Springboard

Pros: self-paced via asynchronous lectures and material, effective case studies, capstone projects, mentor relationship, TA's, on-demand one-on-one mentor calls, Slack community. The Springboard community (TA's, mentors, advisors, community manager) are... Read More all awesome. Cons: as with any other online education, can be lonely at times, and at times you feel the lack of working in a group and hearing others' ideas. But students can take initiative to set up study groups. Since curriculum is broad and covers many different topics in world of data science, many of which are changing quickly as technologies change, the curriculum constantly needs updating which is tough to keep on top of. There are, however, mechanisms to provide feedback on curriculum, and the Slack community is always super helpful. The topics covered include a wide range in data science, so it's a balancing act to get the right balance of breadth vs depth. At times it felt like there was just too much information to absorb.

In searching for the right Data Science bootcamp, mentorship was the most important element to me: I needed to connect with someone who was able to help me master coding, thinking in data science, and the cutting-edge innovations happening in the field,... Read More while bearing in mind my background in philosophy and interest in AI Ethics: Rigor in the field, plus a way to tie it to the mental model I already had about the world. I was lucky to have found a mentor (Ben!) who did exactly that in my time at Springboard. Especially great, too, is their unlimited mentors option -- a half hour/day, every day, for the entire time you're part of the program. I used that liberally to cover the gaps, ask deeper questions, and find resources that were off-curriculum. Springboard's curriculum is mostly public-domain, and I appreciated most of the resources they provided. DataCamp isn't very helpful to learning to code, in the end (try learning French only by being given full sentences, with a single word missing in each sentence you have to fill in -- not gonna happen). The notebooks they provided were mostly good. Sometimes they were unhelpful to learning this or that concept, although the team was rapid to help out. Here's my recommendation to Springboard: Give the option for students to do e.g. four capstones after Unit 6 (the guided capstone they have us do), rather than walk through the whole curriculum. If they opt to do four capstones, make the rest of the curriculum optional -- they'd simply be resources to help students out on their capstones. The capstones would then have to be approach-specific, e.g. do a capstone that works with a time series, or NLP, in order to get credit for the capstone. I suggest this because I find that I learned a LOT when I worked on my capstones, because they related to topics I cared about, and sincerely wanted to understand -- more, in fact, than I ever did plodding through DataCamp or lectures that didn't necessarily interest me. I think that'd also be better for student portfolios -- it shows they're self-motivated and can actively produce multiple projects on a diverse array of subjects/problems within Data Science. Just my two cents. IMO it's an idea worth piloting. I didn't graduate through their job guarantee (or get a job ultimately related to data science), so I've left the "Job Support" section blank. Overall, extremely grateful to have gone through the program. I learned a lot and I know I'll apply my knowledge in unexpected places & ways. Thanks to Ben Bell, DJ Sarkar, and Kenneth Gil-Pasquel!

Springboard is great if you are looking for a flexible program that will give you the overall basics of UI/UX. They were very flexible about the timeline of the course and extending it where needed. The coursework was a bit scattershot as most of the... Read More material was parsed from various sources online. But O had a great mentor and the projects that they have you complete really gave me a better understanding of how all of the curriculum applies. Their customer service was very responsive and helpful as well.

Pros: 1) Enrolling was rather easy, however I did experience some hiccups when it came to being placed. 2) Access to Data Camp and LinkedIn learning was a huge plus. 3) Flexibility - Gave me enough time to complete the course and deal with things at home.... Read More 4) Suzanne - Career coach from Vancouver, BC is one of the best. Cons: 1) Assignments - Some of the assignments are stale; they need to write new ones or new projects. Data science is evolving and they need to keep up. 2) One of the career assignment was impossible to complete (informational interviews), may need to rethink that one. 3) Mentors need to flexible to new ideas but also need to be innovative at the same time.

I wanted to learn new skills to either enhance my current job, or to make me marketable to new roles in analytics. At Springboard, I developed both technical skills (Excel, SQL, Python) and practical approach skills (HDEIP) to addressing and solving problems... Read More using analytics. The career coaching, the 'on-demand' help and especially the mentor process was valuable beyond words. Everyone was helpful, encouraging, and wants you to succeed.

I had a great experience with Springboard. My mentor, Sean was fantastic. Extremely helpful and great at leading me to find solutions rather than just giving me the answers. I'd definitely recommend the data analytics career track to anyone ready to make... Read More a shift into that field.

The Data Analytics Career Track program through Springboard was a great experience and worth the value of the program. The program mentors are very knowledgeable and provide support every step of the way. As someone who was a transition from a different... Read More career sector, this program provided me with career support and technical skills to make the leap into the tech and data field. I highly recommend this program to people who love working with data and making a transition into this field. Springboard helped every step of the way.

When I was wonder how and where I can improve my skills, learn more materials and how to apply them to the frameworks, I search a lot in many camps, and finally found the springboard that can make my dream true. I am happy that I attended in this course.... Read More springboard is an enrich center, that learn and guide you to the right path. Mentors, coaches and staffs are friendly and 24 hours supportive. If I back to 6 months ago, for sure I will choose springboard again.

I really enjoyed the program because the course forces you to make a strong commitment to your education and encourages students to stick with it regardless of your previous experience or former studies. I was able to accomplish parts of the curriculum... Read More which I never thought I would be able to learn. The mentors and unlimited mentors were available to meet every day if that is what you need or you can fly solo. Springboard also provides a very strong peer connection group which is helpful for motivation and projects. When I got to the end of the program, I realized that I was actually following along with the technical skills I had learned with few problems. My mentor was challenging but fair, and when I finished, he explained to me that I had come a long ways, and I 100% agree. I strongly recommend this course.

I started this program with no knowledge of UX/UI and I am completing it confident that I will do well at a real job and excited about my new life! The assignments were really enjoyable, I loved my mentor, and the career coaches were also helpful. I highly... Read More recommend this program to anyone! It's also amazing that they guarantee I will get a job or they refund the tuition.