3 ms·

So much money for such terrible(http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-san-francisco http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-san-francisco) classes! Some hi

by lquist 13y ago

So much money for such terrible(http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-san-francisco http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-san-francisco) classes! Some highlights from Yelp: "Their web immersive is a joke, but you'll never hear anyone admit that because they make you sign a waver/NDA that you promise not to tell anyone anything truthful/negative about your GA experience." "Most of the money goes towards the advertising and marketing team, they have more marketers running around doing nothing all day than actual instructional staff." "Sup-par teaching conditions: we were in a kitchen with a loud fridge in the back" "Our teacher for our immersive was so underprepared and unenthusiastic and unqualified that the students tried to get him fired." "The tables were jammed so tight in the room that we used to joke if there was a fire, no one would get out alive."

nickkthequick 13y ago
That's not the case for the one in NYC: http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-manhattan http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-manhattan
- dopamean 13y ago
  My sister did a back end web dev class in NYC this past fall and had a great experience. She learned a ton that she has been able to apply to her position doing QA at a startup. Just another anecdote to throw in the mix.
untog 13y ago
Sounds like a typical danger for an organisation like this. I'm in NYC and the GA here (the original one) has a fantastic reputation. Maybe they need to tighten up on quality control in their new locations. And to be fair, the Yelp link you've posted also has a number of very positive reviews, you just didn't post quotes from them.
- JPKab 13y ago
  The one here in DC has (already) earned a decent reputation, and its very new. I'm currently enrolled in a "Data Science" course (which is really an "intro to machine learning and quantitative statistical analysis" course) and I'm very impressed with: 1) The instructors: They are sharp, highly engaging, both active participants in the local start-up and open data communities. 2) The location: It's IN the biggest start-up incubator in DC, 1776. 3) The integration with people who are hiring and non-profit DC organizations who want help with their data. We are already having start-ups coming in to recruit with test projects (which is in my opinion the ideal way to hire) I think the shittiness of the SF class has more to do with SF and their ridiculous VC bubble and talent shortage than anything else. Edit: I meant to add this: Most of these type of courses really don't think about industry WORKFLOWS. This course, instead of relying on people submitting their assignments to instructors via email or a website, is instead forcing students to learn Git (if they don't already know it) and then merge their answers into the official class repository as if it were a large codebase. This is one small example of the industry focus of this course. I think the reason this course is so good is (unfortunately) the reason the SF course referenced above was so shitty: they give free reign to the instructor without over-burdening them. This allows a great instructor to shine but also lets shit instructors to really tank.
  - flanger 13y ago
    For those that are looking for a SF-based data science course that focuses specifically on industry workflows, check out: http://www.zipfianacademy.com/ http://www.zipfianacademy.com/
colmvp 13y ago
Interesting to compare them with Hack Reactor: http://www.yelp.com/biz/hack-reactor-san-francisco http://www.yelp.com/biz/hack-reactor-san-francisco

by lquist 13y ago

nickkthequick 13y ago

That's not the case for the one in NYC: http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-manhattan http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-manhattan

dopamean 13y ago
My sister did a back end web dev class in NYC this past fall and had a great experience. She learned a ton that she has been able to apply to her position doing QA at a startup. Just another anecdote to throw in the mix.

untog 13y ago

Sounds like a typical danger for an organisation like this. I'm in NYC and the GA here (the original one) has a fantastic reputation. Maybe they need to tighten up on quality control in their new locations. And to be fair, the Yelp link you've posted also has a number of very positive reviews, you just didn't post quotes from them.

JPKab 13y ago
The one here in DC has (already) earned a decent reputation, and its very new. I'm currently enrolled in a "Data Science" course (which is really an "intro to machine learning and quantitative statistical analysis" course) and I'm very impressed with: 1) The instructors: They are sharp, highly engaging, both active participants in the local start-up and open data communities. 2) The location: It's IN the biggest start-up incubator in DC, 1776. 3) The integration with people who are hiring and non-profit DC organizations who want help with their data. We are already having start-ups coming in to recruit with test projects (which is in my opinion the ideal way to hire) I think the shittiness of the SF class has more to do with SF and their ridiculous VC bubble and talent shortage than anything else. Edit: I meant to add this: Most of these type of courses really don't think about industry WORKFLOWS. This course, instead of relying on people submitting their assignments to instructors via email or a website, is instead forcing students to learn Git (if they don't already know it) and then merge their answers into the official class repository as if it were a large codebase. This is one small example of the industry focus of this course. I think the reason this course is so good is (unfortunately) the reason the SF course referenced above was so shitty: they give free reign to the instructor without over-burdening them. This allows a great instructor to shine but also lets shit instructors to really tank.
- flanger 13y ago
  For those that are looking for a SF-based data science course that focuses specifically on industry workflows, check out: http://www.zipfianacademy.com/ http://www.zipfianacademy.com/

colmvp 13y ago

Interesting to compare them with Hack Reactor: http://www.yelp.com/biz/hack-reactor-san-francisco http://www.yelp.com/biz/hack-reactor-san-francisco