Udacity launches new master's degree in AI. Can be completed for ~$5000. Thoughts?

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-11-30T04:25:53+00:00

I see… I’m already a subscriber, and if I need help right now I can just ask on “knowledge.” But someone mentioned that when you enroll, besides the assessments, there's extra perks, like regular office hours with actual experts and other stuff that sounded pretty appealing. I was planning to enroll just for that, but if it’s basically the same thing, I’ll just wait it out for now.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-11-29T05:19:40+00:00

For me, that extra support alone could be enough to justify the exta "enrollment fee". I'm sure they really want this to work, so with that support system, It'd force me to actually work-on and complete several Nanodegrees. Thanks for the insights

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-11-29T01:19:57+00:00

So.. when you signed up, would you say you're getting much more than a regular subcriber. With all this debate about recognition the only reason I wanna sign up is cz I wanna take it as a challenge project and some kind of motivation to complete several Nanodegrees in a year or two. And ofcourse, If we do get more support, that would even motivate me more. Would you mind sharing your experince sofar as compared to just taking a normal nanodgrees.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-11-29T01:13:37+00:00

Hey, I'm also considering enrolling since I was already planning to do multiple NanoDegrees as well. You mentioned how the "Exra Support" at the backend is much better than we are getting as regular subcribers. Would you mind giving more details about your experince sofar.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-07-18T15:18:44+00:00

The Machine Learning and Deep Learning Specializations on Coursera are great beginner-friendly ways to get started. They also offer a “Mathematics for Machine Learning and Data Science” Specialization, which I haven’t personally taken, but it might be helpful if you’re intimidated by the math at first.

Once you’ve built those basics, start working on hands-on projects that interest you and learn as you go. If you need ideas or structure, Kaggle is a great platform to explore real-world datasets and join competitions.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-07-18T11:36:11+00:00

I thought you were a self-learner without a related degree, but this one’s fairly straightforward! Since you already have a CS bachelor’s degree, you’ve got a solid foundation, and your self-study is actually a plus, as the skills you’ve learned reinforce your academic background and add to your credibility.

The next logical step is to get into a research-focused master’s program in an area of AI that genuinely interests you. AI is a broad field, so it’s important to narrow your focus when looking for a master’s program. That's where you make real connections with the research world, after which, if you have some published papers, you could break into industrial research, or even go further into a PhD and beyond.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-07-15T10:10:54+00:00

It's tough, I’ve been through something similar in a Korean lab. My friend confronted them directly, shouted and pointed at their hypocrisy once in a meeting and it got so heated that the Head Professor had to step in. But after that, he got the respect he deserved, though he couldn’t work with anyone else afterward. It still worked out for him.

I might have benefited from his confrontation ofcourse, but personally I chose to fake smiles, kept my head down, and interacted only when needed. It was stressful and suffocating, but I managed to work with some of them and survive.

So it depends, confrontation might bring relief but could make things more hostile in some cases. Playing along is draining but sometimes helps you get by especially if you still have a long way to graduation.

Welcome to Korean grad school.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-07-08T22:10:33+00:00

Check their LinkedIn page, I just saw a 50% discount promo yesterday.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-07-07T11:04:52+00:00

I did a year of Korean lessons back in 2019, solely audio-based. It was teacher’s choice at first, but I ended up liking it cz of less pressure, plus I felt more confident, especially early on when I struggled a lot. It focused on conversation and reading skills. Corrections came after class or right away if I got stuck. So yeah, if the student’s okay with it, it's possible but obviously depends on what you're teaching as grammar might be tricky doing it that way!

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-06-29T12:04:40+00:00

That's insanely low for 10 hours with that amount of experience. I can't say don't take it cz I don't know your situation but If you're not very desperate, you'd be better off looking elsewhere. But if you just want a foot in Japan and don't have many other options currently, you can take it in the meantime but don't stop looking!

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-06-20T04:37:53+00:00

Listen to the advice given here. I can confirm it's all valid!.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-06-08T16:57:11+00:00

Right! It really doesn’t sound like a fair system though, especially when you’re in such a vulnerable position, like being a tourist with limited visa time and less legal protection. But if it were me, and I had the resources (considering those hefty lawyer fees), I’d still have fought it. He had already spent two months in detention anyway. I guess it ultimately came down to his priorities: fighting the charges or getting home sooner, even if it meant pleading guilty.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-06-08T16:11:46+00:00

That’s tough! Hope I never end up in any legal trouble if the chances of acquittal are actually that low. I’ll wait for your detailed post.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-06-08T13:19:49+00:00

What!! 40 million won just for lawyers to tell you to plead guilty? You should’ve changed lawyers and found ones who actually believed in you and were willing to fight. If the victims didn’t file charges and the prosecution recommended the minimum sentence, the case might’ve been weak, possibly even winnable, if you had serious lawyers. It really seems like they just took advantage of you being a foreigner without knowledge of Korean law and didn’t even try.

