WBS CODING SCHOOL

I recently completed a hybrid remote bootcamp, and I am thrilled to share my positive experience. This program exceeded my expectations in many ways, primarily due to its project-oriented approach. The hands-on projects allowed me to apply theoretical... Read More knowledge in practical scenarios, significantly enhancing my learning process. Teamwork was another highlight of the bootcamp. Despite the remote setting for most of the program, collaboration with peers was seamless and productive. The instructors played a pivotal role in this, providing invaluable insights and guidance that fostered both individual and team growth. Their expertise and dedication were truly commendable, making the learning journey even more enriching.The last two weeks on campus added a different dimension to the experience. Although only a few of us could attend in person, the time spent on campus was still valuable. It offered a chance for more direct interaction and networking, which was beneficial. While it would have been ideal to have the entire cohort present, the hybrid format still delivered an exceptional educational experience.Overall, this bootcamp was a transformative experience, equipping me with practical skills and a strong professional network. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to advance their knowledge and career in a dynamic and supportive environment.

My classmates and I are really disappointed by this coding school. It feels like we could do better by watching YouTube tutorials than this coding school. It is all about one hour of unnecessary introduction, then link to the main platform, and do activities.... Read More Nothing special, no support. If you had a bad luck by getting an instructor who is not good enough, well there is also no assistance. According to coding school, all students have difficulties by learning. Of course, it is difficult to learn, and one or thousand instructors cannot teach you everything, but one instructor would be enough to give the student the right explanation of the way for the student to see the end of the tunnel. We all got stuck in the beginning of the tunnel, unfortunately. Don't have high expectation before starting this coding school!

After navigating through some tough personal times, the Data Science Bootcamp at WBS Coding School gave my life a new foundation and a new direction!

From my first contact with the company, I felt welcomed, accepted and cared for. They gave a clear presentation... Read More of what was to come and took the time to answer all my questions. In no way did the conversation feel rushed (unlike some experiences with other competitors). You'll quickly find that the people who work at WBS are open-minded, inclusive, fun and extremely friendly people. Each a personality of their own! They actively care and communicate a lot about creating a safe space for everyone to thrive. You'd be surprised at the stories they have to tell... The whole staff goes out of their way to make you feel comfortable. 🙂

This is especially true of our instructors. Every group of students has a lead instructor and a junior instructor. No matter how packed their schedules may be with other 1:1 meetings with fellow students in your batch, they always make sure you are not left behind. They offer creative solutions for dealing with difficult, unexpected circumstances. They listen to your problems and make sure to solve them one way or another. They are also so much fun that this bootcamp never feels like one. Instead, the batch and our instructors grew together as a group of really good friends. They have become my family for the past 4 months - and the times ahead! 🥰

For the first 1-2 months, the staff will actively solicit weekly feedback in all areas in special group feedback sessions to make sure you are on track and confident in what you are doing. The feedback is evaluated immediately. Whenever there is something to improve, an "immediate action" will be written down for everyone to witness. You'll also have regular 1:1 sessions with your Lead Instructor, especially in the beginning. Obviously, these mandatory sessions will decrease in time to make room for more advanced coding topics. But everyone from Community Management to Career Services to Junior to Lead Instructor is always there to listen to you.

At the same time, they want you to learn how to code on your own. Here and there, some of us would have liked more guidance on some topics, for example, because of personal or health circumstances - or simply because you have a different opinion about how best to teach certain topics. But after talking to so many people, it's clear that it's impossible to please everyone all the time. When you have people with backgrounds ranging from historian to skydiver to biologist to physicist to marketing manager to computer science professor, you can't make it right for everyone. Every once in a while, it's your turn to take matters into your own hands. It's your turn to develop a lifelong learning mindset - the instructors keep telling you how important this is in the tech industry. And they are absolutely right! It's normal to feel overwhelmed from time to time. But trust yourself, trust your instructors, meet with your group virtually, and keep pushing - you can do it! 💻

As for the curriculum itself, I couldn't be happier! Analyzing the plans of an internationally expanding tech company with SQL and Tableau; cleaning large data sets with Pandas to settle the company's discourse on whether discounts are beneficial or harmful; A/B testing a library's website to improve its usability; engineer a local weather data pipeline with APIs and deploy it on Google Cloud Platform (similar to AWS) for automation; curate and publish Spotify playlists using k-means clustering in unsupervised machine learning; predict real estate prices using unsupervised machine learning; build your own chatbot using generative AI; and last but not least: A final 3-week solo or group project of your choice - dive into deep learning, build a recommender system, offer your services to other companies. ... the possibilities are endless. Consultations ensure that you always end up with a feasible project.

And then there is the final 2-week on-campus phase in Berlin. Accommodation and meals cost about 590€. I'll make this quick: if you can get funded, go! If you have to pay yourself: go! Especially in the spring you will have an EPIC time! The campus is right on the river Spree. They offer SUPs, kayaks, table tennis, billard,... FOR FREE! The community managers and all the staff at this beautiful organic hotel are wonderful people. A Michelin-starred chef prepares the most amazing vegetarian food you've probably ever had in your life. Give yourself this treat at the end of a 4-month journey. Network with students from other batches and make lifelong friends with your classmates as you crack on on your final project together.

On a financial note: If you live at least 90 minutes from the campus address at Weisskopffstr. 16 (currently NOT the billing address!), the Agentur für Arbeit should pay for your stay. Don't hesitate to send them several messages if they don't reply in time. 💵

However, I would like to point out some areas that could be improved.

