Science bootcamp, difference is ours includes R. Check out more info here: http://nycdatascience.com/bootcamp/

        Our curriculum is intense and not for the faint of heart! Only for those serious about a career in Data Science.

        The head instructor Vivian Zhang is one of the few teachers in NY to offer training in R due to its difficulty.

        Apologies for the shameless plug! Sounded like some may benefit from this information, feel free to reach out to me personally with any questions about the program tanya@nycdatascience.com

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. Thanks for sharing. Found out about the program a few weeks ago.... Updated the blog post

          Delete
      13. Kaggle is also a good way to get hands-on

        ReplyDelete
      14. I've just finished a fellowship with the ASI, based in London:
        http://www.theasi.co/fellowship

        The program lasted 8 weeks, was free of charge, and included a project with an external partner company. The partner companies ranged from start-ups to well-known corporations and NGOs. The project took the majority of the 8 weeks and was designed to allow us to practise the whole range of data science skills on fresh data with real business value.

        The ASI were very supportive throughout and had a dual focus on business soft skills alongside the technical skills that are relevant at this moment in time. The fellowship is quite selective and aimed at PhDs and postdocs in numerate sciences.

        I am currently recommending the program to my friends and colleagues in academia. I was in the second cohort and the next fellowship is starting in June.

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. Thanks for bringing this to my notice... will add to list

          Delete
        2. please may i know what are other expenses including travel , and I am from India.

          Delete
      15. What do you recommend for someone with 0 experience?

        And also are there any reviews on bitbootcamp?

        ReplyDelete
      16. Hi, I have recently finished my PhD at the University of Waterloo (Canada) in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and I'm considering a career as a data scientist. I'm curently enrolled on the Coursera Data Science + Johns Hopkins course, however, I would also like to participate in a data science bootcamp program to increase my networking and benefit from the connections of such programs with the companies.

        Although there are a lot of programs in the US, I haven't come across any one here in Canada. Is anyone familiar with a Canadian program, or a US program that has good connections with canadian companies?

        Recommendations are welcomed.

        ReplyDelete
      17. I haven't come across any Canadian programs either. With the proliferation of programs in the US, my guess is that, there will be some programs in Canada with the next year.

        ReplyDelete
      18. Are these bootcamps open for international students? Or are they limited to people from only US schools?

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. Most bootcamps are open to international students. As long as you have a valid tourist / travel visa that lets you stay for the length of the bootcamp, there should be no problem.

          The job search is a different story. You will have to focus on large companies that can sponsor you.

          Delete
      19. Hi,

        Does any one know how good is General Assembly - Data Science course? Do they offer job assistance, and post training support or not?

        Thank you for your reply.

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. I have spoken to some alumni and no one has really had good feedback about GA courses, even the past instructors of the part-time data science course.

          I just took a look at the syllabus / curriculum and they teach subjects in the completely wrong order.

          Delete
      20. Data Science Dojo now offer a relatively short (5 days full-time) face-to-face course preceded and followed by self study with weekly Skype support. Does anyone have experience with Data Science Dojo? I would be interested in reviews.

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. They are not really a bootcamp. More of a short-form certificate.

          Look at their alumni: http://datasciencedojo.com/bootcamp/alumni/

          Most are not data scientists. You will not be able to transition from another job. I suspect many of the data scientists who have taken the course got their company to pay for it so they could brush up on some new trends or technologies.

          Delete
      21. Does anyone know of any bootcamps in the Denver area? I cannot commit to accepting a job in San Francisco or the east coast due to personal commitments.

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. I heard about Galvanize bootcamp, it occurs in several cities, including Denver. Try to google, I think you will find it easily. There is also a usable resource for doing the database assignments, helped me a lot why I was a students, maybe somebody will find it interesting.

          Delete
      22. Thank you so much for posting this!!! Especially for mentioning Catenus Science!!

        but pls note . . I am not sure Praxis Data Science exists anymore

        ReplyDelete