Metis - CLOSED

This review is for intro-to-DS live/online course.
I recently got interested in data science (DS), and I wanted to do a career-transition through the 12-week DS bootcamp offered by METIS. In preparation for the bootcamp, I decided to take the Intro-to-DS... Read More live/online course, and I’m glad I did! This course gave me the necessary overview and hands-on coding experience with DS and machine learning (ML) fundamentals. The exploratory analysis techniques I learned in this course helped me tackle the DS challenge given during my (bootcamp) application process.
This Intro-to-DS course is fast-paced and filled with lots of content. The curriculum is structured in such a way that, we could apply the techniques we learn at each session to our project interest and continue to build upon it throughout the course. There was a total of twelve (3-hr) live sessions where we got to learn basic concepts of DS, i.e., math (LinAlg & Stats) and python, supervised- & unsupervised learning, and pretty much everything involved in a typical model-building pipeline. By the way, twelve sessions surely won’t be enough to cover all existing ML techniques today, but at least we got to see a high-level overview of most of them. Each session was held live and online via ZOOM (where the instructor and students could share each other’s screen); these sessions were also recorded so we were able to download the videos after. Course materials (e.g., lecture notes, jupyter notebooks) were distributed via git-hub, so I could keep these notes for future reference. I wished there were more homework sets given to help solidify the concepts we learned in class, but I suppose I could just google search for various datasets and explore them myself.
During the course, we were strongly encouraged to complete a mini DS project. About half the class (including myself) selected a project, worked on it throughout the course and presented it at our last session. This was a good experience for me, as I had never worked on an end-to-end DS project before. I’ve taken a couple of self-paced MOOC’s, but the live (online) classroom setting in this course was more helpful for me, as I somehow felt accountable to keep up with the materials as the course progresses.
I’d recommend taking this course, if you have some programming experience with python and are interested in getting hands-on coding experience with ML. By the way, the tuition for this course can be applied to the bootcamp, if accepted to the program. So, it’s basically a free, pre-bootcamp (warm-up) training.

Before attending Metis I'd done a one week bootcamp and tried learning more data science by myself but struggled to know who to turn to when I get stuck and also didn't really know how to approach the plethora of resources on the internet. Metis gave... Read More me:

a) the skills across a fairly broad base of topics;

b) the confidence and 'knowing how to learn' to go away and learn by myself;

c) access to a brilliant careers team;

d) a community of people to ask for help and support!

You complete 4-5 projects to practice a range of skills and can tailor those according to your interest. This approach really suited me from the perspective of being able to explore something of interest for a limited period of time.

What an awesome summer of 2018!The bootcamp exceeded all my expectations, I won’t lie, it was bloody hard, but I’d do it all again without hesitation.
My group was brilliant, everyone had such different, interesting backgrounds. We worked together, sharing... Read More knowledge and helping each other through the intense bootcamp schedule.
The instructors and Metis staff were awesome, not only they taught us a lot, but they made it fun and entertaining. The atmosphere was really great.
The bootcamp itself is very intense, so intense that some days I thought I’m not going to make it, but I’m so glad I did! It’s an invaluable life experience. After coming back to Amsterdam, I didn’t waste my time and started applying my new skillset at my job within the first week of being back.

I attended the data science bootcamp at Metis in summer 2017. I was from a very different major gearing towards learning more on data analytics, thus in transition of career direction and expertise field at that time. Attending Metis has played a key... Read More role in terms of providing me very proactive education to accomplish the transition in such a short period of time. I truly learned a lot in many aspects from the education itself, how to really go out there and interact in the data science society/community, and last but not least how to efficiently present myself to the job market. I'd humbly like to say that I'm extremely glad I decided to learn from Metis, which I believe ultimately made me able to currently work as a data scientist in the competitive industry.

I am an architect and a Transportation Planner turned Data Scientist(may be junior) through Metis. That statement itself should say a lot about the bootcamp, but let me go into details. Although I had worked on statistics and modeling techniques for analyzing... Read More travel patterns in cities, I was not equipped with the tools and techniques needed in the industry of Data Science and I was very nascent with the coding skills. I was very excited about learning all these, given the kind of change Data Science was bringing to the Transportation industry (basically, I knew the application of the skills that I would acquire). Just now, I work as a Senior Data Analyst(using technologies like Pyspark and Hive) at Apple Maps through Wipro.

