Is the Data Science Certificate from UW worth it?

Seeking Advice Forum
1

Has anyone taken the Data Science Certificate course from the University of Waterloo? It includes four courses. I’m curious about your experiences and whether you’d recommend it. Here’s the course link:

https://pd.uwaterloo.ca/DataScienceCertificateDetails.aspx#1

Also, it requires some basic Python knowledge. How hard is it to learn Python on your own?

2

Honestly, everything covered in those courses can be learned for free on YouTube. You might want to explore that first.

3

Joss said:
Honestly, everything covered in those courses can be learned for free on YouTube. You might want to explore that first.

That’s true. I learned more from YouTube during my university courses than from lectures. But sometimes, structured learning helps.

4

I’m taking the course now and honestly, I’m disappointed. The material is mostly Jupyter notebooks, and while that sounds great, the quality is lacking. Here are a few issues I’ve noticed:

  1. The explanations are vague, especially in the statistics course.
  2. There are typos and coding errors in the material.
  3. Some topics require extra research because they’re not covered well.

If you’re looking for a structured framework with deadlines, this might work. But don’t expect high-quality university-level material.

5

@Tavi
I completed the first course in this program, and I agree. The content quality isn’t what I expected. I’d suggest supplementing it with books or other online resources to deepen your understanding. For me, it’s a stepping stone to a senior analyst position, and since my company covers the cost, it’s worth it.

6

@Tavi
Thanks for the detailed feedback. I decided not to enroll after reading about issues like these. It sounds similar to other certs I’ve done that had poor quality.

7

I wouldn’t trust any of these professional development courses without looking into reviews. They’re often overpriced for the value they deliver.

8

Wade said:
I wouldn’t trust any of these professional development courses without looking into reviews. They’re often overpriced for the value they deliver.

This isn’t part of the co-op PD courses if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s a separate program.

9

@Ren
Fair enough. It’s still worth looking at alternatives before committing.

10

Are you planning to enroll? I’m also debating whether this course is worth it.

11

Mica said:
Are you planning to enroll? I’m also debating whether this course is worth it.

Did you end up taking it? Curious to hear your experience.

12

I took this course, and I’d recommend watching free resources like YouTube or trying platforms like deeplearning.ai instead. Better value for your time and money.

13

Miller said:
I took this course, and I’d recommend watching free resources like YouTube or trying platforms like deeplearning.ai instead. Better value for your time and money.

Did this course help you get a job, or did you have to work on additional projects afterward?

14

I was about to sign up for this certificate, but reading all these comments makes me hesitate. Are there better alternatives?