August
August
Well everyone, here we are! Today is the day! August 8th- the end of the challenge course!!
We are 8 hours away from the deadline, which isn’t much time, but you can get a lot done before midnight UTC! Keep working steadily, and don’t give up yet.
This also means that today is the last day of #30DaysofData! To end with a bang, we would love for anyone who is finished (or needs a study break!) to post on social media:
We want everyone to hear about the impact the scholarship has had on its most important stakeholders- YOU ALL! Your social media posts have reached more than 1.5 million people already- let’s extend that reach so the entire world knows the importance of making data science education accessible!!
Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some highlights from the course and career programming that the scholarships team is planning, but for now, stay focused on that 11:59pm UTC deadline!
Also, if you have DM’ed me in the past couple days, thank you for your patience! I have a LOT of messages right now that I’m slowly working through- I will reply! If you have a general scholarship-related question and need a quicker answer, I encourage you to post in #general-discussion to get input from your peers! Otherwise, I’ll respond as soon as I can.
Happy Tuesday, everyone, aka Challenge Course Deadline Eve! We're making it a national holiday here in the land of Udacity Scholarships, and are celebrating with a brief DATA UPDATE:
I had challenged you all to complete more than the 1.8 million concepts you did this past weekend before 11:59pm UTC tomorrow, August 8. I am thrilled to say that with just under 29 hours to go, this group has completed OVER 2.2 MILLION CONCEPTS!!!
As a skilled procrastinator myself, I can relate to everyone out there who is guzzling coffee, listening to their favorite pump-up playlist, and living on whatever leftovers are at the back of the fridge.
I'm a big believer in setting stretch goals, and since you knocked yesterday's goal out of the park, I'm going to up the ante a little bit:
If you can do this, then that means you will have exceeded 4 million concepts in just 3 days. The pressure is on, the finish line is glowing just out of reach, but no matter what, our hope is that everyone comes out of this with a greater understanding of data science, some awesome experience to add to their resume/LinkedIn, and maybe even a new friend or two.
Resources to Help You Reach 100%
We know you might need help, and it's not too late to ask! Remember, the following is available to you:
Alright team, you can still do this!! You have all accomplished so much already, and @Udacity-Dan and I couldn't be prouder of your hard work over the past three months. We know you're tired, but don't give up yet!
Stay focused, keep working, and let's make it to 100%!!
Hello everyone, and welcome to the final Monday of phase 1!!
You have all put so much time, effort, and brainpower in to this scholarship experience, and the things that you have produced are an indicator of that effort! We are almost at the finish line- there are just over 48 hours remaining in the challenge course!
Kicking off the final push with some DATA, and a challenge…
Over Saturday and Sunday alone, this group collectively completed over 1.8 MILLION concepts!!! That’s a whole lotta learning crammed into 2 days! But not everyone is at 100% yet, so there is room to EXCEED that number. OUR CHALLENGE TO YOU:
CAN THIS COMMUNITY COMPLETE MORE THAN 1.8 MILLION CONCEPTS BEFORE 11:59pm UTC on AUGUST 8?!It’s going to take a lot of collective effort, but I know how hard everyone is working to reach 100%, so I believe in you!! Let’s finish strong!!
Speaking of which...
How Are YOU Going to Finish Strong?!
We want to end with a bang! Head over to #30_days_of_data to post your action plan for days 28, 29, and 30 of 30 days of data, and post your plan on social media using the tags #PoweredByBertelsmann, #UdacityDataScholars, and #30DaysOfData. Let the world know how you’re finishing the course LIKE A BOSS.
Clarification re: Emails
To clarify, you will not get an email when you complete the challenge course! An email that went out on August 2 indicated if you were at 100% or not, but if you completed the course on or after August 2, you will have received a different message. Don't panic!
Again, if your classroom shows 100% completion, then this is also what we see! I know lots of people are nervous about their progress not being tracked, but we will be using data pulled directly from your classroom, so as long as your progress shows 100%, then you have nothing to worry about!
Apologies for any confusion!
Reminder re: Email Addresses
To prepare for August 8, everyone should take 5 minutes to do the following:
Reminder re: End of Course Survey
Thank you to everyone who has completed the survey so far! Please take the time to complete it at your earliest convenience- this helps us assess our successes and areas of improvement, and we rely on your input to improve future scholarships! We would love to have all 15k students complete the survey, so no matter how far along you are or how active you were, please share your input!
Again, the survey will have NO IMPACT on your phase 2 selection. We appreciate your time and feedback!
Reminder re: Motivational AMAs
Need an extra morale boost to finish phase 1? Check out one of five motivational AMAs happening over the next two days in #ama-sessions!
Alright team, have at it! You are ALMOST THERE!!!
Happy Friday everyone! This is a busy announcement with lots of important notices, so please read through the whole thing so you don’t miss any key info!
THIS IS THE LAST WEEKEND OF THE CHALLENGE COURSE!
