Dataquest Alternative: 365 Data Science vs Dataquest Comparison

365 Data Science offers best-in-class personalized customer support, answering any specific questions students might have. All 365 Data Science instructors are involved in Q&A, ensuring the most coherent experience possible. This is critical for beginners and is a great workaround for situations when you get stuck and need some expert tutoring.

Dataquest does a great job in helping students, too. They have a community forum, which is well-maintained and moderated. So, you can post a question if you get stuck while doing one of the course challenges.

Both 365 Data Science and Dataquest provide access to exercises that help students practice what they have seen in a given lesson. Dataquest’s native ‘coding in the browser’ feature is believed to be one of their strongest assets. Students don’t need to switch between different windows while learning, which makes exercise activities seamless. At the same time, it is also true that this isn’t how you will have to solve real-world projects when on the job.

As a Dataquest alternative, 365 Data Science uses a different approach.

365 Data Science focuses on downloadable course materials: all exercises are in the form of coding notebook files, while the solutions – solution notebook files. Each of them is downloadable. Moreover, 365 Data Science provides plenty of additional resources, such as quizzes, course notes, and other downloadable files. Since you can store these materials locally on your computer, you get to keep all of them even after cancelling your subscription.

As we mentioned, Dataquest is popular for its ‘coding in the browser feature’. However, there is a major downside to it. Whether you need to solve a programming task during your job interview, or you have just landed a job as a data professional, no employer will ever ask you to code in the browser. You would be expected to be completely confident at setting up the real environment yourself and solving complex tasks in it. And that is exactly what 365 Data Science provides in each programming-related course – not only are there lessons dedicated to setup, but all exercise and practical tasks are carried out within the actual environment, so you are prepared for the real-world challenges of any data science or analytics job.

The other obvious benefit is that this approach will teach you how to solve problems in a real-world environment where coding in the browser wouldn’t be powerful enough (as you will be using very large datasets) and where you can’t ask the browser for a tip.

Dataquest and 365 Data Science both focus extensively on practical case studies. The main difference is that many of the challenges and tasks by Dataquest are not centered around business applications, whereas 365 Data Science highlights the business application of data science in their exercises and their case studies.

Exams indicate you meet a high standard of competence and can give you a competitive advantage, more job opportunities, and a higher pay scale. 365 Data Science provides the opportunity to test the skills you have acquired with 3 types of timed online exams – Practice Exams, Course Exams, and Career Track Exams.

Practice Exams are optional. Their goal is to help you gain confidence in your skills, show you if there are areas you still need to work on and prepare you for your course exams and final career track exam. Course Exams give you the chance to prove that you have gained the necessary skills and competencies in a certain data science area. A passing score of 60% is required to be eligible for a Course Certificate.

Career Track Exams are accessible to students who have successfully passed the 9 required course exams in their chosen career track – Data Scientist, Data Analyst, or Business Analyst. These include 7 mandatory exams and 2 electives. A passing score of 60% is required to be awarded a Career Track Certificate.

Presently, Dataquest doesn’t offer exams as a feature of their training.

365 Data Science recently substituted Certificates of Completion with 2 types of Certificates of Achievement – Course Certificates and Career Track Certificates. Both are official 365 Data Science credentials that confirm your accomplishment and domain expertise.

To earn a Course Certificate, it is not necessary to watch all the videos in a course. However, you still need to be enrolled in the program and pass the course exam successfully, that is, achieve a score of 60% or higher.

Career Track Certificates are awarded to students who have passed 10 exams successfully – 9 course exams plus a final exam with questions covering all required courses in the respective Career Track.

Once earned, you can easily share them with your professional LinkedIn network or get a physical copy as a stylish testament to your achievement.

The data science industry places high value on degrees, credentials, and professional certificates, especially when there is an exam required to obtain them. There is a good reason for that – certificates not only confirm subject matter expertise but are also required for certain job openings. Not to mention that employers consider certificates a measure of a candidate’s willingness to work hard and achieve the goals they have set for themselves.

As long as you complete a course on Dataquest, you will be able to download a certificate of completion.

Neither 365 Data Science nor Dataquest charge an additional fee for the online certificates.