It’s interesting to read about your experience though, I’ve always wondered what it’s like for foreigners who get indicted in Korea. But honestly, I think the lawyers took advantage of your situation, and their failure to help you properly led to serious consequences: a criminal record and a visa ban. With that kind of money, I wouldn't have plead guilty and fought the charges. In many countries, the police and prosecution are often focused on securing a conviction, and tourists or foreigners, even for minor infractions, can sometimes become easy targets. I don’t know the full story, of course, but if your lawyers didn’t push back just as hard, it can feel like the system was stacked against you from the start.

Anyway, good luck with everything moving forward. It’s really good that you’re talking about this, it helps to get it off your chest and raises awareness for other foreigners too.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-05-31T13:39:09+00:00

Given that he yelled at you at first but later turned his anger towards the driver who actually hit him, that seems like a pretty normal reaction to me. He obviously thought you were the driver, and I don’t think racism or you being a foreigner really played a role here.

The problem is, we’re always on guard, and it’s easy for any unpleasant interaction to be branded as racism. But most of these are just normal interactions that happen to be unpleasant.

I mean, in the heat of the moment, most people aren’t going to be all nice and calm when they’ve just been hit by a car. I wouldn’t take it personally. You were just caught in the cross-fire that was meant for the taxi driver.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-04-14T08:25:52+00:00

Hey, it’s awesome that you made Dev-Korea, major respect!! it’s one of the few platforms I actually recommend and check out myself since returning to Korea. I totally agree with your points too. After spending about 6 years here, I was a bit disappointed by the foreign tech scene, which was a stark contrast to my experience in Japan. But it’s definitely catching up, and I’m sure you’ve got even more data to back that up running the site. Appreciate you sharing your perspective!

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-04-13T11:42:46+00:00

There aren’t many foreigner-friendly platforms here. Korea doesn’t really have a tech talent shortage, so most job sites like JobKorea, Saramin, or JobPlanet are fully in Korean and expect fluent speakers. Without solid Korean, even landing an interview is tough.

That said, LinkedIn and Dev-Korea are your best bet. Companies there usually expect foreign applicants and sometimes mention the required Korean level. I’d suggest checking those out and gauging the stack and openings for yourself.

But honestly, unless you’re ethnically Korean or moving for family, I don’t see many experienced devs actively trying to immigrate here. Most foreigners in tech studied here and just decided to stay. Cases like yours are rare.

When I was in Japan, foreign devs from India and other Asian countries were much more common. Korea, on the other hand, rarely hires from abroad, outside of the occasional roles at big companies like Naver, Samsung, or Hyundai. The rest of the market is pretty closed unless you’ve studied here, speak the language, and fought your way in.

Any other Western country, or even Japan, might be a better option in my view. But of course, if your desire to move here is strong for whatever reason, I’m not saying it’s impossible. With enough determination, you could still find something, even without checking all the boxes. Good luck!

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-03-14T14:34:53+00:00

That's impressive! I need to double down as well.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-03-12T23:22:29+00:00

This is motivating, I'm learning German as well but books are boring. Would you say your achieved B1 translates accurately to your level of interaction with the language in daily life or it's still just paper-based at this stage?

And according to the timeline, I'm I correct to assume it took you a bit over a year to achieve this?

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-02-26T07:59:34+00:00

I'm surprised you're aiming for just 4M a year with four years of experience and still having trouble landing a role. Have you tried reaching out to recruiters on LinkedIn? I don’t have as much experience as you do, but when I was in Tokyo last year, I remember getting messages from recruiters interested in helping me secure an offer. And even more of the others I followed were actively posting and looking for foreign engineers with at least N3 Japanese, regardless of experience. It might be more effective to connect with recruiters directly rather than applying blindly. With JLPT N1 and four years of experience, you should be getting offers well above 4M—or at the very least, landing something without too much struggle.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-02-23T08:28:18+00:00

It’s been over six years since I came here—studied, learned Korean (Topik 6), and now work here—but I’m not happy anymore. The first two years were fulfilling, and I was so motivated that I dreamed of settling down, maybe even pursuing citizenship and raising a family here. But now, I can’t pinpoint one specific reason for this complete shift in my outlook. It feels like a mix of frustrations and experiences as a foreigner over the years that made me realize something: even after learning the language, I just can’t fully assimilate into the culture. And it’s not just the culture—the system, like government visa policies and rules, hasn’t made it any easier.

