General Assembly Reviews
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Stephanie Verified via LinkedIn
UXUI Designer
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Your experience is a hit or miss. Depends on how lucky you are. I was not so lucky but I found a job. That said, I DO NOT recommend GA. Here's why:
1. Push to know your instructor before paying and LinkedIn research your instructor before starting
The admissions team said they didn't know who would teach my cohort, I should have delayed paying until I knew. My instructor may be a great designer but had zero corporate experience. He started his own design company and while that is amazing, he couldn't bring a lot of relatable experiences for our course. He also read off slides directly and was caught by us a few times for not paying attention to our presentations. The guy also never had feedback for us, he would only parrot our instructor associates' feedback.
2. If your cohort size is over 20 students, DON'T DO IT.
Our cohort was at almost 30. Imagine sitting through/grading 30 projects. Or answering students' questions. We did not get the attention needed to succeed. A lot of us had to rely on each other/ Google.
3. Post bootcamp help isn't helpful
The career coach is given the tools to hand us. They can be helpful for building resumes but that's really it. The coach is also assigned to multiple cohorts so the ability to help is also limited. Our career coach was more like a therapist for us, she's loved for her empathy not for being our coach.
4. My final client project cost us $60+ USD.
For our final project with a real-world client, we each had to pay our Adobe account, meaning our final project was $60+USD. and GA did not want to help fund this. If this is the case, why had students a client who uses a paid program?! Yes, $60 is not a lot to some people but as a person who is unemployed doing bootcamp full time- this money mattered.
5. HR told us if we weren't satisfied, we can always quit/pause.
The good thing about GA is that at the halfway point- they ask for feedback. After HR read through our feedback, she sent a message that reminded us that we had the option to quit. The right answer was to say they were going to internally discuss changes. This was infuriating as I was there risking a lot to change my career. To this day, a handful of us still have the screenshot of this now deleted post.
6. GA asked me for more tuition money, they did not honor the NY discount that was still in place when I paid.
Not only was my cohort delayed, at the time I paid, their website and the admissions team still had the deal where you pay full upfront and then receive a discount of $450. Before I started boot camp, the NY secondary law was removed however, it was still on their website. Instead of offering a one-time scholarship, they asked me for the money. When I asked if I can have a refund and convert to a free/discounted interest payment plan- they said no. So my hands were tied.
Overall, money aside, I think GA is relying on their big name. Their quality is not up to par with their in-person bootcamp. While I was able to find a job within the 3-month mark, I contribute 30% of it to GA (the coursework) and the rest of it to my peers. We bonded over struggling together, presenting to each other, giving feedback on our portfolios together, and recommending jobs to each other. -
Fernando Verified via LinkedIn
Python Programming (Part-Time)
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The Python course was great! Easy to follow along and the professor was incredibly knowledgeable and skilled at guiding us through the course. It was a lot of material to cover and it only brushes on some topics but I understood it was never meant to be in-depth, which was great for me because it gave me enough grit to get it started and seek out more knowledge on my own. There's definitely a large component of discipline I had to have, being a non-programmer entering this course meant I had to put a lot of my own time learning the basics of Python and it's many nuisances. In the end, the course was well taught and well structured. I'm happy with the results and would recommend to anyone that's a self-starter and motivated individual. -
Ignacio Verified via LinkedIn
Data Science
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My experience at GA was extremely positive. I was very impressed with GA's team knowledge, with their way of teaching and how the course was correctly structured and timely-measured. These guys they really know what they are doing and working on. Their resources and availability to help the students to understand re-explaining what as much as needed in order to make sure that the concepts are understood it's something remarkable. If you are looking to give your first-deep-steps in Data Science, this must be one of the best places to take them. -
Deanna Verified via LinkedIn
UXDI
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I really enjoyed taking the course and learning so much about UX Design. While I came from a Graphic Design background, the instructors were so thorough and helpful when it came to learning a whole new side of design. Especially for my classmates who maybe had no design/ artsy/ creative backgrounds. It is a lot of work jam packed into a short period, so make sure you don't have a lot of other responsibilities/ priorities. You will occasionally have to pull all nighters to get things done. But the instructors are great listeners, and are always willing to answer questions. While I am still currently looking for job placement, I feel secure that I will find one with the knowledge I learned and the support of my career coach. -
Cristina Grosser Verified via GitHub
Python Accerlated Course
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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 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. -
Syakirah Nasser Verified via LinkedIn
A great kickstart into UI/UX
