Zipfian Academy (http://www.zipfianacademy.com/) definitely has hands-on experience and is worth the $16k tuition. That's where I'm going now that I've left the Berkeley MIDS program, where I learned almost nothing.
I was a student of this MIDS program for one semester after attending Hack Reactor in the spring. I took three classes this summer, which is the closest thing they have to full-time. I can say without hesitation that it would be an enormous financial mistake for most people to join the program.
Just a quick overview of some of the problems they have:
- Poorly considered curriculum. Our data visualization class involved no d3js or training with data viz tools. Students were told to teach themselves the tools in their spare time while studying data viz theory (Edward Tufte, etc.) in class.
- Cost. There's absolutely no way to justify the $60k price tag, especially with no in-state tuition option.
- Choice of instructors. They're trying to increase the size of the program too quickly, while throwing in new instructors with zero teaching experience. These instructors also have part-time or full-time jobs outside of MIDS, so I didn't even get my grades back for assignments from the first month by two weeks before finals. It would often take a minimum of 2-4 weeks to get grades back.
I've officially withdrawn from MIDS, and I'm attending Zipfian this fall. I strongly recommend considering any and all alternatives to MIDS before even applying.
