| | Anonymous | I attended Horizons during the summer, thinking it would be an extremely valuable experience. I was sadly mistaken.
While the curriculum is excellent. most of the instructors were ineffective. While all of the instructors, with the exception of Jonathan Zinger, were understanding and helpful, they were often difficult to approach. Only one or two instructors were active teachers, while the other instructors were rarely seen in the classroom. Students were left on their own in the afternoon, and were rarely guided. Most of my classmates were either far ahead and bored or far behind and frustrated. It was impossible for the program to accommodate everyone's pace. There were only two TA's, and students requiring help often waited hours before help arrived.
Horizons also promised entrepreneurship guidance and networking/job-seeking opportunities, which it failed to deliver. The single networking event that occurred had mostly former Horizons alumni as invitees, who were there to socialise with the instructors and each other, not the students. The actual students in the Horizons program received little benefit. Some of the talks, though, were insightful and interesting.
In short, I do not recommend attending Horizons, especially if money is an issue. The tuition is exorbitant and is definitely not worth the experience. Living expenses are steep where Horizons is located. While the curriculum is indeed well-structured, if you are truly dedicated to learning Javascript and web development, you will definitely be able to do so on your own with the vast amount of resources available online. |
