General Assembly

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.

I loved my experience at General Assembly. Every step of the way was well thought-out--I always felt taken care of by the staff on every team. Some would argue the price is steep, but the level-up in my life that GA provided was genuinely priceless. The... Read More skills and confidence I now have in the workplace will help be successful for the rest of my career. Now, I say all of this, but I want to note that this course is not for the faint of heart. It was a LOT of hard work and late late nights and to be honest, nobody prepared me for that. If you can handle the intense project work and genuinely want to learn UX/UI Design, you'll be happy you look a leap of faith with General Assembly! The experience and guidance you receive along the way cannot be matched.

I took an on-campus Software Engineering Immersive course at General Assembly in Manhattan and I had a great experience. The on campus atmosphere was nice and friendly and conductive to learning. The professors and TA's were available for help and excellent... Read More at teaching technical skills as well as explaining what is relevant in the industry. The outcomes team and career coach were super helpful in explaining what the field is like as far as job seeking and getting through interviews in the software engineering field (this was an area I felt inexperienced with and unsure about). I finished the course feeling much more confident about that. The staff was cool and so were fellow students, who were as driven to grow and succeed as I was. We formed some awesome friendships there. Overall, it's an experience that helped me grow and get the kind of job I was looking for, so I recommend it.

I think taking the UXDI program through GA was the best way for me to get a job in UX. I needed the discipline and accountability and my instructor, Shari, was amazing. The cons was that I felt like it wasn't strict enough or hard enough on its students.... Read More I felt surprised by some of the students that made it into the program and felt that they weren't that bought in, making group projects challenging. There was one student who became increasingly confrontational toward the end of the cohort that made it very distracting and disturbing to be on any zoom calls. It had been such a nice cohort experience that I wished it would've been handled more professionally by GA.

Trying to crack into the tech field without the resources/network/knowledge is a tall order but through the GA SEI Bootcamp, I was able to launch into a career despite having little development/coding experience before joining GA. This doesn't mean that... Read More it will be easy, the months spent in the course were some of the longest/hardest times but the instructors/TA's & your fellow classmates truly help propel you to the finish line. While there are definitely some things that could be improved upon (some lectures were not updated/group time truly dependent on if the individuals cared about doing work that day) the overall experience was great. Outcomes were extremely responsive post-course and helped improve my chances of landing a full-time position. At the end of the day, as most others have already said, the amount of effort you put in will show in the end.

The amount of knowledge you learn in this program is incredible. It’s A LOT of work - late nights most nights and many early mornings. Think of it as 12-weeks of college finals. You’ll never quite feel adequate, but that’s just imposter syndrome that... Read More you and all of your colleagues will have to battle together. Lean into the difficulties and don’t give up. Be prepared for a really significant mental battle and don’t blame yourself if you break down from time to time. Hard things are hard. Remember why you took this step in the first place and persevere. The hard work really pays off in the end with a great career change and solid skills that translate many ways.

Make no mistake that this immersive will challenge you—it's a major time and financial commitment—but if you're motivated and up to the task it's worth it. I'd say a large part of what you'll get out of this program is contingent upon what you're willing... Read More to put into the experience. Pay attention during the class lectures, leverage your class time and 1:1s with instructors to ask questions and get feedback. Lean into your peers, exchange ideas, experiences, and resources with them, and connect with people who will help you and hold you accountable. While I sometimes found the lectures and instruction only scratched the surface of certain topics, and was disappointed that others weren't covered at all, the foundational material and group projects were enough to help me build a portfolio, land interviews, and secure a position shortly after completing the program. I also built meaningful personal and professional connections with some of my classmates. Your level of satisfaction with the program may vary depending on the quality of instruction and feedback given by the instructional team (lead instructors and instructional associates). But again, if you're self-motivated and driven, you can take what you need from the experience and use it as a building block to grow your skillset and knowledge. I'm glad I decided to apply and happy with what I was able to get from the program. If you're thinking about applying make sure you do your research—talk with other folks who've gone through the same program and look into funding opportunities (they exist and are available!).

General Assembly helped me transition from a career in Behavior Therapy to a true UX Designer. I was lucky enough to complete the program in person, but I graduated in March 2020 (right at the start of the pandemic). I did all of my job search and career... Read More coaching remotely. My career coach, Lupe, was STELLAR. Lupe and the rest of General Assembly adapted quickly to the remote lifestyle and supported me in the months of job searching through the pandemic. I couldn't be more happy with my experience and the support that Lupe offered. It took me 7 months to find a job in the height of all the uncertainty that COVID brand, and Lupe supported me all the way to negotiations of my offer. Pros - Knowledgeable instructors, challenging curriculum, outstanding career coach. I really felt like I mattered, was guided, and challenged from the beginning of my program to the signing of my job offer. Cons - Group projects with individuals who are not as dedicated is inevitable, expectations on salary and how flooded the job market could have been managed better.

GA's Software Engineering Immersive is the reason I have a job. The skills you learn there (and the friends you make) are absolutely invaluable. Our classes focused on JavaScript, React, HTML, CSS, & Ruby on Rails. We also worked with things like Node,... Read More MongoDB, Express, and AirTable to name a few others. With these technical skills in your pocket, you instantly become desirable to companies. One of the best things about this program is that you come out of it with four completely fleshed out projects. From planning to coding, fixing bugs, and writing the documentation, these projects not only improve your skills, but look amazing in your portfolio. The person who hired me at my current company told me that these projects were the deciding factor that put me above the other candidates. One of the projects lets you work in a team of four devs, working with four UX designers. This is real-world experience about what it's like to work in a development team environment and gives you a huge leg up on those applying to a job who would have to acquire that knowledge later on. However, perhaps best of all is the Outcomes Team. They act as career coaches, taking your technical skills and teaching you how to apply what hiring managers are looking for in order to market yourself and network in today's top job markets. They are the worth the price of the course alone. As with everything in life, there are always things I would have tweaked. I wish, for example, that we would have touched on Python, and perhaps Java. I also wish that we had an extra unit on Technical Interview Prep - concentrating on popular interview questions and practicing whiteboarding in front of other people (which can be very nerve-wracking). However, GA is constantly surveying their students and altering their curriculum based on feedback, as well as keeping their finger on the pulse of the industry, so they are constantly improving and adapting over time. Overall, I would Definitely recommend GA. It is a concentrated time of learning that not only turns you into a formidable developer, but inspires you to keep going, growing, and learning no matter where the next step takes you. But, boiling it down, if I could only use two words to describe GA, I think the two most apt would be "Challenging" and "Fun"!