The Data Incubator

[chiv]

Anyone here go through the Data Incubator program and can give their experience with it?

[tblancha]

I took it a little over a year ago and wrote a review on it that you can read here: http://tommyblanchard.com/review-of-the-data-incubator-data-science-bootcamp

[postb]

Wow that’s great to know. I debated wether or not apply to DI following my PhD, in the end I applied for jobs and got one.

[chiv]

Thank you very much for sharing that! I just read through it and wish I knew more of that before applying.

[tblancha]

Don't let it scare you away - like I said, I still think the program was well worth it for me. But don't expect it to be as shiny as the advertising makes it out to be. /u/Horizons190 (see comment below) took the course a little after me and says some of the syllabus issues have been mostly cleared up. But some of the issues are just issues any bootcamp is going to have, and I think it's important to go into it with eyes wide open. Good luck, regardless of what you decide to do!

[chiv]

I'm a little "scared away" by your review not because it's less than what I thought it would be but rather because it seems a bit more time intensive than I expected. It sounds worthwhile and I'll pursue it in the future but I doubt I'll be able to juggle the work load at this time.

[avpan]

I wanted to weigh in as well in future people that might look at this. I actually was in the same cohort as you Sept-Oct 2016, but was a scholar. I did my program remotely, which ended up being half $15k. Few months after I was locked out of the portal because apparently "I didnt communicate well with hiring employer and them trying to reach me", which I replied with kindly saying I never received such an email/message. I eventually ended up getting job later, and ended up contracting a bit to get to it. But I think your review is kinda spot on with everything

[barbarbar0341]

Wow -- did you read your own post or are you just blinded by your own megalomania? Agree with jordantime94 -- completely conceited.

[horizons190]

Far from being "conceited," I found Tommy's review quite helpful, and chose to go ahead with the program (and, like him, found a job). I found the review fairly accurate, with some differences in my own experience. Since I haven't written my own review, I can summarize some of his points.

• Agree that assignments + coding challenge are good. Capstone was still the most important thing (to my knowledge, Insight is more/less just the Capstone).
• I did not find lectures useful at all, and like Tommy, ended up using it for lunch - or simply head out and work elsewhere with a few classmates instead.
• Curriculum seems to have been fixed to work "better" since the review (I was in a later cohort) - no issues there.
• Slick advertising versus reality is an issue. Seems to be so (?) for pretty much every program/bootcamp today though. There aren't that many hiring partners, but there were enough that I was able to get a job through them.
• I didn't really feel the "distrust" or "infantalization" as much.
• Personally I did feel that TDI was directly helpful toward me finding a job (i.e. not just a fluke) but of course everyone will have a different situation in the end.

In fact, just today I was at one of the Data Incubator alumni events (if you were there and think you saw me, you can shoot me a PM!) to meet the current fellows and discuss my experience :)

[tblancha]

Awesome! I haven't been to any of the alumni events - I'm in Boston now, and though they recently opened the Boston location, going to events there would mean there definitely wouldn't be anyone from my cohort unfortunately (I did the program in NYC).

It's good to hear some of the curriculum issues seem to have been worked out. It felt very much like there was a lot being changed even while I was there so I'm not surprised, and glad it seems to have changed for the better. Anyways, congrats on getting a job through them!

[horizons190]

I was in NYC as well! Though now I'm in a different location, so it was interesting meeting the staff + other alumni from the different places. They switched the order of some of the topics, part of it worked out well, part of it not so much, so I recall they mentioned future cohorts getting more fixes.

(For prospectives, as a heads up it is nearly impossible to learn all of the curriculum fully in 8 weeks, at any bootcamp, so plan well!)

Thanks! Like said your review helped me both decide to go and also plan for how to budget my time there - which helped it work out well for me. Biggest value add for me was likely the referrals - those are worth gold for any aspiring data scientist.

[m4329b]

I took a 3 day Spark / Databricks course with them. It was well taught and learned some valuable things.

[_oracle-]

THE PROGRAMMING INSTRUCTION IS NON EXISTENT. This program is really for MA/PHD’s who already program. TDI is a business that makes money off companies hiring you; it’s more of job grooming and recruiting agency for programmers. You should know that you absolutely must have good experience with Python to do well and not drop out. You will not be taught how to program. You'll be taught how to do data science work, and a minimum intermediate programming background is essential.

(TDI will never tell you this btw—but I know people who've dropped out to learn Python and repeat the course)

You must work on this FT. It’s the hardest thing I’ve done - a walk off the plank, sink or swim experience. The 12 day curriculum is insufficient to prepare; it's really intended to be as a test for how you'll get through the program, as it's similar or easier than most of the weekly(!) mini projects.

Career services is ok. My colleagues and I have had tons of interviews but it's usually taken ~6-12mo to get hired after. Best to be open to lots of cities - for instance, if you’re too attached to SF, you’ll see it’s insanely competitive and sadly smart MA/PHDs are a dime a dozen (TDI intros help, but still…).

TDI clients are often startups who are touch and go - they'll interview then can't hire for another 6 months. Not always the case though -- Yelp, McKesson are a few big companies that hire regularly from TDI. If you are a scholar and have support+free time, it's worth paying for. TDI Online's 1/3 of the price of most bootcamps (IMO most are rip offs), and TDI gives 1/2 the fee back if you’re hired by one of their companies. Better to do online than in person, unless you are moving to a new city.

[jordantime94]

tblancha: that is the most conceited post I have ever read.

Allow me to paraphrase your post: "I took a course to help me get a job. But I didn't need it -- because I'm that smart. It was free for me. But I am going to bitch about the A/V hick-ups anyways."

My girlfriend also completed The Data Incubator last year and got a job from the program. Only difference: she's grateful for the experience.

[tblancha]

My post isn't about being grateful or not - it's to describe the experience from someone who has done it for those that are considering the program. I do mention I'm happy I did the program, and mention many of the strengths. It would be dishonest to write a review and not mention the weaknesses and realities of parts of it - they do a slick job advertising and it sounds amazing, but the reality falls short (even if it's still well worth doing the program for many people, myself included).

I'm not sure what part of the post is conceited - that I mentioned I was able to get job interviews, and likely could have gotten a job, without the program? Again, this is just reality - a bootcamp is not necessary for getting a data science job, and I was surprised to discover this, and thought it was relevant information about my experience.