DataCamp Reddit Reviews: What Customers Say
DataCamp is a well-known e-learning player that offers dozens of courses on data science and data analysis. But nobody wants to spend time and money without getting the result. Thus, a lot of people do their research first on Reddit, a popular Q&A platform, to get DataCamp reviews from real users who share different opinions.
So, in this article, we have collected DataCamp reviews from Reddit, both positive and negative so that you can see a broader picture. All the Reddit reviews here are from 2022 and beyond to deliver you the most recent experiences with DataCamp.
DataCamp Reddit reviews by subtopics
The Reddit reviews about DataCamp break down into categories based on their subject. Below you will find such subtopics as finding a job after DataCamp, pricing and discounts, DataCamp alternatives, and more.
DataCamp and getting a job
I did all the data science python classes and got a data analyst job. Before this I was teaching ecology at a community college and parenting a baby. But I do have a PhD.
I’m certified Professional Data Scientist through Datacamp – I can confirm this helps get interviews. No crazy long story here. Is DataCamp certification worth it? It wont nail the job for you, as most (all?) companies will give you a coding round or two, but it looks good on the resume and will help you get through the their filters.
I received the DataCamp’s Professional DS certificate less than two months ago. That marked the starting point of my IT career search. I’ve sent more than 50 applications thus far (DataCamp included) and only received 2 nos (the rest were just ignored). The thing is, I’ve never worked in IT before (even though I have lots of work experience for my age) and I am not a CS major, so maybe there’s that. Nevertheless, the process of finding a job in this sector appears to be unnecessarily frustrating.
DataCamp has a quality curriculum overall. Just keep in mind that merely completing the modules will only get you a job. Once you have more than a couple of skills, download some CSV’s from kaggle and use those skills on a real life project.
DataCamp is an amazing introduction to the field, but the key to landing jobs is doing your own projects/other applications with the skills. I started my data analysis journey using DataCamp and it personally helped me a lot.
How long does the DataCamp take to complete?
I take the SQL data analyst track, it took me 2-3 months doing it in my free time (I have a full-time job), and help me a lot to find a better job. The tracks should take 4-6 months.
I wonder did anyone at all accomplish any track completely. Tracks takes a lot of time. I am on a DataScience track now. I think it will take 1-2 years to accomplish it with my current pace.
My coworker got on DataScience track a month ago and he’s already 50% of the way through. He works full-time.
I completed the data analyst track, i have 60% of the data scientist with python track. I’m going for machine learning afterwards. I try to do at least a whole chapter everyday , which means I complete one course every four days.
DataCamp pricing
You can find the information on DataCamp’s cost here. If the company runs any discounts, you’ll see a banner and a reduced price on this page.
I subscribed for one month for one dollar, making use of the last promo. I’m making good progress with the lessons and I’m enjoying the experience so far. However, I don’t think I can afford paying $300 for a yearly subscription after the month is over.
DataCamp has regular 50% or more off sales. I doubt many people pay the full price.
I have been lurking around datacamp for some time, but it’s a shame there is like no 14 days/month trial or something, because the price is a little bit too high for me.
Just a heads up to be careful about managing your Datacamp account. I first signed up in 2020 and found it helpful for the year I used it. I just received an email saying my subscription had been automatically renewed – turns out they’ve been renewing my account and charging me for it for the last 2 years without my knowledge. Maybe I missed this email from them last year but I don’t remember being notified.
DataCamp alternatives
- Dataquest or DataCamp?
I like Dataquest.io better. I love the format of text-only lessons. The screen is split with the lesson on the left with an code interpreter on the right. They make you repeat what you learned in each lesson over and over again so that you remember what you did.
I’ve tried both and prefer datacamp due to their slack community. DQ had one, but it was closed end of Oct 2020 I think.
- Codeacademy or DataCamp?
I’ve used both I have a slight preference for data camp partially because my study is data focused but I also liked the style of data camp better. I took both Python basic courses
Datacamp is mostly for data science but codeacademy is better for web development and general programming (everything else)
- DataCamp or Coursera (Google Data Analysis)?
For me, DataCamp has given me more useful knowledge. The Google DA on Coursera is basically a bunch of vocabulary tests, and they sort of brush across actually using the programs included in the course. DataCamp will have you actually doing way more code, which can help during interview questions and actually performing a job.
