General Assembly

Overall it was a great experience and I would definitely recommend it. Pros: -The teachers are excellent. -A broad intro into all data science methods. -Freedom to look into areas which interest you more. -Although COVID made lessons online, it was very... Read More well organised. -Other students were all very welcoming and smart. Cons: -Would be good to go more in depth into deep learning. -A few lessons on general coding practices would have been helpful before starting work. -Would have been nice to be compensated a little for everything going online due to COVID. -More job support would be good such as practice interviews.

As someone how only learned about the world of coding a week before applying to the bootcamp I can't speak highly enough of my experience at GA. To start when first talking to the school I felt as though everyone had my back in getting started and the... Read More initial homework given. They checked on me, gave me advice and tips, and made sure I had everything I needed to succeed. As I started the course the instructors were attentive to the needs of students and always willing to help out, I have even reached out the them after graduation and they still help and give suggestions! GA in general was very supportive both while I was taking the course and now after, they were also very concerned about mental health of students and I felt they, and their staff, cared about the students.

I completed Software Engineering Immersive program in 3 months and after graduation I find a job by myself. Yes outcomes team helped to me about editing my resume and also personal portfolio page. But weird thing started after this. They added me to outcomes... Read More channel after graduation to let me informed about new job opportunities. And also they told me that their outcomes support is lifetime support before start the program. But when I find a job by myself the kicked me out from that channel. I asked about the reason they said me that 'Because you got a job' I tried to explain that I can search for a better position by those job opportunities and also I find my job by myself they didn't find it. But they couldn't explain this to me. My spouse was thinking about to a program at GA, after this experience she decided to look for another bootcamp.

GA told us on the first day that their Outcomes Program is what set them aside from their competitors. It was an epic fail. We had 4 different Outcomes instructors during the program, each trying to figure out what the previous did and what they were... Read More supposed to do next. Nobody ever helped us find a job. Several months went by, two of us got a job. The global and local balance was a scam. If we worked with just our local instructor, we would have done well. At our graduation everyone talked about what a waste the Global platform was. Nobody liked the global instructors. It was as helpful as watching YouTube. We heard horror stories of other cohorts loosing their local instructor mid-program. The platform was a mess.

The course itself provides everybody on the same journey on how to become a Product Manager. The courses were very structured and guided. Every course and assignments are all connected which makes learning very applicable. Classes was also fun which were... Read More full of diversity and learning from each participant's experience was a gem. The instructor was kind, and feedbacks given were always in the best interest for the student and in a very positive environment. Classes were enjoyable and full of practicality. This is the best course if anyone is wanting to learn how to become a Product Manager!

Very intense boot camp style course, but well worth it. This course really made me feel that I’m ready to make a career change Into UX. Very well organized and the staff was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Be prepared to be consumed by the course... Read More but it is well worth your time and money!

