- Joined
- 7/9/22
- Messages
- 15
- Points
- 113
Hi all,
I have recently completed the QuantNet C++ Programming for Financial Engineering Certificate and would like to give my honest review of the course. As a bit of background, I am a 4th year mathematics and statistics major at a top 5 public university in the United States, with prior programming experience in Python, R, and SQL. I have a strong research background and I am applying for graduate financial engineering programs this cycle. I decided to take this course as I do not have any formal background in C++, and I believed that it would strengthen my profile before I submitted my applications.
To start, I must admit that I was disappointed with the quality of the lecture material provided. It was very clear from the beginning that the recorded lecture videos were created at least 10 years ago, and have not been updated since. This meant that the version of Visual Studio (the recommended IDE) used was outdated, and much of its functionality has changed. This was left to the student to figure out, either by browsing threads on QuantNet or through other resources. Additionally, the lectures themselves were underwhelming. I found that Daniel Duffy would often read from the slides directly, and did not seem to have extensively prepared for the lecture before the recording. Multiple times in the lectures, he would attempt to make a change to the example code, encounter a compiler error, and then give up and move on with the lecture. This was surprising to see, as lesser-priced programming courses have consistent standards on their lecture recordings.
As for the included notes in each level, those too were inconsistent in their quality. Along with multiple typos and spelling errors, some levels would include detailed notes going beyond what was taught in the lecture video, while others would simply include a copy of the slides used. These notes, combined with the lecture videos, would often not include all of the material needed to complete the homework and quizzes. I often had to resort to finding other sources, either on StackOverflow or other educational programming-related websites, to learn the necessary concepts in order to finish the homework assignments. Personally, I found that watching the videos was not helpful at all. Instead, I would read the lecture notes to understand what topics were taught in the level, then learn about the concepts from better freely available sources.
Although this is minor, while the course was advertised as being accessible even for students without any previous programming experience, I would say that having some prior exposure would go a long way. Basic concepts such as C++ syntax, data types, control structures, and object oriented programming were not well explained. In my opinion, more focus needs to be made on these basic topics for those who may have used this course as a first encounter with programming.
For a course as expensive as it was, I was very disappointed by its quality. Frankly, I expected more effort to have been put in after it creation. Simple maintenance of the material and an updated set of lecture videos would go a long way in ensuring that students get the most out of their investment.
Not all I have to say is negative though. As for the homework assignments themselves, while they felt arbitrary in the beginning, I found that the assignments in Level 9 were helpful in understanding how all of the material came together to create one coherent project. This project gave me an opportunity to apply all that I had learned, and I was able to see how the concepts functioned in an applied setting. Additionally, I can happily say that my TA (@APalley) was very professional, and I have no complaints regarding their feedback and promptness.
With the benefit of hindsight, I would recommend an alternative path to learning C++. If you are still attending a university, then I strongly recommend taking a computer science class that teaches C++. This is the best option, and would give a formal background in C++ while also teaching essential CS concepts that are difficult to teach in an online course. For those who do not have this opportunity, I would recommend finding other courses that are cheaper or even free and have a good reputation, then creating a GitHub profile and building a portfolio through real-world projects. Until the QuantNet C++ certificate makes some much-needed changes, I would suggest that prospective students find alternative ways to learn C++.
I happily welcome other opinions from those that have completed the C++ certificate, and whether or not they felt the same way.
I have recently completed the QuantNet C++ Programming for Financial Engineering Certificate and would like to give my honest review of the course. As a bit of background, I am a 4th year mathematics and statistics major at a top 5 public university in the United States, with prior programming experience in Python, R, and SQL. I have a strong research background and I am applying for graduate financial engineering programs this cycle. I decided to take this course as I do not have any formal background in C++, and I believed that it would strengthen my profile before I submitted my applications.
To start, I must admit that I was disappointed with the quality of the lecture material provided. It was very clear from the beginning that the recorded lecture videos were created at least 10 years ago, and have not been updated since. This meant that the version of Visual Studio (the recommended IDE) used was outdated, and much of its functionality has changed. This was left to the student to figure out, either by browsing threads on QuantNet or through other resources. Additionally, the lectures themselves were underwhelming. I found that Daniel Duffy would often read from the slides directly, and did not seem to have extensively prepared for the lecture before the recording. Multiple times in the lectures, he would attempt to make a change to the example code, encounter a compiler error, and then give up and move on with the lecture. This was surprising to see, as lesser-priced programming courses have consistent standards on their lecture recordings.
As for the included notes in each level, those too were inconsistent in their quality. Along with multiple typos and spelling errors, some levels would include detailed notes going beyond what was taught in the lecture video, while others would simply include a copy of the slides used. These notes, combined with the lecture videos, would often not include all of the material needed to complete the homework and quizzes. I often had to resort to finding other sources, either on StackOverflow or other educational programming-related websites, to learn the necessary concepts in order to finish the homework assignments. Personally, I found that watching the videos was not helpful at all. Instead, I would read the lecture notes to understand what topics were taught in the level, then learn about the concepts from better freely available sources.
Although this is minor, while the course was advertised as being accessible even for students without any previous programming experience, I would say that having some prior exposure would go a long way. Basic concepts such as C++ syntax, data types, control structures, and object oriented programming were not well explained. In my opinion, more focus needs to be made on these basic topics for those who may have used this course as a first encounter with programming.
For a course as expensive as it was, I was very disappointed by its quality. Frankly, I expected more effort to have been put in after it creation. Simple maintenance of the material and an updated set of lecture videos would go a long way in ensuring that students get the most out of their investment.
Not all I have to say is negative though. As for the homework assignments themselves, while they felt arbitrary in the beginning, I found that the assignments in Level 9 were helpful in understanding how all of the material came together to create one coherent project. This project gave me an opportunity to apply all that I had learned, and I was able to see how the concepts functioned in an applied setting. Additionally, I can happily say that my TA (@APalley) was very professional, and I have no complaints regarding their feedback and promptness.
With the benefit of hindsight, I would recommend an alternative path to learning C++. If you are still attending a university, then I strongly recommend taking a computer science class that teaches C++. This is the best option, and would give a formal background in C++ while also teaching essential CS concepts that are difficult to teach in an online course. For those who do not have this opportunity, I would recommend finding other courses that are cheaper or even free and have a good reputation, then creating a GitHub profile and building a portfolio through real-world projects. Until the QuantNet C++ certificate makes some much-needed changes, I would suggest that prospective students find alternative ways to learn C++.
I happily welcome other opinions from those that have completed the C++ certificate, and whether or not they felt the same way.
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