I can only speak about the Data Science (DS) Flex program, meaning I didn't join a class. I worked alone at my own pace, had a part-time job while working on Thinkful, and had a 6-month time-frame to finish. I had a unique situation where near the end of my program, COVID hit and my part-time job at a pharmacy went into overdrive. I could not focus on completing Thinkful. I presented my situation to my academic advisor and she vouched for me so that I could put the program on hold and re-enroll at a later date. Generally, I believe Thinkful's DS Flex is a good program. It definitely helps to understand what Thinkful excels in and have proper expectations before signing up. - CURRICULUM Thinkful's content is not their strong suit. Although their DS Flex program updated since I first joined, and I approve of the changes and the direction it is headed, it is impossible to cover all of DS from scratch in 6 months. DS is an ever-evolving field and Thinkful's structure helped to filter out what is most fundamental to DS. The curriculum Thinkful provides should be seen as an outline to supplement with additional resources outside of Thinkful (I highly recommend O'Reilly's "Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn, Keras, and TensorFlow" by Aurelien Geron). Learning with those resources alongside Thinkful's curriculum is how you can best learn the basics of DS. Thinkful's strong suit comes from their 1-on-1 mentorship and resources for success, only if you look for it. Thinkful's flex program does not hold your hand. Those who struggle with staying motivated or proactively searching for answers in an efficient manner will struggle. I have talked to someone who managed to finish the 6-month program in 4 months and found a job a month after that. I have also talked to others who have taken 9 months to finish and are still looking for a job 4 months after finishing the program. I believe their drive and consistent motivation is a huge factor in their respective results. Thinkful is not a comprehensive program, but instead a well-thought-out foundation (at least the DS side). The people you interact with (after the recruitment stage) want to help; you just have to ask for it. - RECENT NEGATIVE REVIEWS The combined effect of an influx of COVID learners and of Chegg's acquisition of Thinkful has resulted in numerous changes and a noticeable "growing-pains" phase, which accounts for many of the recent negative reviews. The changes, from what I have gathered talking with those who work in Thinkful, were made with good intentions and make sense. It's just taking time for the new system to be optimized and it is unfortunate some people did not receive the best experience. Other negative reviews come from people misreading or ignoring the Terms and Agreements, or having misinformed expectations. If something sounds too good to be true, please read Thinkful's terms, as there are many caveats they are not mentioning. For example, their tuition refund only applies if you meet their criteria, such as completing the program in the approved time, living an hour-away from an approved major city, being age 21+ when finishing the program, speaking English fluently, etc. Perhaps the biggest issue with Thinkful is their lack of transparency and over-promising results in order to entice more people. Promising anyone who hasn't coded before that they can learn DS from scratch in 6 months is unrealistic at best and predatory at worst. Coding Python is such an integral part of the DS program and expecting to gain fluency for the rest of the program in under a month is insane. If you are in this boat, do yourself a favor and learn Python from a different program for at least a few months BEFORE joining the DS program. Then you can focus on the DS aspect rather than being bombarded with annoying Python syntax issues. - CONCLUSION Thinkful's flex programs are great for those who are proactive about their learning and want an outline to follow and are not afraid of supplementing their learning with outside resources. Being able to ask questions to an experienced mentor is what makes Thinkful worth it in my opinion, but that doesn't apply to everyone. If you do better in a classroom environment, consider their immersion programs as you will be with peers, won't be learning by yourself, and will be pushed by deadlines. Do your research, read their Terms and Agreements, ask questions, and don't expect to get results passively through Thinkful. Best wishes on your journey. | 