Online Data Science MSc - University of London, Goldsmiths

It's great to hear that among the students without programming/relevant backgrounds, the results from the first coursework assessment have been very good. Also, you nailed the crux of my question: is this doable, while putting in a reasonable amount of hours, for people who have absolutely no background... Thanks again for addressing the questions head on, as I contemplate which (first) module to enroll for this upcoming April. Finally, I know this is the only module you can speak directly to (in the sense that this is the only one you have direct experience with so far). But, if you're hearing anything from people without a tech background with regards to any of the other modules, or have any other advice/comments in general, please feel free to make them. Thanks again.

Yes, I knew that the module ran for twenty two weeks and wasn't set up like traditional UK university courses which have a long break for Christmas but I naively thought we might get a week or two off for Christmas. At least I'll know what to expect when picking modules to do in the October 2022 session! There are many international students so I guess some people won't be based in countries that have a Christmas holiday.

Each module is supposedly stand alone so there is no expectation that you have already done the Introduction to Programming module before attempting any of the others. However, those that have not done it (or were doing it concurrently with other modules) did say that not having already done it made things more difficult as all modules involve some coding. If you are not already familiar with Python and have some time before you start, I would strongly suggest learning some Python now. I highly recommend Corey Schafer's youtube videos or if you are happy to spend some money - Jose Padilla on Udemy is also good (Udemy have very regular sales so no need to ever pay full price for their courses).

I'm dropping my hours at work so planning on doing two modules in the April 2022 session (likely Machine Learning and Big Data Analysis). I can report back later in the year on how those are going. One person who started in October 2021 and is also doing the statistics module said that she was able to manage it in seven hours per week (she was also new to programming and was finding the programming module quite intense just like me).