Metis has been instrumental in providing me with Data-Science related concepts as well as hands on experience on those skills in quite a short amount of time. The mix nature of every cohort with some similarly passionate, hard working and fun people also helps a lot with growing and learning. I got admitted into other Data Science bootcamps also, but the curriculum of 5 hands on projects really made me more interested in Metis. Although, I had my doubts of not being able to learn so much just in 3 months, Metis has actually shown me that it's possible ! I was learning coding as well as data-science courses online but it would have taken me a lot more time to be able to reach where I am, without Metis. Being gone through those projects in Metis, sometimes I still go through my projects/lectures to help myself in the work.

Paul and Joe as instructors were technically equipped to answer all my questions and help me out through the challenges that I went through in my projects. The way they used to engage with us on Fridays, with all the games and fun made the bootcamp kind of a course easier to go through. One more interesting part, is the alumni network offered by Metis. It is and will always be useful to be connected with Metis people.

Metis could have concentrated more on the time-series analysis and A/B testing part as that is a major requirement in interviews of Data Analysts atleast. Also, I feel that Metis can be more involved even after the bootcamp for may be 3 months to make students have a more guided interview process.

Where one can end up after Metis: 6 months after the bootcamp, my whole cohort was placed pretty well in good companies. I would say, with passion, a lot of hard work, little patience (because getting into the feel of data science interviews to cracking it, takes time and all of this will take time but it is all worth it if you are going to enjoy the work you are going to do), Metis will definitely be able to help you reach where you want to. I won't at all be wrong in saying that it has changed my life in a positive way.

Pros:
() This course had no pre-requisites
() Class was live and interactive and the teacher held office hours.
() The instructor worked in the industry.

I don't have any Cons for this class. The class lived up to my expectations of what I had gotten myself... Read More into.

To set expectations for someone first going down this road:

This is not a full semester in-depth course. There are zero pre-requisites for the course and you can do fine without preparation. However, prep as much as possible in order to get the most out of the class. I went in with a decent scripting background, but no python prior to signing up. Also, unlike some of the other participants I am not already in the field do not have a mastery of the math theory. I found that taking 2 intro to python courses prior to starting helped me alot.

Expect to spend as much time out of class as in class. I found about an hour out of class for every hour in class is about right. Of course it will all depend on your background.

The biggest thing I got out of this class was a vision for where I was going, which tools I would need first, and a set of milestones for getting there. I learned python and the power of Jupyter notebooks. I learned the first visualization tools that I need to master, and which math I need to concentrate on. I

I joined Metis after reading reviews on websites such as this (SwitchUp), and after attending one of their Meetups. In spite of all the 4-5 star reviews that I had seen, Metis beat all my expectations! Let me elaborate.

I earned my PhD in Experimental... Read More Chemistry at the University of Chicago. While my research was somewhat computational in nature, I was not well-equipped to get started with a career in Data Science. If you're from academia, you have to understand that universities have no interest or incentive to prepare their cheap-labor postdocs for real jobs. In spite of having science PhDs, half of my colleagues in academia weren't able to find a single job whatsoever, and some were already past their 5th year as postdoc (we're talking Physics, Chemistry, Math PhDs). Metis was instrumental in equipping me with all of the industry-relevant skills in a very short amount of time. They were also great with demonstrating the utility of ML/AI and the potential impact that it is likely to create in the next few decades or so. While one can technically learn all of this material by oneself, it would take at least a 9 months even if you did it full-time. It would take you multiple years if you tried learning all of it while doing some job or postdoc, which is why most postdocs can't make that transition by themselves.

Alice Zhao and Roberto Reif were both great instructors with many years of industry experience. I miss the energy from our instructors and cohort. Three weeks into the bootcamp, I remember a few of us discussing about how good the bootcamp was. Fast forward 6 months, and most of us who were looking for a job have found one. Having an advanced degree helps, but not having one is completely okay. I now work for a firm called Soothsayer Analytics (with Microsoft as end-client).

My only minor complaint from the bootcamp is that it doesn't delve too much into SQL or Time-Series Analysis, and a lot of companies like Facebook or Expedia make you go through really tricky SQL questions.

