Do you require applicants to have a graduate degree?
No degree is required. We’re selecting on ability rather than on credentials.
Zipfian Academy, App Academy, and other bootcamps are 12 weeks long, and (the first instance of) this one is only 6 weeks long. Why is this, and what are you cutting out relative to other data science bootcamps to make it this short? (This is my most pressing question).
Based on the preliminary interest that people have expressed anticipate that the students in our first cohort will be significantly stronger than is typical of data science bootcamps, and will correspondingly be able to cover the material at an accelerated pace. We expect at least some of our cohorts to run a full 12 weeks.
Regarding the comparison with coding bootcamps, there are reasons to believe that the amount that somebody needs to know to be in the top x% of industry data scientists is less than the amount that’s needed to be in the top x% of programmers. (I can elaborate.)
We’re cutting out some of the more advanced machine learning algorithms, which industry data scientists use infrequently enough so that they can be a distraction from getting started.
As a tie-in to my last question, is there a hiring event which employers will be invited to around the end of the program?
Very few bootcamp students who I know got their jobs through this route, so we may or may not do this depend on how efficient it is relative to other routes. Like other bootcamps that offer the “pay later” model, we have a large stake in ensuring that our students find jobs.
Do you know which language(s) you’ll be using?
We’ll be working primarily in R, and teaching SQL as well.
Thanks for the response! I’m impressed that you expect that your first cohort will be so strong, since I presume that you’re competing with already-established data science bootcamps for students. Again, good luck.
Thanks for your interest! Some responses below.
No degree is required. We’re selecting on ability rather than on credentials.
Based on the preliminary interest that people have expressed anticipate that the students in our first cohort will be significantly stronger than is typical of data science bootcamps, and will correspondingly be able to cover the material at an accelerated pace. We expect at least some of our cohorts to run a full 12 weeks.
Regarding the comparison with coding bootcamps, there are reasons to believe that the amount that somebody needs to know to be in the top x% of industry data scientists is less than the amount that’s needed to be in the top x% of programmers. (I can elaborate.)
We’re cutting out some of the more advanced machine learning algorithms, which industry data scientists use infrequently enough so that they can be a distraction from getting started.
Very few bootcamp students who I know got their jobs through this route, so we may or may not do this depend on how efficient it is relative to other routes. Like other bootcamps that offer the “pay later” model, we have a large stake in ensuring that our students find jobs.
We’ll be working primarily in R, and teaching SQL as well.
Thanks for the response! I’m impressed that you expect that your first cohort will be so strong, since I presume that you’re competing with already-established data science bootcamps for students. Again, good luck.