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I can't fathom why someone would go to a school that takes 17% of your paycheck for 2 years. I went to Western Governors University to get my undergrad, it cost

I can't fathom why someone would go to a school that takes 17% of your paycheck for 2 years. I went to Western Governors University to get my undergrad, it costed 6k for 2 terms and I breezed through and got a paper that will help me for life, and I'm planning on heading to Georgia Tech for a Masters. There are better options out there, there is no need to go to a shady school such as this, even if they promise 0 tuition up-front. Additionally, as tech companies become more lax on their degree requirements, there is less and less value you gain from having a degree in Silicon Valley versus spending a few months grinding leetcode, which definitely pays off. On a side note: it took literally 1 minute to hide the modal window and find the div containing the actual content and expand it, and turn the overflow back on. Did they design it this way on purpose? Otherwise, I think they have to find some new UI developers..

minimaxir 7y ago
For those with lower income, even $6k can be too much of a risk. An ISA, in theory, mitigates some of the short term risk.
KukicAdnan 7y ago
That 17% is only if you're making above a certain amount (I believe $50k+), and this makes a lot of sense for a lot of lower income people. My brother is enrolled in Lambda School, and so far is enjoying it. They do move fairly fast and the curriculum is challenging but they are learning a lot of modern architectures and skills like React and NodeJs, skills that will actually help them get a job after graduating. I went the traditional CS major in undergrad route and most of what I learned in school was not applicable to my day to day work. Different things work for different people, nothing wrong with options. And Lambda does have the option of paying upfront and then not having to give them any of your paycheck.
- leshow 7y ago
  > I went the traditional CS major in undergrad route and most of what I learned in school was not applicable to my day to day work. I did a B. Eng in Software Engineering, and I found that the most important thing I learned at school wasn't any specific library or language. All of that stuff is extremely fluid and changes year to year. It was the skill of 'learning how to learn'. Consequently, that's my main criticism of schools that teach to a certain set of 'skills' like React or Node. IMO what you should be learning are fundamentals that can apply anywhere. Data structures, algorithms, etc. Granted, I think learning those probably takes a bit longer.
  - JamesBarney 7y ago
    Your college was teaching you skills too derivatives beyond mine. All of my classes were on CS and math. I didn't have a single class on "how to learn", or the very meta class "learning how to learn".
  - skybrian 7y ago
    This is a common argument, but it seems like learning one computer language or library will make it easier to learn another one? Also, being familiar with some concrete examples should make it easier to learn general principles? You're not going to get four years of work in six months, but I don't really see bootcamps as a hindrance to learning more later, either going back to school or on your own.
the_watcher 7y ago
It took me almost 6 years to both teach myself enough (part-time) while working full time and moving my career in a direction that enabled me to get hired as a data scientist. The raise I got at my first DS job relative to what I was making was more 17% (and would have been a 100% raise on my first job). If Lambda School could have enabled me to get that job in one year, the payoff is pretty obviously worth it.
- bllguo 7y ago
  but specifically for DS i doubt lambda school or anyone else could land you a job in a year going from 0->100. from what i can tell the market is looking for either advanced degrees or many many years of experience.
  - the_watcher 7y ago
    I had a liberal arts BA and wrote my first line of _any_ code a year after graduating. When I got my first DS job, I only had 5 years of (non-DS analyst writing SQL) experience.
    - bllguo 7y ago
      congrats! that's pretty impressive. i'm just skeptical this could be achieved at scale.. data _analyst_ is a different story
      - the_watcher 7y ago
        Even getting a data analyst job in one year would have been worth it.
fossuser 7y ago
There are huge advantages to the way Lambda School is structured compared to other American universities. I've written about this in more depth [1], but while ability is evenly distributed, opportunity is not - and aligning the incentives of the students with the institution is a much better model. If your choice is risking 100k up front for a college education that doesn't guarantee a good job (and has non-defaultable loans) or paying 30k only if you end up with a software job making more than 50k a year it'll be an easy choice for most people. [1] http://zalberico.com/essay/2019/04/08/lambda-school.html http://zalberico.com/essay/2019/04/08/lambda-school.html
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  What do you mean that ability is evenly distributed?
- adrr 7y ago
  College education doesn’t cost $100k. In-state tuition at a public university in California is $15k. You can save money by going to a community college and transferring. With $30k you could do two years at community college and transfer UCLA to get your final degree and that doesn’t include financial aid.

minimaxir 7y ago

For those with lower income, even $6k can be too much of a risk. An ISA, in theory, mitigates some of the short term risk.

