Frequently Asked Questions (archived)

You can find a full list of FAQs here.

You can also find questions that your peers have asked here.

We’re still getting LOTS of questions about what counts for participation and what doesn’t, so we wanted to offer some more explicit guidelines around what we’re looking for:

Visibility- if we can’t see what you’re doing in the scholarship, then we have no way of counting it towards your consideration for phase 2. We have provided the following channels- please make sure you use them so that your effort and engagement counts:

Post pictures of your meetups/study sessions on the Facebook photo album. In person and virtual meetups are great, but remember to tag your study buddies so we know who was there- we don't know what all 15,000 of your look like (yet)!
- If you don't meet in a way that makes taking a picture easy (i.e. via DM or other online virtual platform), please use this form to share a weekly update with the Community Managers. This helps us know which groups are active, and who is active in them. Please do not fill this form out more than once each week! We recommend designating one person from your group to fill it out to avoid duplicates.
- Please do not fill out the form AND post a picture to Facebook- pick the one that works best for your group's meeting format.
Hashtags- using the hashtags #PoweredByBertelsmann and #UdacityDataScholars on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn means we will see your post (as long as it’s public)
Study groups and project groups: Please make sure your group is in this spreadsheet.
- The tabs with lock symbols are existing groups. Feel free to join one if you're interested in one!
- The tab labeled "New Groups" is where you can start a new group- this is great when there isn't an existing group you want to join
- The tab labeled "Existing Study Projects/Groups" is for students who have been working in a group that isn't otherwise documented in this spreadsheet. Great for existing groups, or for students who grouped themselves using the Group Projects Team Formation doc.
- If you regularly study with one or more students, and you want this effort to count towards your participation, your group must be in this spreadsheet!!
REMEMBER: Your Slack email needs to match the email that you used to apply, which should also be the email you use to log in to your classroom. If you use a different email, we will not be able to track your participation!!!

Mutual support- Helping fellow scholars with the course, motivating them and working out strategies to cross the finish line in public Slack channels and in the Forums is visible to us. We are also looking out for scholars who go above and beyond in contributing to this amazing, diverse and dynamic learning community.

Initiative- Have an idea? We want to hear about it! Even if you’re not a student leader, you can still play a significant role in shaping this community. New ideas are great, and we’re generally supportive of students planning and implementing them. DM a Community Manager with your idea- we’d love to talk through it with you.

Consistency- whilst the course is self-paced, supporting other scholars and contributing meaningfully to the community works best steadily and consistently over time. We’re on the lookout for scholars who have contributed over time, not just engaged in the final weeks. Consistently engaged scholars, regardless of the amount of time you can commit, we see you!

Positivity: It might sound cheesy, but positive reinforcement goes a LONG way in helping people complete their coursework! Maybe you can’t meet up with other people, or your work schedule makes it hard to join a study group, and you don’t feel “techy” enough to answer others’ questions. That’s ok! Motivation can have just as much of an impact as technical help.

Don't see your question here or in the linked FAQ at the top of the page? Add it to the student questions doc!

Udacity staff will go through and answer questions regularly; this is a great way to get a response and to ensure that other students can benefit from your question!

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