The end of the challenge course is only FIVE days away. This is the last weekend you have, so for folks who don’t work on Saturday and Sunday, use this time to finish your course! Don’t wait until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning to wrap up- commit as much time as you need to this weekend to GET IT DONE! You’re almost there- YOU’VE GOT THIS!!!
Thank you to everyone who has completed the survey so far! Please take the time to complete it at your earliest convenience- this helps us assess our successes and areas of improvement, and we rely on your input to improve future scholarships! We would love to have all 15k students complete the survey, so no matter how far along you are or how active you were, please share your input!
Again, the survey will have NO IMPACT on your phase 2 selection. We appreciate your time and feedback!
REMINDER re: Email Addresses
Please ensure that your classroom and Slack emails match your application email- this is essential to ensure that your participation and progress are tracked across platforms.
If you have messaged me about this previously, no further action is needed.
Add Us to Your Safe Senders List
Please add any emails coming from @udacity.com to your safe senders list. We will be sending out some important communications in the coming weeks that we don’t want you to miss!
Motivational AMAs
Feeling discouraged? Like you won’t make it through the coursework? Or that you aren’t really cut out to be a data scientist after all? Turn that frown upside down and join one of five motivational AMAs next Tuesday and Wednesday in #ama-sessions. Several students will be there to remind you how awesome and capable you really are and share their words of wisdom for staying focused. Their advice is applicable in any aspect of life, not just the challenge course, so check one (or more!) out!
Resource Database
Have you found great resources that helped you work on the course, give you extra practice or get inspired for your future in data science? Then please share them with others by posting them to our Airtable resource database.
The database will remain open even after the challenge course ends, so happy resource browsing!
Live Quiz: statistics, Python and SQL
The LiveQuiz team is organizing a Kahoot (game-based) live quiz about statistics, Python and SQL this Saturday and Sunday (same questions) guided by a quizmaster who explains the right answers.
There is nothing to download, just click the corresponding Hangouts link now and be in Hangouts at the scheduled time with a computer or computer + phone/tablet.
Shout-outs
Please see the website for shout-out highlights from this week, and head over to #shout-outs to see even more! Remember, keep filling out the shout-outs form so I know about all the awesomeness happening in this community!
Finally, Project Showcase Favorites!
The votes are in, and nearly 500 people voted on their favorite projects of the top 14. Congratulations to the top 5 projects, created by @Simon, @Melissa Knie, @Sanskriti Bajaj, @Gabriela Urquieta, @Lisa, @Marwa Allam, @Sameeksha Mahajan, @MariaJose, @Anastassiya Yegarmina, @Linson, @Medon, @Olayiwola Ibrahim, @israkhan, @neamah, @Nadine AYAD , and @Tarek Abdel Rahman!!!
We were impressed by the quality of work submitted not just in this group, but in all projects. Nearly 150 projects came in from over 300 students, highlighting the impact that data can have on everything from predicting gummy bear flavor distribution to analyzing access to education. You proved that data can be used for a HUGE range of purposes, and we hope that this project allowed you to stretch your data muscles and inspired you to continue your exploration!
Now, on to a productive, busy, and rewarding weekend! Use your resources, stay focused, and don't give up- YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!!!!!
Hi everyone, we are ONE WEEK AWAY from the end of the challenge course!!! I wanted to share some important details, as well as an ask of all of you.
We want to hear about your experience in the course! Please complete this survey at your earliest convenience. Your candid responses allow us to evaluate community efforts, understand your needs better, and continually improve with every scholarship, so we appreciate your time and honesty!
Please note that this survey will have NO IMPACT on your phase 2 selection, track placement, or candidacy for future scholarships/opportunities through Udacity. Any personally identifiable information is only collected so we can do more in-depth data analysis of your responses, which will be reviewed in aggregate.
Thank you for completing this survey!! Your feedback is invaluable
The official course deadline is next Wednesday, August 8, at 11:59pm (23:59) UTC. Regardless of your time zone, your progress will be evaluated as of that time.
It will take Dan and I a couple weeks to review everyone’s participation and course completion, so you can expect an email from us approximately 2 weeks after August 8. Please enjoy some time to relax and celebrate your accomplishments!
Some people have reported that their previously completed SQL queries are no longer showing up in their classroom. There was a content update to this lesson, which is causing this issue for some users. We are very sorry for this! You do not have to redo those queries; a record of your work was saved on the back end, so we know who has completed them. If you haven’t done those queries yet, then you are still expected to complete them.
These two channels are joining forces once again to bring you an AMA session, hosted in the #turtle-squad channel on Friday, August 3! This is a chance to ask technical questions, project-related questions, course completion strategy, or anything relevant to data science. Head over to #turtle-squad for the full post and details!
I’ll be back on Friday with another announcement to close out your week! Continue to stay focused, and remember, #30_days_of_data is there to help you stay accountable and focused, #motivation is there to give you a morale boost if you need it, and #live-help is there to make sure you can get answers to all your technical questions. Use your resources- you’re not in this alone!