5 ms·

I applied and I got a rejection email after the first interview. I was really disappointed to hear. This just feels like rubbing salt on my wound :(. Is there

by hschool 13y ago

I applied and I got a rejection email after the first interview. I was really disappointed to hear. This just feels like rubbing salt on my wound :(. Is there anything I can do to make it to Hacker School this summer?

pyvek 13y ago
This might inspire you (got it from HS's twitter) - http://netrabaha.tumblr.com/post/46341372342/try-try-again-a-lesson-in-persistence http://netrabaha.tumblr.com/post/46341372342/try-try-again-a...
- hschool 13y ago
  Thanks! I definitely plan on applying for the next batch. I wish I would get some feedback from Hacker School on what my interview lacked.
  - akaptur 13y ago
    HS facilitator here - If you email me (allison at hackerschool), we can give you feedback.
  - pyvek 13y ago
    I guess the situation is a lot similar to YC's rejections (see http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html). I recently got into programming and wanted to apply for HS but living for 3 months in NYC isn't affordable for me. I'll be applying for next year's summer batch. Till then I'll arrange money and build up my knowledge.
  - thomasballinger 13y ago
    Another facilitator here - I'm two weeks behind in responding to emails asking for feedback after being rejected, but I'm getting to them soon, and appreciate that folks are asking.
davidbalbert 13y ago
Unfortunately admissions decisions are final for this batch. I'm sorry this felt like rubbing salt in the wound :(. On the bright side, as long as you continue to improve as a programmer, you can apply for the next batch, hopefully with different results. We have plans to better communicate what we're looking for in admissions and our thoughts on becoming a better programmer, which will hopefully be helpful when you apply again.
- hschool 13y ago
  Thanks Dave! This is a wonderful program and thanks for Hacker School! I will definitely be applying to the next batch.
stmchn 13y ago
Yeah, I had the same thing happen to me. It was really disappointing not to get in. The email said not to take it personally and that they try to find the best fit but it's hard not to take it personally and wonder why they didn't find you fit enough for Hacker School. I'm sure they have good reasons though.
- nicholasjbs 13y ago
  I'm sorry, that must be an incredibly frustrating experience. We get back to people when we can with specific feedback, but we definitely don't get back to everyone who requests it. As Dave mentioned elsewhere in the thread, we're trying to do better at laying out what we look for, though I imagine that's little consolation. Admissions are undoubtedly one the hardest, least enjoyable, and most psychologically exhausting parts of running Hacker School. We do our best to get it right, but we have to make decisions on a relatively small amount of information (a written application and/or one or two ~15 minute interviews), and we know we sometimes get it wrong. To make matters worse, the stakes are high (it's virtually impossible to fix a bad decision), and we have to do the process hundreds of times, so even if we're right 90% of the time, we're still wrong a lot.

by hschool 13y ago

pyvek 13y ago

This might inspire you (got it from HS's twitter) - http://netrabaha.tumblr.com/post/46341372342/try-try-again-a-lesson-in-persistence http://netrabaha.tumblr.com/post/46341372342/try-try-again-a...

hschool 13y ago
Thanks! I definitely plan on applying for the next batch. I wish I would get some feedback from Hacker School on what my interview lacked.
- akaptur 13y ago
  HS facilitator here - If you email me (allison at hackerschool), we can give you feedback.
- pyvek 13y ago
  I guess the situation is a lot similar to YC's rejections (see http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html http://ycombinator.com/whynot.html). I recently got into programming and wanted to apply for HS but living for 3 months in NYC isn't affordable for me. I'll be applying for next year's summer batch. Till then I'll arrange money and build up my knowledge.
- thomasballinger 13y ago
  Another facilitator here - I'm two weeks behind in responding to emails asking for feedback after being rejected, but I'm getting to them soon, and appreciate that folks are asking.

davidbalbert 13y ago

Unfortunately admissions decisions are final for this batch. I'm sorry this felt like rubbing salt in the wound :(. On the bright side, as long as you continue to improve as a programmer, you can apply for the next batch, hopefully with different results. We have plans to better communicate what we're looking for in admissions and our thoughts on becoming a better programmer, which will hopefully be helpful when you apply again.

hschool 13y ago
Thanks Dave! This is a wonderful program and thanks for Hacker School! I will definitely be applying to the next batch.

stmchn 13y ago

Yeah, I had the same thing happen to me. It was really disappointing not to get in. The email said not to take it personally and that they try to find the best fit but it's hard not to take it personally and wonder why they didn't find you fit enough for Hacker School. I'm sure they have good reasons though.

nicholasjbs 13y ago
I'm sorry, that must be an incredibly frustrating experience. We get back to people when we can with specific feedback, but we definitely don't get back to everyone who requests it. As Dave mentioned elsewhere in the thread, we're trying to do better at laying out what we look for, though I imagine that's little consolation. Admissions are undoubtedly one the hardest, least enjoyable, and most psychologically exhausting parts of running Hacker School. We do our best to get it right, but we have to make decisions on a relatively small amount of information (a written application and/or one or two ~15 minute interviews), and we know we sometimes get it wrong. To make matters worse, the stakes are high (it's virtually impossible to fix a bad decision), and we have to do the process hundreds of times, so even if we're right 90% of the time, we're still wrong a lot.