| | Anonymous | tl;dr
Pros:
Alchemy has an active community and a fantastic network
You will learn to scale up FAST and gain the experience of configuring a full-stack app within a day over and over.
Job support and preparation from day one and after graduation
Cons*:
Pricing for the virtual program is the same as in-person.
Balancing 3+ hours of zoom lecture, followed by 4-6+ hours on group calls or the "quiet room" can be draining.
Our cohort shared at different points concerns about going virtual, social justice, and pricing. While the Alchemy team scheduled times to listen to us, which sounds like more than what other programs do, they often grouped the concerns into one discussion, which felt like a disservice to each valid and important consideration. In the end, Alchemy’s response to raised concerns often fell flat or lacked any real resolution.
*My cohort was the first all-remote cohort during COVID. We had signed up expecting an all-in-person program, and because of COVID, everything last minute, and for the first time, was moved to all-remote on zoom calls and slack message. So many of our experiences will probably be unique to our cohort.
Job Support
Shannon goes all out for you. She connects you with recruiters for big companies, pairs you with working developers for informational/practice interviews, and is continuously making connections for other networking opportunities. Two of my most recent contract roles have been from connections that started with Shannon. The career and community support does not stop after you get your first role either. The Alchemy community is continually sharing opportunities, and you can tell that people genuinely enjoy connecting with other alums even years out.
Curriculum
Moving an all-in-person program to entirely remote in less than a month, during 2020, is bound to have growing pains for both students and instructors.
By the time we made it to the Career Track, people had talked about how things felt more settled and especially enjoyed working in React. I had some prior coding experience, which I think helped me not to feel overwhelmed at first. However, if you have prior experience, you might find yourself reviewing some content since the program is also designed for people with little to no experience. That's all fine because the team has excellent advice on what libraries to check out or projects to work on if you have additional time.
The lectures are live (and recorded if you want to review later), you don't have to wait in a queue for help, and you will have a consistent instructor for each course. If you have the chance, make sure to attend the Friday Hack Days that Ryan organizes. He'll share a cool project that he or an alum is working on, ranging from Blockchain, your first GraphQL API, to reviewing important JavaScript concepts. |
