6 ms·

Are these types of schools worth the cost for people? I'd love to hear from a student. I took a couple months off work to learn new skills and it cost me nothin

by EC1 11y ago

Are these types of schools worth the cost for people? I'd love to hear from a student. I took a couple months off work to learn new skills and it cost me nothing (except rent and no income), just a lot of Googling and frustration. What's different about this? Is it the class setting + mentor structure that makes it worth it?

rgovind 11y ago
You lost $10k+ of earnings in the meanwhile. Compare that with their fees
- EC1 11y ago
  I'd lose way more if I signed up for a course. Losing money on rent, no income, + school fees.
  - rgovind 11y ago
    Fair point. I didn't consider that it is a full time program.
qq66 11y ago
In most cases, you learn more with a great teacher than you do by yourself, and teaching is a different skill than performing. Even Tom Brady has a quarterbacks coach, who couldn't throw the ball like he can, but can still offer constructive guidance. This is especially true for complete beginners. If I sat down in front of a piano and practiced an hour every day for six months, I would probably not do very well, since I wouldn't know where to start, I wouldn't know good technique, and I'd probably learn a lot of bad habits. If I took just a few weeks of lessons and then practiced an hour a day for six months, I'd make a lot more progress since I'd have a better idea of how to learn piano.
- gavazzy 11y ago
  The question is not merely "Does GA provide benefit?", but rather, "Does GA provide greater benefit than the cost (financial, time, and otherwise)?"
firstworldman 11y ago
I completed a program sort of like this one. My opinion is that it is probably not worth it overall. I learned a lot about how to build things, but I am very lacking when it comes to CS fundamentals, and I would struggle to build something complex from start to finish. A technical interview would be a real struggle. I benefited greatly from the structured curriculum, but it didn't go much deeper than Hartl's Rails tutorial. Once you've got the basics, you're really only limited by your imagination and your desire to make interesting things that have a range of practical applications that might get you job ready. I'm still quite lost in any conversation with advanced programmers, but I'm doing alright helping my sister learn to code at the moment. I've got a lot to learn, and I'm doing that on my own now. The program was a decent jumpstart. Midway through the course I adjusted my expectations for where I'd be by the end, so I'm not really disappointed with how it turned out. Now, I'm basically a marketer with much stronger than average coding chops for someone in marketing.
yummyfajitas 11y ago
I know someone who went who I also helped through the process. My opinions based on observations of her experience: 1) She didn't learn anything she couldn't have learned on code academy or learn python the hard way. 2) She didn't like the social environment. Quote: "I thought it would be frat boys calling me sexy mexy, not passive aggressive hipsters basking in the glow of steve jobs style superiority. At least some brogrammers are hot." 2b) GA is all about group projects and public demos. She wanted to do coding because she'd rather sit with her computer alone than deal with hipsters. 3) She said many interviewers looked down on the GA name after experience with underskilled GA leavers. 4) She got a coding job and the pay hike has probably paid for the cost of GA by now. tl;dr; If you can just learn the new skills and post code to github, you probably just saved $12k over what GA offers.
morgante 11y ago
I'm not a student, but I do think it's in general a terrible idea to go to a coding school. It's not only quite a bit of money for something which you could get for free online, but it's also a strong negative symbol on your job application. Most of the people who are hiring for tech positions either taught themselves or got a CS degree (frequently, both) and this leads to a significant anti-bootcamp bias which is compounded by the masses of incompetent bootcamp grads.
d2xdy2 11y ago
I'm attending GA's WDI cohort this November - March. I can't yet speak to whether or not its worth the cost; though I can highlight my goals during and afterward. I've been writing code and researching CS in various capacities since I was about 14 (I'll be 26 in a few weeks). I contribute to FOSS as much as I can, I occasionally push out personal FOSS projects, and occasionally make screencasts / blog posts highlighting things I find interesting or have learned. I get by at the moment doing freelance web dev for agencies in town, but its a dead market, and a lot of places have either gotten very complacent or segregated as far as design and development (we have lots of agencies that can make "pretty" things and lots of agencies that can make very "good" things, but no agencies that have a strong design _and_ development presence). I don't feel like I have an opportunity to advance myself beyond where I'm at. There aren't any start-ups, developers don't talk to each other, and we're being taken over by three-letter-agencies (We're now home to US Cyber Command). At the very least, from my perspective, I make serious improvements / contributions to local companies as a contractor, but get very little recognition / respect from the developers in those companies. Its my goal at GA WDI, to gain better connections with individuals / companies that I want to work with and do interesting things with, and to get better understanding of where I'm actionable (right now I work in a lot of various environments doing a lot of different things; the only time I really get to discover where my interests and my strengths converge is in the evenings and on the weekends). I learned from community college that you typically get out what you put in (at least in my limited experience)-- I'd like to think that if I'm able to put in what I already know and take advantage of an opportunity to learn more and be "in the right place", I'll be able to get a better and more stable job. I hope that makes sense; its been a long day.
- EC1 11y ago
  Just got to meetups and learn on your own time man. Save yourself a ton of cash too. See if you can mentor/teach/assist there instead of attend as a student, that way you get way more connections, and you don't pay + you still consume course material. I did that, and it was wonderful.
  - d2xdy2 11y ago
    I think an opportunity to mentor/teach at a place like GA would be golden, and would probably land me some place I'd actually like to be-- I've just run into so many problems with not having something tangible saying I know what I know and can do what I can do (I've never once had an interview that asked me to share or describe my own code and work, even though I've provided it and asked to talk about it). It could just be isolated instances with the companies I've interviewed with, but its still a problem I've had.) The places I'm interested in working at probably wouldn't care much about me not having a degree in CS, but I would like the benefit of having someone outside of myself and my work stand behind my resume. I'd like to think GA will give me that benefit of the doubt when I go to apply for jobs I really want. I could be mistaken, however.
freshyill 11y ago
I taught front end at GA earlier this year. I can't speak at all to the immersive program, except that it seems pretty comprehensive. My students came from many different backgrounds, and some seemed to get a lot more out of it than others. Some took tremendous advantage of office hours and 1:1 mentoring. Others barely tried. To some, it seemed to come completely naturally, others struggled even with all they help they could get. For something like front-end, there are so many ways to do it wrong, and so much bad (and outdated) information out there, that it really pays to have the mentoring, even for th students to whom it comes naturally.
orrinward 11y ago
One of the things these intensives provide that is absolutely killer for a student is the amount of effort and support put into getting you placed after. They really have to fight the doubters in the quality of the course - Getting great numbers of grads in employment immediately after the course is probably a key target for them. You will get more help getting a job as a grad of these courses than I certainly did on my 4 year degree.