KukicAdnan 7y ago

That 17% is only if you're making above a certain amount (I believe $50k+), and this makes a lot of sense for a lot of lower income people. My brother is enrolled in Lambda School, and so far is enjoying it. They do move fairly fast and the curriculum is challenging but they are learning a lot of modern architectures and skills like React and NodeJs, skills that will actually help them get a job after graduating. I went the traditional CS major in undergrad route and most of what I learned in school was not applicable to my day to day work. Different things work for different people, nothing wrong with options. And Lambda does have the option of paying upfront and then not having to give them any of your paycheck.

leshow 7y ago
> I went the traditional CS major in undergrad route and most of what I learned in school was not applicable to my day to day work. I did a B. Eng in Software Engineering, and I found that the most important thing I learned at school wasn't any specific library or language. All of that stuff is extremely fluid and changes year to year. It was the skill of 'learning how to learn'. Consequently, that's my main criticism of schools that teach to a certain set of 'skills' like React or Node. IMO what you should be learning are fundamentals that can apply anywhere. Data structures, algorithms, etc. Granted, I think learning those probably takes a bit longer.
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  Your college was teaching you skills too derivatives beyond mine. All of my classes were on CS and math. I didn't have a single class on "how to learn", or the very meta class "learning how to learn".
- skybrian 7y ago
  This is a common argument, but it seems like learning one computer language or library will make it easier to learn another one? Also, being familiar with some concrete examples should make it easier to learn general principles? You're not going to get four years of work in six months, but I don't really see bootcamps as a hindrance to learning more later, either going back to school or on your own.

the_watcher 7y ago

It took me almost 6 years to both teach myself enough (part-time) while working full time and moving my career in a direction that enabled me to get hired as a data scientist. The raise I got at my first DS job relative to what I was making was more 17% (and would have been a 100% raise on my first job). If Lambda School could have enabled me to get that job in one year, the payoff is pretty obviously worth it.

bllguo 7y ago
but specifically for DS i doubt lambda school or anyone else could land you a job in a year going from 0->100. from what i can tell the market is looking for either advanced degrees or many many years of experience.
- the_watcher 7y ago
  I had a liberal arts BA and wrote my first line of _any_ code a year after graduating. When I got my first DS job, I only had 5 years of (non-DS analyst writing SQL) experience.
  - bllguo 7y ago
    congrats! that's pretty impressive. i'm just skeptical this could be achieved at scale.. data _analyst_ is a different story
    - the_watcher 7y ago
      Even getting a data analyst job in one year would have been worth it.

fossuser 7y ago

There are huge advantages to the way Lambda School is structured compared to other American universities. I've written about this in more depth [1], but while ability is evenly distributed, opportunity is not - and aligning the incentives of the students with the institution is a much better model. If your choice is risking 100k up front for a college education that doesn't guarantee a good job (and has non-defaultable loans) or paying 30k only if you end up with a software job making more than 50k a year it'll be an easy choice for most people. [1] http://zalberico.com/essay/2019/04/08/lambda-school.html http://zalberico.com/essay/2019/04/08/lambda-school.html

JamesBarney 7y ago
What do you mean that ability is evenly distributed?
adrr 7y ago
College education doesn’t cost $100k. In-state tuition at a public university in California is $15k. You can save money by going to a community college and transferring. With $30k you could do two years at community college and transfer UCLA to get your final degree and that doesn’t include financial aid.