TL;DR: Metis was amazing. The instructors set the tone for excitement, grit, intelligence, and success. The projects were invaluable experiences for learning so many data science skills and for using as examples of work in interviews/applications. The... Read More curriculum is as close to real-world experience as a bootcamp can get. A+ to Metis

I found Metis after several months of knowing I needed a career change and searching for the right way to jumpstart my return to tech after two years of completely unrelated work. I graduated undergrad as a mechanical engineer, worked as a research engineer, but then took a hiatus after moving to Seattle and worked as an assistant manager at a restaurant. I learned about data science through friends already working in tech in Seattle and realized I already had some of the skills from mechanical engineering and working in research, but I didn't have any recent relevant experience that would allow me to get a job anywhere. That's when I found Metis. I compared it against a couple other bootcamps, but honestly there was no comparison. Metis was an actual data science bootcamp - not just a coding bootcamp. Metis promised instructors with real-world experience and work-life balance. Metis promised a portfolio of work based on five data science projects compelted during the bootcamp. Metis was accreditted. And Metis was small, but already had excited students and a reputation for being hands-on, real-world-reflecting, and full of direct career support.

I was not disappointed. The application process was challenging, but appropriately so. My engineering background provided me with the proper math and thinking skills and I was accepted into the winter cohort of 2017. Then I had to complete the prework before starting in September; that was also very challenging, but totally necessary and I highly encourage you to do the prework if you want to do well. I had no prior programming experience other than Matlab, but I was able to teach myself enough Python in the month before starting to be completely capable during the bootcamp. That leads to another piece of advice: you get out of Metis what you put in. In other words, Metis is good for you if you're willing to put in the effort and the hours and learn a ton.

My final note, regarding my Metis experience, would be that the people made it what it is. The instructors were amazing; so intelligent, so in touch with real-world data science, so excited to be there and teach and guide, and just so overall great people. The rest of the cohort was amazing too; the application process and just the type of people Metis attracts includes only intelligent, passionate, and driven people. This was what drove the learning environment and what truly helped me get excited, challenge myself, and succeed.

For those of you interested in where you could end up: I am now a data scientist at a tech consulting company in Redmond. Because of my more recent graduation date, lack of an advanced degree, and minimal relevant paid experience, I began my role as an intern at the company. Do not let this deter you; the internship was invaluable especially after a particularly grueling application period (where I was applying to almost five companies each day for several months). I learned a ton during the internship and it was an opportunity to take risks in a lower pressure environment.

Being a math major, I wanted a deeper understanding of data science at an application based level, which I knew a masters program would not achieve. I looked across all the different bootcamps, and I found Metis as the only accredited course. The quality... Read More of instructors attracted me the most to Metis, and it is the only bootcamp that makes students complete 5 end-to-end projects. This fell in line with my urge to learn data science at an application based level. Each instructor has previous experience in the data science field from work to educational experience. These instructors made learning these complex topics easier to understand by applying basic real world analogies to them. Additionally, the instructors went around to students every day and made sure there were no lingering questions as a group and 1:1 basis.

Deciding to do Metis was a huge step for me, the financial, time, and educational undertaking were all factors in play when I decided to join Metis. Financially, Metis is the same across all bootcamps, and it is cheaper than completing a data science masters program. The time commitment is ideal as it is just 3 months; however, I would not recommend doing any job (part time included) with this course as you get more out of the course by solely focusing on the course itself. The educational undertaking seemed questionable at first but with the strong instruction from the instructors they cleared up any loose ends.

Regarding the course, I would highly encourage starting the pre-course work as soon as you receive it and make sure you understand each topic well. This will help you in every mornings pair problems and save time on your projects. One thing that helped me learn the data science algorithms better was that I would watch Andrew Ng’s videos on the topic we are learning for that day before class. This helped me absorb the information better than learning it for the first time in class. I also recommend completing the challenges that are given by the instructors. These are optional, but by completing a few of them, I was able to gain a stronger understanding of each topic.

Metis’s career support is extremely strong. The career support staff makes sure to get you connected with individuals at companies that you are interested in. The staff helps you get prepared for interviews by setting up frequent mock interviews. Joining Metis was an overall positive experience, and it changed my life for the better.

I was nervous in the beginning. The application and prework felt very challenging. Coming with little technical background, it was definitely difficult, but I learned so much! With patience, effort and persistence I accomplished all I set out to do and... Read More more. Completely changed my career path and life — If you’re interested in learning data science I highly recommend.

I looked at other bootcamps and did an online course with another company, but I’m glad I chose metis. The instructors and other students are incredibly smart. It can be intimating but you know you’re getting the best. I feel prepared to take on a new career. I never thought I would invest so heavily in data science as a path and I’m so glad I did. With the skills there’s no room for regrets, not matter what I end up choosing to do long term.