Student Testimonials
DataFest was an awesome and unique experience. This event presented a new challenge in that we were presented with a large dataset and had the freedom to analyze patterns and communicate insights in our own way, which is very different from normal school assignments where we perform a particular action to find a particular solution. All of the participating teams were of different academic backgrounds, which allowed each group to interpret the data from different perspectives and present varied results. The process of collaborating as a team, organizing data, analyzing patterns, and presenting results are all important problem-solving skills. During job interviews, I used DataFest as an example to demonstrate my critical thinking abilities to employers. (Plus, there was free food throughout the event, which is always amazing.)
-Halley Constantino, 2017 participant
It was only after my first DataFest that I started to feel less like someone who’d taken a lot of statistics courses and more like a data scientist. Coming into that first DataFest, I’ll admit to being more than a little over confident. I figured that being quick with python and knowing how to run a random forest would be more than enough to be a fearsome competitor. Oh how wrong I was. What I learned during my two time participation in DataFest is that our coursework can only teach us so much. To really understand how to solve problems using data science, one has to solve real problems using data science. In my case, that meant learning that the hardest part of data science is simply getting your data into a form where it makes sense to apply some fancy algorithm. It’s finding a way to take a real-world problem and frame in such a way that we can answer it using the toolbox of data science. As I started interviewing for jobs I found that this framing step is exactly what employers are most interested in hiring for. So, as I prepare to start as a data scientist at Yelp I can’t thank DataFest enough for helping me develop practical skills that will serve me well throughout my career.
-Brian Johnson, 2019 participant