Photo of a review of Data Science Dojo as a data science bootcamp

A review of Data Science Dojo as a data science bootcamp

Hi, I’m Olga! I have years of experience in data science, most recently at eBay and now I work as an industry mentor at Pathrise, helping data scientists land a great role through technical workshops and 1-on-1s. Check out my review of Data Science Dojo.

What does Data Science Dojo do?

Data Science Dojo is a bootcamp with online and in-person courses for aspiring data scientists and data engineers. They have campuses in a number of cities, including New York City, Austin, Seattle, and Albuquerque. People can choose from 3 bootcamp options: remote, in-person, and practicum.

Students who select the live remote option meet for 5-6 hours per week for 14 weeks. Lectures are not recorded, so attendance is highly recommended. The in-person program takes 5 days to complete, with students spending 10 hours per day in the classroom.

Those who enroll in the full-time practicum program, which lasts for 26 weeks, meet for 40 hours per week. Practicum participants spend the last 12 weeks of the program interning with Data Science Dojo. They also receive additional job-seeking support, including guidance on resumes, portfolios, and interview prep. Graduates from each program receive a certification of completion, which they can add to their LinkedIn profiles.

Photo of Data Science Dojo as a data science bootcamp
Curriculum

All 3 options follow the same curriculum, which focuses on data science fundamentals, predictive analytics, model evaluation & selection, ensemble methods, boosting, ranking & recommender systems, data engineering, and more. Students complete hands-on projects and learn how to use in-demand data science tools such as R, Azure for machine learning, SQL & databases, and Kaggle. Those who select the practicum option complete additional hands-on projects, which form the basis of their portfolios.

To help students prepare for the bootcamps, Data Science Dojo offers a free, self-paced bootcamp prep course, which includes tutorials on introduction to R. Students should have a basic background in data or statistics before beginning the pre-work. 

Who is Data Science Dojo for?

People who have some experience in data or statistics and are looking to develop the necessary skills to land a job as a data scientist or data engineer could benefit from the Data Science Dojo bootcamps. Before starting the program, students should know how to assign variables, call functions, and pass parameters to functions. These topics are covered in the pre-bootcamp coursework. This course is designed for people with some prior experience working with data or statistics.

What does Data Science Dojo cost? How much work is involved?

The remote and 5-day bootcamps cost $3,799 and $3,999 respectively. The practicum program, which includes an internship component, costs $7,999. Data Science Dojo offers a number of discounts and payment plans.

There is no formal application process or prerequisites for enrolling in Data Science Dojo. Prospective students simply need to register with their email address and select a payment option (check, credit card, and wire transfer are all acceptable methods). They can also speak with an enrollment officer to create a custom payment plan. 

Ratings and reviews

In general, reviews of Data Science Dojo are positive. Most people focus on the 5-day program. 

Graduates on CourseReport benefited from the bootcamp’s curriculum and instruction, with a number of students praising the 5-day program. One grad recommended brushing up on the basics before starting: “I think you’d get the most value of this program if you’re at least conversant in basic statistics or have a basic level of exposure to data science concepts. In my opinion, it is absolutely worth the investment of about $3,000 and a week’s worth of time.”

Echoing these positive reviews, reviewers on SwitchUp valued the hands-on projects, with one reviewer noting, “The real world examples help significantly with applying data science techniques.” On a similar note, one grad said, “The balance between theory and practice was great, and it allowed us to develop a foundation in data science.”

On Quora, a graduate of the 26-week practicum also commended the bootcamp’s rigorous curriculum: “The details on the mathematical aspects although grueling allowed me to appreciate the depth and also I feel it equipped me with the right approach and attitude.”

Alternatives to Data Science Dojo

If Data Science Dojo does not suit your learning goals or career objectives, there are a number of other bootcamps. 

  • Metis has part-time introduction courses as well as onsite & online bootcamp options. Learn more about Metis in our review.
  • If you prefer courses rather than a full bootcamp, you can check out Udacity and Springboard, which are online educational platforms that students can use to brush up on the basics or advance their current tech skills. Read more about Udacity and Springboard in our reviews.
  • edX is one of the largest online learning platforms. They have courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Learn more about edX in our review.
  • Similarly, Coursera and Udemy are learning tools with a variety of courses in data science.
  • Codecademy is one of the most popular coding programs online. They provide free courses on many different programming languages. They also offer membership options ranging from $20 to $40 per month for more course options and greater support. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
  • Free online resources, SoloLearn and the Mode tutorials have tracks in SQL, as well as other programming languages.
  • Similarly, QuickStart, Nashville Software School, Codeup, and Zip Code Wilmington have courses in web dev, software engineering, and data science.
More alternatives
  • One of the most well known bootcamps is General Assembly, which offers full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics like data science, software engineering, UX design, digital marketing, product management, and more. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
  • Similarly, Lambda School, Byte Academy, and Flatiron School offer tracks in data science, as well as other subjects.
  • Women, GNC people, and trans people can check out CodeOp, which has courses in web dev, data, and product management.
  • Aspiring data scientists with graduate degrees in data-centric fields can check out The Data Incubator and Insight.
  • If you are starting from scratch, you can consider the self-paced course at Data Science Dream Job. Or, check out Divergence Academy, Principal Analytics Prep, and K2 Data Science, which have part-time and full-time courses.
  • You can also consider DataCamp and Dataquest, which offer individual courses and in-depth tracks in data science. 
  • Similarly, 365 Data Science is a low-cost and low commitment option to learn data fundamentals. In the same vein, FourthBrain has part-time, online machine learning courses.
  • People with experience who are looking to do machine learning projects as they look for jobs can consider SharpestMinds.
  • If you prefer in-person classes, check out Magnimind, which has full-time and part-time data science courses.

How does Data Science Dojo compare to Pathrise?

Data Science Dojo is a bootcamp for people interested in learning the necessary skills to land a job as a data scientist or data engineer. Students can choose whether they want job-seeking assistance and internship experience or no career support at all.

Pathrise is a full service organization that helps people land the best job possible. Our mentors have experience on both sides of the hiring table and work 1-on-1 with fellows on each step of their job search, including resume & portfolio building, behavioral interview preparation, cold emailing & reverse recruiting strategies, salary negotiation, and more. We personalize our curriculum to match each fellow’s specific needs. 

Our program is flexible. There are only 4 hours of group sessions per week and 1-on-1 sessions that can be scheduled as needed by fellows. All of our sessions are live, as well as recorded, so fellows can review previous material and keep learning. The Pathrise income share agreement (ISA) means that fellows don’t pay anything until they start working at a new job they love and we never require upfront payments or deposits.

Pathrise is a career accelerator that helps people land their dream job in tech through 1-on-1 mentorship. If you are interested in working with any of our mentors to get help with your technical and behavioral interviews or any other aspect of the job search, join Pathrise. 

Apply today.

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Alex MacPherson

Hi I'm Alex! Since graduating from UC Berkeley in 2019, I have worked on the growth team for Pathrise helping job seekers hone their skills to land their dream role through curated content on interview prep, resume building and more.

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