by EC1 11y ago

rgovind 11y ago

You lost $10k+ of earnings in the meanwhile. Compare that with their fees

EC1 11y ago
I'd lose way more if I signed up for a course. Losing money on rent, no income, + school fees.
- rgovind 11y ago
  Fair point. I didn't consider that it is a full time program.

qq66 11y ago

In most cases, you learn more with a great teacher than you do by yourself, and teaching is a different skill than performing. Even Tom Brady has a quarterbacks coach, who couldn't throw the ball like he can, but can still offer constructive guidance. This is especially true for complete beginners. If I sat down in front of a piano and practiced an hour every day for six months, I would probably not do very well, since I wouldn't know where to start, I wouldn't know good technique, and I'd probably learn a lot of bad habits. If I took just a few weeks of lessons and then practiced an hour a day for six months, I'd make a lot more progress since I'd have a better idea of how to learn piano.

gavazzy 11y ago
The question is not merely "Does GA provide benefit?", but rather, "Does GA provide greater benefit than the cost (financial, time, and otherwise)?"

firstworldman 11y ago

I completed a program sort of like this one. My opinion is that it is probably not worth it overall. I learned a lot about how to build things, but I am very lacking when it comes to CS fundamentals, and I would struggle to build something complex from start to finish. A technical interview would be a real struggle. I benefited greatly from the structured curriculum, but it didn't go much deeper than Hartl's Rails tutorial. Once you've got the basics, you're really only limited by your imagination and your desire to make interesting things that have a range of practical applications that might get you job ready. I'm still quite lost in any conversation with advanced programmers, but I'm doing alright helping my sister learn to code at the moment. I've got a lot to learn, and I'm doing that on my own now. The program was a decent jumpstart. Midway through the course I adjusted my expectations for where I'd be by the end, so I'm not really disappointed with how it turned out. Now, I'm basically a marketer with much stronger than average coding chops for someone in marketing.

