Is it worth it to pay for a Coursera specialization?

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Joan Figuerola

I started the Data Science Specialization on Coursera and I gave up after the fourth module. Reasons:

• The material is too superficial. It's not a specialization, it's an introduction. It should be called "Introduction to Data Science With R".
• The specialization is done in R and I don't like it for several reasons that I'm not going to cover here.
• I doubt that you can get a Data Science related job just with that specialization.

Sure having those certificates make your CV look very fancy but the truth is that it hasn't made an impact. The last 9-page research paper I read has made more impact than the 4 Coursera modules in the Data Science specialization. It took me 1h to understand the paper as opposed to 4 months to complete the 4 modules.

In my opinion, Coursera is good to get an introduction to topics and then you can extend upon that base. I did the Machine Learning course and I'm currently doing the Introduction to Recommender Systems and they are good.

However, if you get a book about the topic you're interested in, you'll have the introduction and the advanced stuff in the same place explained by the same authors.

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John Brew

For me, the answer is yes, however, it depends on what you want to get from the specialization. I just completed the Neuroscience: Perception, Action and the Brain that was offered by Duke University. I must say that I learned a lot about neuroscience and I enjoyed the capstone project which had me assemble a research proposal.

This specialization helped me to confirm I would like to continue studying neuroscience and helped me narrow my focus (the retina and optic nerve). I am an older student, returning to school, with aspirations to do neurophysiology research after working as an engineer for 30 years, so I didn't have the expectation of the specialization finding me a new job. I will certainly use what I learned to help me find the right graduate program.

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