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Data Science Bootcamp Prep

Start your journey through data science, the most sought-after field in tech — for free.

The most effective way to start learning data science and get accepted into today’s top data science bootcamps

In this free data science online course, you’ll learn the fundamentals of Python and be introduced to Machine Learning. Our course provides a thorough data science tutorial, covering the basic principles of data science so you can be ready to apply to the most selective data science bootcamps in the country.

Free Course (We Mean It)

To become a data scientist, you have to start somewhere. This is that place. Our free course — there’s no catch, and not even a credit card required — is made to be accessible to anyone, regardless of their background. We want to give you the practical opportunity to learn while also giving you the opportunity to gauge your interest in the field.

In-Depth Curriculum

Our curriculum is designed to be both thorough and accessible, insuring students quickly grasp the basic concepts of data science, such as Python, SQL and Machine Learning, while going deep in the areas needed to qualify for top bootcamp programs.

Explore Your Future in Data Science

This course is the best way to experience Flatiron School’s curriculum, community, and culture firsthand – and to explore whether you’re passionate about pursuing data science as a career.

Access to Fast-Track Admissions

Data Science Bootcamp Prep students who apply to Flatiron School are fast-tracked through our own admissions process as priority applicants to our full-time Immersive Data Science Bootcamp course.

Start coding like a data scientist

Our free prep course begins by teaching students how to code in Python, one of the most popular programming languages utilized by data scientists. An introduction to data science and Python is a key component that allows students to move beyond data analysis and into data science.

Python

Units: DataTypes, Variables, Collections

Python is one of the leading programming languages used by data scientists today. Fundamental data types and how you use them are covered — including strings, booleans, variables, lists, and dictionaries

Machine Learning

Units: Gradient Descent, Calculus

Our machine learning section will delve into the tools and math background you’ll need to understand what your data is telling you and how you can draw conclusions from it.

Math Fundamentals

Units: Understanding Graphs, Calculus

Perfect for individuals looking to brush up on their math skills, this section covers linear equations and graphs, derivatives with single variable calculus, and multiple variable calculus.

Start building your data science portfolio

At Flatiron School, students learn by building. Data Science Bootcamp Prep students leave the course with the beginnings of an impressive project portfolio to demonstrate their proficiency with fundamental data science concepts.

Nearest Taxi Rides

Use data from NYC taxi rides to predict how long a taxi ride will be. The project is for an imaginary taxi company that wants to camp out at the locations that will bring it the longest rides. We’ll use our first machine learning algorithm — nearest neighbors — to do so.

Built with: Python, Folium

Movie Regression

Use your new knowledge of machine learning and gradient descent to predict movie revenue. We’ll look at over 300 movies to train our model to predict movie revenue.

Built with: Python, Plotly

Learn.co Features

Learn.co, the proprietary learning platform that powers Flatiron’s free coding bootcamp, is the world’s most sophisticated product for learning code. Students on Learn.co interact with a worldwide community of students and instructors and harness real developer tools to truly learn by doing.

Real-Time Collaboration

Learning is most effective when it’s social. Learn.co makes online learning a more dynamic, human experience with tools to connect, code, and collaborate with fellow students and instructors in real-time – including video study groups, peer-pairing, and the ability to “friend” others in the program.

Real Tools

You can’t learn real skills without real tools. Learn.co utilizes the same tools and workflows that professional data scientists employ on the job, including using Jupyter Notebooks for writing and documenting your code and git and GitHub for tracking your changes and being able to collaborate with others.

Live Curriculum

We ensure that students always get the most relevant technical skills by embracing an open-source curriculum – a living course of study featuring thousands of updates a year to reflect industry trends and student feedback.

Learn more about data science and Flatiron School

header - how to get a job as a data scientist without a master's degree
Data Science
How to Get Hired in Data Science without a Master's Degree
By Vicki Aubin
Oct 5, 2021
data science bootcamp header
student studying at a desk
students laugh while studying

Ready to learn how to code?

Start learning data science basics – for free and on your schedule. Setup is quick and works on virtually any computer so you can be coding in minutes.

You have questions; we have answers

Do I need to finish all of Data Science Bootcamp Prep in order to apply to Flatiron School?

Not at all. While making progress in our free courses is the best way to strengthen your application to our full-time Immersive Data Science Bootcamp course, finishing the full Data Science Bootcamp Prep course is not required to apply. You’ll be encouraged to start your application to either our full-time Immersive Bootcamp course or our part-time Intro to Data Science course.

This free course is meant to help you gauge whether you want to pursue a career in data science, and whether you can successfully learn our our teaching techniques and technology. Our admissions team primarily wants to see consistency in how you’re preparing. (Note: It’s important to understand that your initial application and interview is a way to for us to get to know you and for you to get to know us, and includes no technical questions.)

Are Flatiron School's Bootcamp Preps really free?

Yes! Our Bootcamp Prep curricula do not require any payment information and does not have a time limit.

This is true for all of our introductory workshops:

Are there prerequisites to apply to the Data Science program?

While there are no required prerequisites to apply to our data science program and we welcome beginners, we do recommend students explore our free data science workshops before applying, as this program can be very difficult for beginners. It’s important for two key reasons:

  1. The easiest way to determine if you want to pursue a career in data science is to see if you like coding.

  2. We want to fill our community with people who see data science as a passion and who want to launch lifelong careers as data scientists. It’s much easier to show that you’re passionate and dedicated by taking the initiative to get started first. Even if you’ve only worked through a few lessons, showing a little effort and curiosity about data science speaks volumes in your application.

Are there prerequisites to apply to Online Data Science Bootcamp?

While there are no prerequisites to our online data science course and we welcome beginners, we do recommend exploring our free Data Science Bootcamp Prep course before applying. It’s important for two key reasons:

  • The easiest way to determine if you want to pursue a career in data science is to see if you like coding. It’s impossible to know that if you’ve never written a line of code.

  • We want to fill our online community with people who are who see data science as a passion, people who want to launch lifelong careers as data scientists. It’s much easier to show that you’re passionate and dedicated by taking the initiative to get started first. Even if you’ve only worked through a few lessons, showing a little effort and curiosity about data science speaks volumes in your application.