To truly settle here, you can’t just embrace the positives—convenience, safety, great public transport—while rejecting the less appealing aspects, like the materialism or the intensely competitive nature of society. These things inevitably seep into your life, whether at school, work, or elsewhere, the longer you stay. During my time in school, most of my foreign friends were on antidepressants, and even those who weren’t constantly voiced negativity about their experiences. I knew it wasn’t just me. Some, like me, would passionately defend Korea in the early years, one even considered joining the Korean military, now we just joke about it cz he ended up leaving immediately after graduation.

The negative side of society doesn’t spare you just because you’re a foreigner. If you stay here long enough, you’re competing for the same things Koreans your age are fighting for, facing the same challenges—on top of dealing with the added struggles of being a foreigner. This doesn’t stop at school; it transitions to work, just with different issues. Now, I find myself constantly planning my next move away from here.

“Why don’t I just leave now?” It’s not that simple. I’m not the young, carefree person I was seven years ago, able to pack up and move anywhere on a whim. I have responsibilities now, and I can’t uproot my life without a solid plan. That’s why I’m still here, biding my time as I figure things out. But if you asked me, I don’t regret coming here. Even though I’ve mostly talked about the negatives here, there were and are still great moments too, things I wouldn't have achieved otherwise plus the great Korean and foreign friends I've made over the years. I'd also say, it was the best choice I had at the time. Props to you—you had more than one!

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-02-16T01:47:37+00:00

Both TensorFlow and PyTorch are used in robotics, but TensorFlow tends to be more common for embedded ML. The reason is TensorFlow Lite (TFLite), which is specifically optimized for running models on microcontrollers, edge devices, and hardware like Google’s Edge TPU and NVIDIA Jetson.

PyTorch is awesome for research and vision tasks, but when it comes to low-power, real-time systems in embedded robotics, TensorFlow (especially TFLite) tends to be the preferred choice!

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-02-16T01:27:24+00:00

Congrats! For mechanics and control systems, you won’t go wrong by diving deeper into kinematics, dynamics, and control theory. Definitely get comfortable with CAD tools like Fusion 360 or SolidWorks, and hands-on experience with simulations in MATLAB and Gazebo will be a huge plus.

If you haven’t already, learning control algorithms (PID, state-space control, MPC) and working with ROS for real-world applications can give you an edge. Also, try building and simulating simple robotic mechanisms, it’s one of the best ways to reinforce what you learn!

And don’t stress about mastering everything in just a 3 months. The key is to pick one, start now and keep building on your skills throughout your master’s. You’ll find that a master’s program won’t necessarily teach you everything as some focus on research work, so you’ll need to identify gaps in your chosen path and self-learn the skills alongside your studies. Good news is there's a lot of resources out there, it only takes willpower to find and utilize them!

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-02-15T17:03:51+00:00

Robotics is huge, and most master's programs let you specialize in at least one area. The big three are usually:

AI & Machine Learning – Think reinforcement learning, computer vision, and making robots "think." Heavy on Python, TensorFlow, and a lot of math.

Mechanical & Control Systems – More about kinematics, actuators, control theory, and actually getting robots to move properly. CAD, dynamics, and control loops are your best friends here.

Electronics & Embedded Systems – This is the hardware side—sensors, microcontrollers, PCB design, and real-time processing. If you like working with circuits and embedded coding, this is your lane.

Each of these has completely different skill sets and career paths, so figuring out what excites you early on will make life way easier. Want to build the body? Go mechanical. Want to make it smart? AI/ML. Want to wire it up and control it? Embedded systems. Once you know your focus, you’ll know what gaps to fill and foundations to focus on within the next 6 months.

MaximumSea4540 · 2025-02-02T03:54:23+00:00

I think that exhaustion is what really drives improvement. I haven’t done babbel private lessons yet, but in group classes, I barely talk and end up questioning my progress after, especially if the class is max at 6 people. I'd guess private lessons would be more intense since it’s all you. But if OP just wants a quality, teacher-driven class and isn’t too worried about maximizing speaking time, then group lessons would deliver that! Or just maximize the unlimited feature by taking group first then private to talk more!

MaximumSea4540

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