Welcome! Congratulations on your acceptance to GreyAtom's Data Science Program. We hope you are really excited!! We want you to get ready for the program and have a smooth experience.
In this module we will take you through all the steps that you should complete before you attend first classroom session of the program.
This guide covers the following steps that you need to go through to prepare for the class. Review and complete all the steps. Some people may find some tasks very challenging, but go slowly through all of them and you shall be easily able to do it.
- Setting up your operating system
- Install python using Anaconda
- Setting up the version control system
- Pre-readings
- Overview of Linear algebra
- Overview of Statistics
- Overview of Python
- Overview of Machine Learning
- How to maximize your learning
- Community and Meetups
Having trained more than 700+ professionals into various aspects of data science, our first hand experience says that people who were able to complete pre-readings before coming to the classroom had very different outcomes versus people who did’nt.
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Minimum system requirements for the laptop to be used during the course - 64 bit system, minimum 4 GB RAM (8GB preferred), i3 and above processor.
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You can use either Windows/ Mac OS/ Ubuntu 16.04 while working through the program. However, we strongly recommend you to use Ubuntu / Mac OS.
We'll be using Homebrew to install and manage packages.
You are already using Ubuntu? Just make sure you are using 16.04 LTS or higher and you are all set.
In case you are new to Ubuntu, here is a guide to get started. Installation related help available on Ubuntu Forums and StackOverflow
You can use any given Windows version: Win7, Win8/8.1 or Win10.
- If you are on Windows and want to run Ubuntu you can create a dual boot system. Here is a beginners guide for the same.
- Using VMWare to run Ubuntu 16.04 from inside of Windows is not recommended
Anaconda distribution is the easiest way to install Python along with most popular machine learning libraries that you will be needing for the program. You can download Anaconda 3.6 or higher for you operating system from here. Follow this step by step guide to install the same.
- Install Git and create a GitHub account.
- Hands on Introduction to using Git and GitHub, video series (27 minutes)
Two companion blog posts:
Here are few resources that help you stand out from the rest. We strongly recommend everyone to go through the mentioned material before coming to the class. For many these would be just revisiting the concepts learned earlier, while for some they would be completely new concepts. We would like to re-emphasize that learners who are visiting these concepts for the first time should dedicate extra time to pre work and get thorough with it.
- Statistics & Probability (Estimated time :10 Hours | Tip - watch the videos on 1.5x speed)
- University of Amsterdam, Basic Statistics
- Intro to Python for Data Science (An absolute essential for non programmers)
- Practice Examples in Python
We recommend you to go through the following content
- Basics of Calculus - Visual Introduction
- Basics of Linear Algebra - Visual Introduction
- More hands on practice with Python
- Practice exercises in probability
We will share many more, when in the course, but here are some very good starting points
The program at GreyAtom is designed in a way to provide you an immersive learning experience. According to research traditional teaching methods which involve lecture and audio visual aids amount to only 20% retention among the learners. Whereas, participation, group work, peer learning and learning by doing contributes most to the retention of a learner.
Following are some of the things that you must follow in order to maximize your Learning throughout the program.
- Always go through the pre-read for the session before coming to the classroom
- Ask as many questions as you can to the instructore to clear your doubts
- Go through the post reads after atteding the session
- Solve all the related assignments and projects in the following week
- Try to write a short summary on the concepts that you had learned on the weekend, slowly you can expand this summary to make a blog posts
If you are stuck at a doubt during the week, remember: Read-Search-Ask.
- Read the in class notebook, documentation
- Search Google / StackOverflow
- Ask for help from your peers
Keep up with the latest in Data Science. Join & Attend the DataGiri Meetup
We've all got plenty of neuroplasticity left in us! No matter your background, you can learn what you want to learn. Believe that you can, and believe that those around you can too.
Reading is one way of getting you to think about things that you wouldn't otherwise. Writing encourages thinking. Discussion encourages thinking. Being active encourages thinking. Do things! Try things! Think about things!
There's so much to know! We all learn from one another. Embrace opportunities to learn from others, and opportunities to share what you know.
We want to know what you're thinking