General Assembly

Personally, their style didn't work for me. There are slides provided, the instructor briefly reads through them and then splits us into groups to work. They encouraged us to google if we got stuck, but I wanted guided instruction. There weren't any back-up... Read More instructors available so when our instructor became sick we lost that day of instruction. They tried to do make-up days, but they didn't work for most of the students and only made-up a fraction of the lost instruction. It didn't feel like a supportive environment that wanted to see us thrive, instead we needed to google solutions.

I would recommend GA to anyone I knew looking for a quality coding bootcamp. I first reached out to GA after extensive research while I was still employed at my finance job. I was impressed right off the bat with my admissions rep not being pushy or salesy,... Read More and gave me space to decide whether I really liked coding before quitting my job and enrolling. He was incredibly helpful throughout my decision to quit and enroll. Does it teach you the skills needed to be employable at graduation? Yes. My personal experience coming from a 0 coding background (I did some freecodecamp lessons to prepare as recommended by GA admissions but that was it) was that GA makes it incredibly feasible to learn full stack development- IF you complete everything they tell you. It is no secret that you get what you put into it. For 3 months you will not have a life. The amount of hours you put in is way more than just the 40 that your are in class. I probably came out around 75 hours a week with homework, labs and projects. You really will not be able to see family/friends during this time. However, the way my cohort was set up (I believe this is a GA-wide) was you technically only had to complete 80% of all homework and assignments- plus 4 big projects. I completed 100% of all the assignments and tried on all bonuses. I treated every homework like a project to turn over to a client. If you are paying this much money and signing up to truly change your career and get employed quickly then you need to be prepared to give it your all. I did see other students in my cohort struggle with turning things in and it shows in their job hunt after the fact (some still not employed). Your life will be nonexistent for 3 months but it is a worth it. Is there enough support from GA instruction? In my case, yes. But take that with a grain of salt. I happened to be in a cohort which started out with ~11 students, but by the end there were only 7 of us (Again, don’t underestimate the difficulty) with 2 instructors and a TA so I had ample support. My instructors were so knowledgeable and could solve any coding problem it seemed. I lucked out with quality instructors. The quality of instruction can vary based on your cohort. We had TA sessions I think 3 times a week where our TA would help you finish any assignment you were stuck on. Since there were so few of us we really got tailored support. I have heard other cohorts now are much larger - some 35 students with the same number of instructors/ TAs so you may want to ask about your cohort size, it makes a huge difference. I guess I got lucky. But I tried to solve things on my own before going to instructors and TAs though, google will be your best friend and if you only rely on instructors to do your work for you or solve your problems, it won’t do your any good in the long run. Is the career/after graduation support good? Yes! They stay with you until you find a job. No joke. I couldn’t believe that I still had GA’s support after graduation. Right when I graduated I felt a little bit of an existential crisis- what do I do now, how to structure my day to job hunt. It was so nice to have a dedicated career coach to keep me on track and at least help with my materials (resume, portfolio, cover letters). I didn’t end up leaning on GA too much for interview prep but they do offer that among so many other career services. I put a ton of work into my resume, portfolio, and LinkedIn. Because I worked hard during the bootcamp, I had ample portfolio pieces to add. I ended up applying to only around ~25 jobs. I got a call back on around ~5 of those, and ended up with 2 offers in the same week for software engineer positions. My current role is a full stack developer. Total job search was around 2 months. Some may look at me as the best case scenario, but I also took the time and I truly believe anyone can do it if they are emotionally, and mentally prepared to put in the work. If this all speaks to you- look into General Assembly. Trust in their process and you won’t be let down. It is truly a life changing experience and I have never felt so proud of myself for doing it.

My time at General Assembly, while relatively brief, was an intense period packed with learning about the latest and most popular internet software development languages and technologies. The full-stack immersive regimen helped me develop multiple apps... Read More as proof of my proficiency and training, and the importance of thinking like an engineer as well as working like one was not lost on us. I'd have liked even more in-depth studies on computer science, but overall this was a worthwhile program to become certified as an engineer!

The pros: I have developed a proficiency in a skillset that I previously had almost zero experience in, I went for a manual labor field to a tech one and now I feel well equipped to work at the entry level and at the least keep learning and growing on... Read More a meaningful path. The cons: It is an incredibly demanding curriculum, you really have to make a lot of mental room and it will sap your mental energy too, to really get the most out of it you really do sort of have to put your life second for a few months nothing unmanageable just worth noting.

The course was very well structured. From day one you're being immersed into the growth path on becoming the new professional that you set up yourself to be. Instructors and outcomes staff are very approachable and supportive. The course is very hard... Read More work but also great fun and you don't even notice when you become ready to search for your new job. It really works! It is a big financial commitment, but GA is open about what's involved and how long it might take for some to change a career, so you can prepare yourself well in advance and join when you're ready.

This course was really great to learn about the different applications of python for data science. I really enjoyed the two part presentation (apply learning to a dataset of your choice - presenting your analysis at two points during the course.) Definitely... Read More gave me confidence to continuing learning in this field. Overall, course is great for anyone currently doing some degree of analytical work and who would like to expand their skill set.

Overall a great program. GA did a great job at getting me started in my software engineering career. It’s very fast paced but my instructors were clearly very knowledgeable. We studied the MERN stack along with Python and Django, and created some great... Read More projects along the way. I'm very glad I deiced to take this boot-camp, I know I couldn't have learned this on my own especially without my great instructors help!

This program was both challenging and rewarding. UX is an ever-changing field and GA recognizes this very well which is great. They are constantly updating their curriculum based on feedback from instructors and students, which lets you know they are... Read More invested in improving. All of the topics and tools covered were relevant and helpful. One of the best things you get from this program is coach who will work with you to help you land your first role post bootcamp - you will cover salary negotiation, resume building, interview tips and so much more!

My experience with GA was life-changing. I was in a job that I was not happy in working 24/7 365 days a year and became burnt out. I decided that I was going to change careers to something that would both feel fulfilling and give me a new environment... Read More to work in. I had always been interested in code and felt GAs Software Engineering immersive class would fulfill the goal I set myself. My experience at GA was very positive. The instructors, career and mental support, and the classmates all made this experience worth the time and money. I was able to build the necessary skills, a strong professional network, and confidence for entering a new industry. I highly recommend the NYC software engineering immersive certification.

I completed the Data Science Immersive remote course in May 2021. My instructors were smart, helpful, and supportive, and my classmates were the same. I was really happy to be surrounded by so many like-minded data-nerds :) The course itself is very intensive,... Read More but do-able as long as you're prepared to sacrifice a part of your social life for 3 months. We had about 2 labs (homework) per week and a project every other week, peppered in with hackathons and quizzes as well. I thought the majority of the labs and all the projects were helpful in terms of supplementing the coursework and providing hands-on experience. My only piece of negative feedback was that some of the lessons were obviously not updated or had typos - not great when you're paying $15K. Also, sometimes it seems like the instructors do not review lessons beforehand and that they are simply filling in the code based on solutions they have on the side. For the most part it didn't bother me too much since I don't expect them to know everything but just be prepared to ask questions and self-study when things don't make sense. GA's Outcomes team is great and full of resources to help you in the job search process including resume and portfolio reviews, interview prep, etc. The only potential issue I can think of is that many of the career coaches are balancing multiple cohorts at once so it may feel like you don't get as much dedicated time - which is fine since the actual job search process should largely be your responsibility.