Springboard

I attended the Springboard Data Science Career Track program for ~5 months. I did some research before entering. I had some coding and data analysis experience before entering. This one suits me the best among other data science courses, because (1) It's online, so I don't have to quit my job. (2) It's mentor supported, very few if any online program offer that (3) It has a job guarantee. Overall, the experience was fantastic.

The curriculum, while not perfect, is well curated and organized and covers not just technical subjects, but also career support. I get 30 minutes with a mentor every week to review my assignments, answer my questions, etc. My mentor had similar background as I do and had gone through the academia to industry transition before, so he was able to offer valuable advices in addition to technical guidance. At the end of the course, I was required to pass 4 mock interviews and complete two capstone projects which prepared me a lot for the job hunting. I landed interviews from many companies, from start-up to large companies like Amazon, near the end of my study. Though, I have to say, the course alone won't be enough for interviews at the likes of Amazon and Google, it should be sufficient to help you land you positions at mid-tier companies.

Overall, I find what I learned very useful, the experience with my mentor pleasant, and the cost reasonable. If you are someone who is considering transition to data science, but cannot quit your job for dedicated bootcamps, I definitely recommend this program from Springboard.

I went into Springboard not really knowing very much about uxer experience besides the random articles I parsed over, but I was looking for a career change in a field that still had a lot of design aspects. I chose Springboard mostly for budgeting reasons, but found out that I was liking the program once I started. I liked that I could go at my own pace and that my mentor was able to guide me through what I should more be focusing on with the strengths I already had. I really enjoyed doing my final project and was super proud of it, plus I feel like I've been growing ever since in my design chops. Overall, I'm pretty grateful towards the program, and glad I decided to do it, I don't think I'd be in my current position without it. 

Having a B.S. in Math reduced the learning curve for me to complete the content in the Introduction to Data Science course but the real challenge and fun came from the projects and interaction with my mentor and the community. Learning and research is not a solo effort and Springboard has designed their program around that. The weekly meetings with my mentor who was very knowledgeable and motivating pushed me to keep progressing on with my project and try new things that I never thought about in my previous education. Overall the course made me appreciate the lengthy and challenging in a Data Science project and how much you really need to work with other people to accomplish tasks. 

My overall experience with Springboard was great. The most powerful part is the weekly mentor calls and career coach service. When I got stuck in my project, my mentor showed me how to overcome the problem and what companies are looking for in real-life situations. He also provided great feenbacks on my projects and my questions on real data science life. The career coach sevice was excellent and of great help on strategies in expanding networks, improving resumes/cover letters...

I really like the structure of the course and the assignments. You get to work on your own project so you are very passionate about this topic so you would put more work into it. I also enjoy the mentorship since you get feedback and you are expected to complete certain works each and every week. This is a very good medium between extremely hands-off approach where you don't have anyone to lead you and Bootcamp where you need to put 24/7 effort into it. I just only feel that the time allotted to be able to talk to the mentor each week is a little limited. But overall a good experience! I am just trying to be very self-motivated!

I decided take the Springboard UX design course over three months and I learned so much! It's definitely a starting off point, as you complete one project during the course and most UX careers will inquire more experience and material in your portfolio. But I feel like I know enough now to dive into creating my own case studies and build my portfolio. During the course, I was able to keep up with the projects and curriculum while I was juggling other work related projects, which was a huge plus for me. Also, being paired with a mentor was a game changer. It helped me talk about what I was learning so I could better understand why and how the material would be applicable in a real world context. I also really appreciated being able to get one on one feedback on my projects so I could be sure I was headed in the right direction. Some projects and reading materials took longer to get through than I had expected, but that might have been just me as I took a lot of notes! I would definitely recommend this course for anyone who is interested in learning UX! 

To start, I had no experience in UX design. My background was video (production/editing) and graphic design. I wanted to expand my skillset but not break the bank on those other courses so I chose Springboard.

Pros:
- My mentor, Sarah, was amazing. Her background in UX was mind blowing and gave great inputs on my projects and great advice on everything. 
- The Capstone project was really cool to do, it pretty much built my portfolio and the mentor helps you along every step of the way.
- The smaller assignments were great tools to learn about UX design and it really helps grasp some concepts.
- You can work at your pace, finish quicker if you wanted, or finish at a later date than expected.

Cons:
- I don't think the course material is all that great. It's just articles and videos online curated by the staff and I honestly didn't feel I was "learning" much from them.
- The course I took was online, so if you don't put in time and work, you won't get anywhere and waste $$.

Overall:
I think with the Springboard UX Design course, you get what you put in. If you are determined to build a great portfolio and get things done on your own, this will help you grasp the concepts and push something out so you can interview. If you need someone to babysit you and teach you things page by page, this is not for you. Don't take this course expecting them to set you up with a job or anything. Luckily for me, around the time I finished my project, I applied to a position that was looking for someone with my background + UX Design and they were impressed with my portfolio so I didn't need the job counseling that my mentor initially offered.