I have been asked a lot of questions lately about Stanford's online course offerings and why somebody would choose them over myriad of options online. This is my attempt to bundle them together to help a broader audience. 1....
I have been asked a lot of questions lately about Stanford's online course offerings and why somebody would choose them over myriad of options online. This is my attempt to bundle them together to help a broader audience.
1. How do you choose classes?
It depends on your goals and interests. Here are some questions to ask.
Goal: What do you want to achieve out of a particular course? Are you learning for fun or do you want to apply the knowledge to build something? Do you want to extend/switch careers to become a Deep Learning practitioner? Do you think these tools will help you solve a real-life problem? Interests: Read through the course page, find out the topics they cover and search for applications/projects related to it. Do these topics interest you? Here is my review on some of the classes to help you get started.
2. Reference Materials for classes?
Most classes at Stanford are self-contained but you are welcomed to read and research resources, there is tons of literature on most topics as it's an active field of research. Teaching staff usually provides references for each topic which help you consolidate concepts.
3. Are there any forums to discuss doubts? Is there any form of Mentorship provided?
There are Course Assistants for every class and there is also a forum setup per class where you can discuss doubts and ask questions to help solidify your understanding. You are also assigned a Mentor for your project which is one of the course assistants for the class. They help give feedback and suggestions to help you navigate and sketch out scope of a project.
A class project can be an open research problem, your attempt at reproducing ideas presented in a paper or simply applying fundamentals to a real-life problem. This is one of the most interesting parts of the courses which helps you exercise what you have learnt and even explore beyond the class. Choosing challenging course projects helps you explore and become better at applying concepts and figure out how to use these tools in real-life problems.
5. What Programming Language is preferred?
Most classes require you to code in Python.
6. Why is it still worth taking the course when you have online courses at a much lower cost?
These are actual "Graduate" courses taken by students at Stanford. I have found them to be quite challenging but at the same time rewarding in ways that broaden your horizon and knowledge with State-of-the-Art (SoTA) literature and techniques. I would suggest using other online courses as basics to build upon with these Graduate level classes.
7. Why one shouldn't one be judgmental about this course since it is a "Graduate Certificate" unlike a full time Master's course?
Graduate level courses are more abstract compared to their undergraduate counterparts. Again, It depends on what your goals are, if you have a Master's you can update yourself with these classes. On the other hand, my understanding is that the same courses can be taken as part of an online Master's program.
1. How do you choose classes?
It depends on your goals and interests. Here are some questions to ask.
Goal: What do you want to achieve out of a particular course? Are you learning for fun or do you want to apply the knowledge to build something? Do you want to extend/switch careers to become a Deep Learning practitioner? Do you think these tools will help you solve a real-life problem? Interests: Read through the course page, find out the topics they cover and search for applications/projects related to it. Do these topics interest you? Here is my review on some of the classes to help you get started.
2. Reference Materials for classes?
Most classes at Stanford are self-contained but you are welcomed to read and research resources, there is tons of literature on most topics as it's an active field of research. Teaching staff usually provides references for each topic which help you consolidate concepts.
3. Are there any forums to discuss doubts? Is there any form of Mentorship provided?
There are Course Assistants for every class and there is also a forum setup per class where you can discuss doubts and ask questions to help solidify your understanding. You are also assigned a Mentor for your project which is one of the course assistants for the class. They help give feedback and suggestions to help you navigate and sketch out scope of a project.
4. What can you get out of a class project?
A class project can be an open research problem, your attempt at reproducing ideas presented in a paper or simply applying fundamentals to a real-life problem. This is one of the most interesting parts of the courses which helps you exercise what you have learnt and even explore beyond the class. Choosing challenging course projects helps you explore and become better at applying concepts and figure out how to use these tools in real-life problems.
5. What Programming Language is preferred?
Most classes require you to code in Python.
6. Why is it still worth taking the course when you have online courses at a much lower cost?
These are actual "Graduate" courses taken by students at Stanford. I have found them to be quite challenging but at the same time rewarding in ways that broaden your horizon and knowledge with State-of-the-Art (SoTA) literature and techniques. I would suggest using other online courses as basics to build upon with these Graduate level classes.
7. Why one shouldn't one be judgmental about this course since it is a "Graduate Certificate" unlike a full time Master's course?
Graduate level courses are more abstract compared to their undergraduate counterparts. Again, It depends on what your goals are, if you have a Master's you can update yourself with these classes. On the other hand, my understanding is that the same courses can be taken as part of an online Master's program.