I think the Google DA certificate is complementary with DataCamp, not necessarily a competitor or a substitute.
Tips from Reddit users for more effective DataCamp learning
If you rush through the courses like some speedrunner, then you won’t learn anything, I go back to do the courses all over again various times over some period of time to remember stuff i learnt, and try using them somewhere in my practice. The python and R tracks were great help in my ml projects, also the projects that they let you do were a good guidance into what to do when working with data.
Learning on mobile isn’t optimal, although I do use the app for practice quizzes daily. It’s also tempting to speed run through the courses, but that only gives you a false illusion of having learned something. In truth, you haven’t learned anything until you’ve applied it consistently.
Do a project. You’ll forget everything you did anyway, but a project that is done and has some results to show is way better for your motivation than a certificate.
Take notes on useful things as you use DataCamp. DataCamp Workspace is a great place to store notes, but you can use any tool that is easy for you. Writing things down helps you remember them, and gives you an easy way to revisit things you learned later on. You can copy and paste from video transcripts and slide PDFs, or from the exercises. Even better is to write things in your own words.
It helps for me to have a learning plan (what concepts will you focus on and in what order) and have a set time that you work on it every day.
The problem with Data Scientist with R for me was that the lessons kind of invite you to do them fast. What helped me was a) starting all over, b) taking written notes of everything (!) discussed in the videos and c) doing at least one training run in the evening daily on the app. The second go went much smoother for me and I identified where I had just overlooked explanations (happened especially in the dplyr-sessions).
For me, I wanted to learn the SQL fundamentals and then move into R programming. I laid out each module of the courses I wanted to take and made a calendar on target dates for each module. I check them off when I reach them and adjust.
Reddit discussions about DataCamp tracks
- What R track to choose?
I’m trying to decide what DataCamp track I should follow. Is it the best idea to do the R Programmer skill track for a basic skill set and then move on to say, data science with R career track? Or is moving straight to data science with R is totally fine?
Question
You can start the Data Analyst, Data Scientist or Programmer career tracks without any prior experience. If you want a gentler introduction, then you can take the Understanding Data Topics skill track first.
Best answer
- What’s the difference between Python Programmer, Data Scientist, Data Analyst, and Data Engineer?
Data Engineer is significantly different, as it relies more on databases, others have large overlap and when you do one it is relatively simple to complete others.
I’ve got three courses left of this career track. I’ve learned a few things but not as much as I had hoped. If I had never used Power BI in work, I’d have really struggled so I wouldn’t say it’s suitable for complete newbies as it suggests at the start.
I completed it, found it a great introduction however it doesn’t fully prepare you for the PL-300 Microsoft certification. if Datacamp offered some practice tests and revision questions to help pass PL-300 then it’d improve the overall course.
- Python tracks
Data scientist with python track might be most suited if you are starting from scratch
The data scientist career track with python is very statistics heavy. If you have time, consider the quantitative analyst track in R. Lots of data scientists work with python and R when using statistics. In my grad program, we have mainly used python to pull, clean, load the data, and R has been used for most of the statistical analyses.
I used DataCamp and completed the Data Analyst with Python (so I did numpy, pandas, seaborn, matplotlib, etc., but no tensorflow, keras, or scikit-learn.) It was okay, it teaches the basics but even in the advanced parts of the curriculum you’re given so much “scaffolding” or sample code, that it’s very tough to get a blank notebook and replicate what you were doing.
Been a long time user at datacamp. It’s good if you lack the basics of python and getting to know pandas, numpy, seaborn, mpl, basic sklearn and stats. Once you’ve passed the basics, it doesn’t really help you as the coding exercises are basically filling the blanks.
if you are having a hard time with the Python courses, maybe it’s worth backing up a step and taking the Data Literacy Fundamentals skill track to give you an overview of data concepts and ease you in to online learning. Come back to the Python courses after you’ve done those theory courses.
The exercises are all fill-in-the-blank. This is not a good teaching method, at least for me. I felt the exercises focused too much on syntax and knowing what functions to fill in, and not enough on explaining why you want to use a function and what kind of trade-offs are there. The career track isn’t super cohesive. Going from one course to the next isn’t smooth and the knowledge you learn from one course doesn’t carry to the next.
