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I'm cofounder of Hacker School. I'm happy to answer questions about the residency program or Hacker School in general.

jmohsenin 14y ago
What's the acceptance rate? I'm design-focused (currently at CCA) but I'd really love to do this to cement my programming skills.
- nicholasjbs 14y ago
  The acceptance rate has varied considerably by batch. It's generally pretty low, but I think the numbers are incredibly misleading. The reason is that most of the people we say no to don't really want Hacker School for what it is (e.g., they're looking for some sort of Rails bootcamp, or they want to prototype apps and products, not focus on becoming a better programmer) and/or because they don't seem to actually like programming very much. I think we accept the majority of people who a) really enjoy programming, and b) have a clear idea of what Hacker School is and is not. If you meet those two criteria, your odds of getting in are quite good :) Hope this helps!
michael_fine 14y ago
What's the youngest age of any student you've ever had? I'm a high school student but I'd love to do this over the summer?
- nicholasjbs 14y ago
  I think our youngest student was 17, and we've definitely had a few 18 and 19 year-olds. I don't think we've had anyone in high school yet :)
webdevme 14y ago
Hello! I was actually looking into applying for this a few days ago. However, I am new to development in general -- I only have knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript/jQuery. Would this prevent me from being accepted?
- nicholasjbs 14y ago
  My cofounder wrote a blog post earlier this year about this: https://www.hackerschool.com/blog/2-do-you-have-enough-experience-for-hacker-school https://www.hackerschool.com/blog/2-do-you-have-enough-exper... In short, you need to have programmed enough to know that you actually enjoy it. We look for people who are smart, friendly, intellectually curious, enjoy programming, and want to get significantly better.
  - webdevme 14y ago
    Thanks a lot for the reply!
jlees 14y ago
Do you plan to run it again next year? Would you ever consider branching out to SF? (Though the idea of a 3 month retreat in NY is extremely appealing, based on love of the city alone...) Is your location dog-friendly?

What's the acceptance rate? I'm design-focused (currently at CCA) but I'd really love to do this to cement my programming skills.

nicholasjbs 14y ago
The acceptance rate has varied considerably by batch. It's generally pretty low, but I think the numbers are incredibly misleading. The reason is that most of the people we say no to don't really want Hacker School for what it is (e.g., they're looking for some sort of Rails bootcamp, or they want to prototype apps and products, not focus on becoming a better programmer) and/or because they don't seem to actually like programming very much. I think we accept the majority of people who a) really enjoy programming, and b) have a clear idea of what Hacker School is and is not. If you meet those two criteria, your odds of getting in are quite good :) Hope this helps!

michael_fine 14y ago

What's the youngest age of any student you've ever had? I'm a high school student but I'd love to do this over the summer?

nicholasjbs 14y ago
I think our youngest student was 17, and we've definitely had a few 18 and 19 year-olds. I don't think we've had anyone in high school yet :)

webdevme 14y ago

Hello! I was actually looking into applying for this a few days ago. However, I am new to development in general -- I only have knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript/jQuery. Would this prevent me from being accepted?

nicholasjbs 14y ago
My cofounder wrote a blog post earlier this year about this: https://www.hackerschool.com/blog/2-do-you-have-enough-experience-for-hacker-school https://www.hackerschool.com/blog/2-do-you-have-enough-exper... In short, you need to have programmed enough to know that you actually enjoy it. We look for people who are smart, friendly, intellectually curious, enjoy programming, and want to get significantly better.
- webdevme 14y ago
  Thanks a lot for the reply!

jlees 14y ago

Do you plan to run it again next year? Would you ever consider branching out to SF? (Though the idea of a 3 month retreat in NY is extremely appealing, based on love of the city alone...) Is your location dog-friendly?