Prior to starting the Software Engineering Immersive Remote (SEIR) programing at General Assembly, I didn't know what to expect. When you google bootcamp reviews the results coming back tend to be all over the place from reviews that are very bad to reviews... Read More that are nothing but outstanding. Through my experience, I'll provide an unbiased review highlighting the aspects I enjoyed and what I think needs improvement. General Assembly wasn't the first school I reached out to and in fact I had a very poor experience speaking with the admissions department at a GA competitor who didn't want to give me more than 20 her time. Speaking with Zack in admissions from GA was a completely different experience in the best way possible. Zack took his time answering all my questions to ensure I was making the correct decision. He was in constant communication with me throughout the entire application process so that there was no question as to what happened next. One thing to note is that General Assembly offers the choice learning Ruby/Ruby on Rails or Python as the backend language and framework. I was speaking to a few of my classmates a couple weeks into the program and they didn't realize they had the option of learning a different backend because no one mentioned it. The class pre-work was well written and the program they use was quite good however, I don't feel like the pre-work prepared me for the class in any way, shape, or form. I feel like the pre-work is written for someone who has previous experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript; rather than who's learning about it for the first time. Now the teaching platform used is extremely well written and easy to use but I think the prep should have been based more on the foundations and fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The Software Engineering Immersive Remote course is a full stack software engineering program that teaches the MERN stack and the course is broke up into 5 units. Everything is taught by two main instructors and two instructor assistants. Coursework is heavy and moves at a very fast pace. Class is a mix of lectures, code along, and lab but the lecture isn't the boring type like you might think. The amount of information you take in on a daily basis and the amount of information you're expected to retain is probably more than you're used to. It wasn't till half way through my first project that I actually felt like I knew what was going on and I felt like I was trying to keep up with everything till that point. You're going to have days and weeks where you feel like you can't keep your head above water. I constantly felt behind. And before you know it, you're turning in the final project. Instructor assistants were quite helpful after school and on the weekends when they host office hours. My instructors helped when they could but both taught multiple classes each day. My instructors both referenced their real life work experience with what they were teaching and that was awesome to know. Now for what I think can be improved. First and foremost the pre-work should be focused towards fundamentals and foundation building. I would add an additional week to the first four units, extending the course by an entire month. This would slow the pace of the course down enough to where retaining information learned becomes much easier and the student will be more comfortable with what they're learning. I had two great instructors but they were vastly different in how they approached teaching and some days I feel like they didn't know what the other instructor taught the previous day. Communication could have been better between the instructors. The full stack course does teach the backend but it's definitely front end heavy. At this point, I wouldn't hesitate to take a job as a frontend or full stack developer however; I wouldn't be confident taking a job as a backend developer after taking this course. Outcomes is what General Assembly calls their career support so far it's been quite helpful. They offer mock interviews, Linked In, and resume building. I've only been with outcomes for a couple weeks but they've been quite helpful so far. Overall I had a solid experience and learned a TON of information in a short amount of time. I wouldn't hesitate to take another course through General Assembly in the future and honestly, I may go take the UX/UI course down the road.

Overall I do not regret my decision to attend GA. I met some amazing people, and feel that I learned skills that will benefit me in my career change. It's been 10 months since I've graduated and I still do not have a job. The timing of when I finished... Read More school (right at the start of COVID) definitely affected employment, but I do feel like administration was a little misleading when it came to how soon I could expect to find work and gave somewhat unrealistic expectations about that process (I think they told me the average student is employed within 3 months of graduation). The payment program is helpful through and it is nice to know that I don't have to pay anything back until I am employed full time. The instructors are great and the material is relevant to the more useful skills to know in the real world. I got to attend in person for half of the time and the facility was nice. I enjoyed the pace of the course and felt like it was hard but not too overwhelming and I had a lot of support both during class time and outside of class from the instructors. I never felt that I couldn't ask a question or get further clarification about something. I wish I had more support during the course with preparing for after graduation. I felt like there was not enough time spent on the job seeking side of things. It would have been helpful to have more direct support from career coaches, help with portfolios, and other job seeking materials. I also found there were much better methods of doing some of the things I learned that I wished had been implemented in class. I think there were some concepts/skills that were taught in class in a way that was easier to understand, but not necessarily the best way to do them.

General Assemblies UXDI course is a fun but ultimately shallow introduction to User Experience. From overly simplified coursework, packed classes, to career coaches who provide contempt instead of support; GA's only goal is to churn out students. Having... Read More completed the course in 2019, and submitted between 300 and 400 applications to open job postings, I can confidently say that GA has failed to qualify me for internships. While the instructors are "experts' in their fields they have no motivation to provide the required feedback, or attention to students; especially when they themselves are looking for their next job. The career coaches and the advertised 1000's of hiring partners seem to be absent as well, as the provided support is tainted with contempt, apathy and lies, for graduated job seekers. My advice, look for a longer program that can reach greater depths into the disciplines. Because GA will not, cannot, and more over is incapable of helping.

I took the part-time 10-week UX Design course, and it was a good foundation to get the basics around UX research and design. The fast-paced course was challenging, especially if you're working or are a student full-time, but it was worth it because it... Read More accelerated your progress in learning and completing assignments. I think the course material and class engagement may depend on the instructor who's teaching, but as long as you stay passionate about your interest in UX and have a self-starter mentality, you can get a lot out of the course. What you get out of the course is what you put into it, and the more effort you put into it, the better you'll be prepared to have some sample work for your portfolio, especially if you're trying to pivot your career into the UX field. The course equipped me with what I needed to create my own UX projects, which I used to bolster up my portfolio, and I eventually got my first UX design job within under 6 months.