3 ms·

I am in kind of a similar situation. Was never really good or into math during school, been a software developer for 10+ years (mostly backend and web stuff) an

I am in kind of a similar situation. Was never really good or into math during school, been a software developer for 10+ years (mostly backend and web stuff) and at 34 am now working on my calculus and linear algebra after spending some months brushing up my basic algebra skills (which i still do on the side to keep "fit"). I am actually toying with the idea of going back to college to do a Masters in Data Science because i got so fascinated with Machine Learning and AI as well. Soo, you rock, keep it up!

Balgair 9y ago
Pro-tip: Make sure to talk to current student outside of the lab space and without the PI around to get the real deal on how useful the classes are.
deleted 9y ago
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cr0sh 9y ago
Seems like both of you are doing what I plan to do once I finish my Udacity SDC Nanodegree course. I've known for a while (ever since AI Class and ML Class in 2011) that I need a refresher and more on math, because ML. This Udacity course just drove it home. I'm tired of hearing about "take the derivative" and "perform the integral" (or whatever), and not quite understanding it. Heck, just what I wrote probably indicates I don't quite get it! Also, my intuition on probabilities and statistics isn't there either, so I want to do something to fix that as well. So, when I finally get done - that's my next goal (after a bit of a break). It isn't that I'm terrible at math, I just never used much beyond basic linear algebra after leaving high school. I never went much beyond high school: I got an associates from a tech school (worthless, since the school is long defunct), and I've taken a few community college courses, plus my online MOOC stuff that's more recent. I'm not hurting career-wise; in fact, that's never been an issue as a software engineer (started when I was 18, and just kept going, earning more over time and having fun). I'm not doing bad right now, living in Phoenix. It ain't SV - but then again, it doesn't have the downsides of it, either (not that there aren't certain downsides). Now - after having done MOOCs in ML/AI - I am finding that I need more understanding and intuition about calculus and other mathematical subjects, so I can really apply what I have learned, and understand it at a deeper level, and perhaps do more with it. I've given thought to going back for a BS and maybe an MS (not that I need it - I just want to do it). Good luck to both of you; I hope it all works out great!
- Balgair 9y ago
  Best of luck to you too! Try taking some community college (CC) courses too. Calc. is not fun or easy, and having a professor to help 'keep you honest' may be very useful in the long term. CCs are very useful for these things, cheap, good schedule for working people, and an attitude of 'here to learn, not to degree'.

Balgair 9y ago

Pro-tip: Make sure to talk to current student outside of the lab space and without the PI around to get the real deal on how useful the classes are.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

cr0sh 9y ago

Seems like both of you are doing what I plan to do once I finish my Udacity SDC Nanodegree course. I've known for a while (ever since AI Class and ML Class in 2011) that I need a refresher and more on math, because ML. This Udacity course just drove it home. I'm tired of hearing about "take the derivative" and "perform the integral" (or whatever), and not quite understanding it. Heck, just what I wrote probably indicates I don't quite get it! Also, my intuition on probabilities and statistics isn't there either, so I want to do something to fix that as well. So, when I finally get done - that's my next goal (after a bit of a break). It isn't that I'm terrible at math, I just never used much beyond basic linear algebra after leaving high school. I never went much beyond high school: I got an associates from a tech school (worthless, since the school is long defunct), and I've taken a few community college courses, plus my online MOOC stuff that's more recent. I'm not hurting career-wise; in fact, that's never been an issue as a software engineer (started when I was 18, and just kept going, earning more over time and having fun). I'm not doing bad right now, living in Phoenix. It ain't SV - but then again, it doesn't have the downsides of it, either (not that there aren't certain downsides). Now - after having done MOOCs in ML/AI - I am finding that I need more understanding and intuition about calculus and other mathematical subjects, so I can really apply what I have learned, and understand it at a deeper level, and perhaps do more with it. I've given thought to going back for a BS and maybe an MS (not that I need it - I just want to do it). Good luck to both of you; I hope it all works out great!

Balgair 9y ago
Best of luck to you too! Try taking some community college (CC) courses too. Calc. is not fun or easy, and having a professor to help 'keep you honest' may be very useful in the long term. CCs are very useful for these things, cheap, good schedule for working people, and an attitude of 'here to learn, not to degree'.