yummyfajitas 11y ago

I know someone who went who I also helped through the process. My opinions based on observations of her experience: 1) She didn't learn anything she couldn't have learned on code academy or learn python the hard way. 2) She didn't like the social environment. Quote: "I thought it would be frat boys calling me sexy mexy, not passive aggressive hipsters basking in the glow of steve jobs style superiority. At least some brogrammers are hot." 2b) GA is all about group projects and public demos. She wanted to do coding because she'd rather sit with her computer alone than deal with hipsters. 3) She said many interviewers looked down on the GA name after experience with underskilled GA leavers. 4) She got a coding job and the pay hike has probably paid for the cost of GA by now. tl;dr; If you can just learn the new skills and post code to github, you probably just saved $12k over what GA offers.

morgante 11y ago

I'm not a student, but I do think it's in general a terrible idea to go to a coding school. It's not only quite a bit of money for something which you could get for free online, but it's also a strong negative symbol on your job application. Most of the people who are hiring for tech positions either taught themselves or got a CS degree (frequently, both) and this leads to a significant anti-bootcamp bias which is compounded by the masses of incompetent bootcamp grads.

d2xdy2 11y ago

I'm attending GA's WDI cohort this November - March. I can't yet speak to whether or not its worth the cost; though I can highlight my goals during and afterward. I've been writing code and researching CS in various capacities since I was about 14 (I'll be 26 in a few weeks). I contribute to FOSS as much as I can, I occasionally push out personal FOSS projects, and occasionally make screencasts / blog posts highlighting things I find interesting or have learned. I get by at the moment doing freelance web dev for agencies in town, but its a dead market, and a lot of places have either gotten very complacent or segregated as far as design and development (we have lots of agencies that can make "pretty" things and lots of agencies that can make very "good" things, but no agencies that have a strong design _and_ development presence). I don't feel like I have an opportunity to advance myself beyond where I'm at. There aren't any start-ups, developers don't talk to each other, and we're being taken over by three-letter-agencies (We're now home to US Cyber Command). At the very least, from my perspective, I make serious improvements / contributions to local companies as a contractor, but get very little recognition / respect from the developers in those companies. Its my goal at GA WDI, to gain better connections with individuals / companies that I want to work with and do interesting things with, and to get better understanding of where I'm actionable (right now I work in a lot of various environments doing a lot of different things; the only time I really get to discover where my interests and my strengths converge is in the evenings and on the weekends). I learned from community college that you typically get out what you put in (at least in my limited experience)-- I'd like to think that if I'm able to put in what I already know and take advantage of an opportunity to learn more and be "in the right place", I'll be able to get a better and more stable job. I hope that makes sense; its been a long day.

EC1 11y ago
Just got to meetups and learn on your own time man. Save yourself a ton of cash too. See if you can mentor/teach/assist there instead of attend as a student, that way you get way more connections, and you don't pay + you still consume course material. I did that, and it was wonderful.
- d2xdy2 11y ago
  I think an opportunity to mentor/teach at a place like GA would be golden, and would probably land me some place I'd actually like to be-- I've just run into so many problems with not having something tangible saying I know what I know and can do what I can do (I've never once had an interview that asked me to share or describe my own code and work, even though I've provided it and asked to talk about it). It could just be isolated instances with the companies I've interviewed with, but its still a problem I've had.) The places I'm interested in working at probably wouldn't care much about me not having a degree in CS, but I would like the benefit of having someone outside of myself and my work stand behind my resume. I'd like to think GA will give me that benefit of the doubt when I go to apply for jobs I really want. I could be mistaken, however.

freshyill 11y ago

I taught front end at GA earlier this year. I can't speak at all to the immersive program, except that it seems pretty comprehensive. My students came from many different backgrounds, and some seemed to get a lot more out of it than others. Some took tremendous advantage of office hours and 1:1 mentoring. Others barely tried. To some, it seemed to come completely naturally, others struggled even with all they help they could get. For something like front-end, there are so many ways to do it wrong, and so much bad (and outdated) information out there, that it really pays to have the mentoring, even for th students to whom it comes naturally.

orrinward 11y ago

One of the things these intensives provide that is absolutely killer for a student is the amount of effort and support put into getting you placed after. They really have to fight the doubters in the quality of the course - Getting great numbers of grads in employment immediately after the course is probably a key target for them. You will get more help getting a job as a grad of these courses than I certainly did on my 4 year degree.