Comment by curiously | Hacker News Reader

Comment by curiously | Hacker News Reader

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very good.

do you get to build a portfolio through the nano degree program?

Which of the three nanodegrees did you find most useful? Does the full stack and front-end nanodegrees cross over? doesn't the full stack not cover front-end stuff?

The data-analyst is really interesting, do you need to brush up on statistics and such before you get into it?

Did you receive offers for data analyst/scientist positions?

How did you land job offers?

Does udacity teach how to perform on technical interviews?

Did you pay $600/month for all three nano degrees?

Basically I want to take it to learn all the stuff. I already have worked as a developer but just want an complete upgrade (been a LAMP dev for too long).

Wow, tons of questions...

1. Each Nanodegree has 5 to 6 projects that you can add to your portfolio. For the Front-end Web Developer Nanodegree (FEND), one of the projects is actually building a portfolio.

2. I probably learned the most in the Data Analyst Nanodegree (DAND), but enjoyed the Full Stack Nanodegree (FSND) the most.

3. The FSND and FEND are separate (no cross-over), but complementary (skills in one will help the other). The FSND covers mostly back-end.

4. For data analyst/scientist positions--I did not receive any offers.

5. For FE/FS job offers--honestly, I don't know. I really wasn't actively seeking them, but I was lucky enough that people were coming to me. Udacity did a Student Spotlight blog on me, so I think that might be where or how they found me.

6. Udacity has some awesome career services support, and they hold workshops on technical interviews.

7. My bill at the end of the day was $980 total. I took the FEND and DAND concurrently, and they took 2 months each ($200/mo * 2 mo/ND * 2 NDs = $800). I finished the FSND in one month, and was part of the inaugural cohort (10% off = $180).

My best advice to you is to give some of the classes or Nanodegrees a test drive. Udacity is still a MOOC provider, so all the classes you can still take for free. Good luck to you.

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