The bootcamp is advertised with weekly changing group work projects - unfortunately this isn't exactly true. There are some, but many are spread out over the course of 2 weeks, while others are solo work. The catch? Even when you're working alone, you're put into a (virtual) "group". While this is supposed to encourage team building, I found little reason to do so - as opposed to the actual group projects, which felt nice and very valuable. I'd like to see more group impulses for these kinds of solo projects.

Next, I would like to see more emphasis on integrating Github. Present a sustainable workflow and make sure students stick to it on a regular basis. This would allow them to practice their skills in real-world collaboration scenarios and steadily build their portfolio.

WBS also provides career services. I really appreciate the school's efforts to offer 3 dedicated full career days in the curriculum. That way, you can't just skip out on your job search 😉 The recruiters teach you how to write a resume, cover letter, and compelling LinkedIn profile; how to negotiate salary; and how to network. Most importantly, they give you time to actually DO these things! You know how it is: you learn about something, and when the time comes, you want to do it. But then life happens... and you didn't do the thing at all. Fortunately, WBS has you covered! They also encourage routine LinkedIn posts and create a support group to help each other get noticed. What can I say? It works! After another weekly post of mine, I got an interview invitation! 🥳

What I liked most about the career days: the group exercises. This is where you present your new resume or LinkedIn profile to 1-2 randomly selected peers from ALL of the batches, including web development or UI/UX. This allows for diverse and practical feedback with unique perspectives. Don't worry, everything will be reviewed by WBS recruiters as well; plus, you'll receive a personalized, recorded feedback video to improve upon! After the bootcamp, they will continue to support you for another month.

The Career Service certainly provides a lot of value for those who haven't spent a lot of time optimizing their applications. However, the knowledge was not always up to date. It was usually presented at a rather slow pace - especially if you're used to the pace of the bootcamp by now. I often felt that I learned more in less time by watching a few videos from renowned career YouTubers like Jeff Su. Finally, they are still building their professional network - some other schools offer more collaborations or partnerships with well-known companies. At least they have some. And every one of them is worth having! 🙂

There are also (optional) weekly invited talks. I've enjoyed most of them very much. Every few weeks there is a Community Demo Day, where you can get a lot of inspiration for your final project from the best graduates of other batches.

Last but not least, we got premium access to LinkedIn Learning and CodeAcademy during our bootcamp. So, if you're one of those who blast through the exercises including all bonus content, there's plenty more course material to broaden your horizons and collect some certificates. 🏆

In summary, I would like to reiterate how happy I am to have taken the Data Science Bootcamp at WBS Coding School. While I'm not in agreement with every single aspect all the time, I mostly am. And I am convinced that there is no better competitor on the market. And why is that? Because they don't just talk, they do! They actively gather feedback and get better every day. They learn from every experience and implement feedback immediately. They don't just collect your money and offer the same curriculum for years. No, they are constantly evolving - even during our bootcamp, when a later topic on recommender systems was replaced by one on generative AI and large language models! From then on, recommender systems was simply another bonus material. 😎

WBS Coding School offers an incredible value for your time. Almost everyone I have met during the online course or on campus is a lovely person that I love to hang out with. I am 100% sure your experience will be even better than mine! Take the step you've been afraid to take. And take it at WBS. 💪🏼

Feel free to contact me on LinkedIn to learn more.
All the best! 🤓
Christian

I had a great time at WBS Coding School's Data Science bootcamp. The instructors were really helpful and supportive. They created a friendly environment where each one of us in the group could find their own space and way how to learn. I would definitely... Read More recommend this bootcamp to anyone interested in data science, learning about data analysis, machine learning, etc. The projects we worked on made me feel like working on real tasks in a professional environment, and the constant feedback I was receiving helped me polish my skills. Thanks to the bootcamp, I got a clear vision of how to proceed forward in my career path and learning process.

At the beginning, I was doubting about making an online course where you had to be connected the whole day during almost 4 months, but once I started the classes I realised that was much more easier than I thought. You have classic classes but you have... Read More a lot of workshops, team work and weekly projects to deliver. So, you will have not just a bunch of new knowledge but experience applying your new skills to real world projects, and that's priceless.

The Data Science Bootcamp was an awesome experience, a good segway into a new career! You do have to apply yourself, though. It is not easy, especially if you don't have an IT background and don't know coding. There is a lot of time to review contents... Read More on your own so you can adapt the program to your pace.

I was having difficulties to find a job in Germany. Every time I searched for job I found out SQL and Python. But I did not have much courage to apply as I did not have hands on experience for so long. Then I found this Bootcamp. After doing this bootcamp... Read More for the last 4 and half months I can say I have no longer fear for Python and SQl. The campus phase is the most interesting part.

I had an incredible time at WBS Coding School's Data Science Bootcamp. The instructors were knowledgeable and always ready to help, creating a supportive and engaging learning environment. The curriculum was comprehensive, and the hands-on projects helped... Read More solidify my understanding of data science concepts. This Bootcamp truly exceeded my expectations and has greatly advanced my skills. Highly recommend it!

I recently completed the Data Science Bootcamp at WBS Coding School, and it was the greatest learning experience I've ever had. The instructors are exceptional, providing expert guidance and support throughout the course. The atmosphere was incredibly... Read More inspiring, fostering growth and a deep understanding of data science. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this Bootcamp and highly recommend it to anyone looking to advance their skills in data science.

Pros:
- Primer (to ensure that everyone has some base knowledge before the actual course begins)
- Own learning platform
- Career support
- Very friendly and supportive staff
- Excellent teachers
- Regular events (Community Demo Day, Guest Speaker, Recap Session)... Read More
- More...

Cons:
- Time went by too quick