Ask HN: Master vs. Udacity nanodegree • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Master vs. Udacity nanodegree

#21

Post by tedmiston » Fri, Sep 16, 2016, 11:01 PM UTC

umlaut wrote: post #2

I just finished the Udacity machine learning nanodegree a bit over a month ago. While it is good (and getting better) at teaching techniques and material, you miss a lot in terms of access to research faculty. There aren't any research projects, and you won't ever operate at the cutting edge (WaveNet!) at Udacity. It's like trade school for software, which is fine if you're highly motivated or just want to acquire so…

> There aren't any research projects, and you won't ever operate at the cutting edge (WaveNet!) at Udacity

Besides doing specific research, the CS grad curriculum at most schools is hardly cutting edge either. Sometimes it lags quite a bit behind the real world because of faculty being more focused on their own research vs teaching.

Re: Ask HN: Master vs. Udacity nanodegree

#22

Post by nkozyra » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 2:01 AM UTC

anuj_nm wrote: post #19

nkozyra wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've done both the nanodegree and am nearly done with OMSCS. the nanodegree is pretty value less in general. It's not that rigid or difficult and carries no real weight.

I keep getting marketing emails from Udacity about their nanodegrees. Some of them sound pretty attractive (like the ones related to self-driving cars) and I've been tempted to take them. Glad to hear an actual review from someone :)

They're very light. Since they don't carry any weight you'd at least hope to learn something.

You'll get as much if not more from the free machine learning Georgia tech course with Tom Mitchell's book than the nanodegree.

As a follow up, I took Thruns robotic driving course and it suffers from being a purely software course. There are optional hardware projects but no imparted hardware instruction.

So I'd be especially leery of an automated driving nanodegree degree online.

Re: Ask HN: Master vs. Udacity nanodegree

#23

Post by 1_listerine_pls » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 4:41 AM UTC

napratin wrote: post #13

The goal of a Masters degree in Machine Learning is ideally to prepare you for core research and engineering roles where you work on improving, adapting and inventing new algorithms and techniques. However, such roles are very limited in the industry. Most jobs you will find expect you to be able to apply, combine and optimize existing algorithms to given real-world problems. This requires a different set of skills t…

Which companies are hiring the ML nano-degree graduates?

Re: Ask HN: Master vs. Udacity nanodegree

#24

Post by codeonfire » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 4:49 AM UTC

In 50 years people will know what your degree is and your university will probably still be around. Udacity will be long gone and no one will know what a nanodegree is.

Re: Ask HN: Master vs. Udacity nanodegree

#25

Post by pgcosta » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 6:59 PM UTC

codeonfire wrote: post #24

In 50 years people will know what your degree is and your university will probably still be around. Udacity will be long gone and no one will know what a nanodegree is.

I hope to be either retired or dead in 50 years :D

Re: Ask HN: Master vs. Udacity nanodegree

#26

Post by napratin » Tue, Sep 20, 2016, 2:03 PM UTC

1_listerine_pls wrote: post #23

napratin wrote: post #13

The goal of a Masters degree in Machine Learning is ideally to prepare you for core research and engineering roles where you work on improving, adapting and inventing new algorithms and techniques. However, such roles are very limited in the industry. Most jobs you will find expect you to be able to apply, combine and optimize existing algorithms to given real-world problems. This requires a different set of skills t…

Which companies are hiring the ML nano-degree graduates?

Several companies have hired MLND grads, including Google, PwC, Cyient Insights, Henry Ford Health System, TransVoyant, AirBnB and Udacity itself. Also, it is common for companies to hire candidates internally once they demonstrate they've acquired the relevant skills.

Re: Ask HN: Master vs. Udacity nanodegree

#27

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Sep 24, 2016, 12:52 AM UTC

napratin wrote: post #26

1_listerine_pls wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which companies are hiring the ML nano-degree graduates?

Several companies have hired MLND grads, including Google, PwC, Cyient Insights, Henry Ford Health System, TransVoyant, AirBnB and Udacity itself. Also, it is common for companies to hire candidates internally once they demonstrate they've acquired the relevant skills.

[deleted]