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I'm based in Singapore and I enrolled into this part time course after seeing this institution being recommended by IMDA Singapore (Sg's Media Development Authority). Prior to this, I just graduated with a Bachelor in Communication Design. However, I'd like to expand my skillset and learn more about UI/UX design so that I'll be able to land a job in this field. This part time course was held twice a week via Zoom over the period of 3 months. I personally felt that the pace was just right and the duration of each lesson was perfect (2hrs). Our instructors were professionals who have been working in the UI/UX industry for quite some time and thus, were more than qualified to lead the course. Apart from Zoom, we utilised Slack as a communication platform to reach out to fellow classmates and instructors. As for my classmates, we all came from diverse backgrounds. Some equipped with design knowledge while some aren't. However, everyone was very supportive and shared whatever knowledge or things they found. Initially, the idea of being in a class full of working professionals whereas I was just a degree holder, felt daunting but after the first class, I found myself looking forward to my lessons because my classmates & instructors made everyone feel belonged. In terms of the lessons, each lesson was covered in-depth and my instructors were very meticulous in explaining the concepts to ensure the lessons were well executed and understood. While the main instructor lead the lesson, the other instructor kept a lookout for any questions that appeared in the chat and would promptly address them. During each lesson, we will have a partner exercise where we'll be paired up randomly with a classmate to discuss about the task or activity given. I really enjoyed this part of the course as it's so much easier to work in pairs and at the same time, I got to meet new people each week and learnt about their working life and experiences. It was interesting to be given a hands on opportunity to apply the knowledge taught during the lesson and from there, we'd know if we had truly understood the lesson. At the end of the course, we will present our prototype project which we have been working on, to the rest of the class. It was really fun seeing how each and everyone came up with their ideas and designed their prototypes. We were then tasked to provide feedbacks to our classmates - 1 glow & 1 grow Overall, this course is a good start for anyone looking to have a career start or a career switch to the UI/UX field. There will be tons of resources shared by the instructors in the Slack platform. Additionally, whenever you needed extra guidance outside of lesson period, you can always schedule an appointment with any of the instructors and they will be more than happy to assist you. Would definitely recommend this to anyone interested to build a career in UI/UX. -
Timothy Cebula Verified via GitHub
Veterans using GI Bill: BEWARE
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I decided to enroll at GA, dropped out of college, did all the hours of prework, got my GI bill approved, and was ready to go. My class moved from in-person to remote pretty early on in the process. About two weeks go by until they finally decide to tell me on the Friday before my class start date that the VA was not going to approve my GI Bill. Highly confused, I call the VA who assures me that the loan will very much be accepted and that the financing people at GA need to submit a form 1999 and put into the comments that the class was canceled due to COVID. I get put into contact with Jessica Wright, a finance coordinator at GA who tells me that the VA is not going to accept it. I explain to her what the VA told me, and she tells me that the VA does not have the full context of the difference between the SEI and SEIR courses. I told her that I talked to the VA and explained that they're different courses and the VA continued saying that it doesn't matter, if it was canceled due to COVID then it is an approved course. I also asked her for contact information to talk to someone over the phone because there was such a large discrepancy between what she was saying and what the VA was saying. She sent another email saying that no the form was not going to be submitted and again, the VA didn't have the full context. Since that email, she stopped answering me. She has ignored five or so emails from me, so I would imagine she muted the conversation and just moved on with her life.
It wouldn't shock me at all if she was completely correct. The VA very much may not have had the full context. But why would she not provide me with the context? I don't deserve to know after throwing everything away in my life to join this program? I just want answers. It boggles my mind that she didn't have the time to explain to me what was happening, and she also doesn't have the time to submit a form that is literally two pages and just needs one signature. She only had the time to send me two emails and addressed nothing that I had sent to her. So as far as I'm concerned, my GI Bill would have been approved and GA threw away $15,000 because someone was too lazy to submit a form. Now I need to scramble and figure out what to do with my life.
They allowed me to attend the first class and the instructor seemed fantastic. This is not a poor review of the school, only the people who manage it. -
Riana Verified via LinkedIn
Great Experience But It's Not Easy!
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I had a great experience at GA. My instructors were knowledgable and passionate about what they were teaching and they worked really well together, which led to a positive classroom experience. Bootcamps pack in a lot of information in a short amount of time, so you have to be good at learning things quickly or you might be at risk of falling behind and feeling overwhelmed. Luckily I also had a great group of classmates. We helped each other whenever one of us was stuck on a problem/topic. Having the support of my instructors and classmates was crucial in being able to complete the program.
We covered many frontend and backend topics throughout the 12 weeks, such as HTML/CSS, JavaScript, React, Express, Mongo, PostgreSQL, Ruby, and Rails. I had some knowledge of HTML and CSS before I started, which was really helpful in not feeling too overwhelmed the first week of class. One of the best skills I learned was learning how to learn new languages/frameworks. The field of software engineering is so vast that there's no way to learn everything in a classroom setting, especially in a short bootcamp. Being able to teach myself and having the confidence in knowing that I can learn new things has been the biggest help to my career post-graduation.
Speaking of post-graduation, the one place where I felt we could have had more support was in the job search. Throughout the course of the program there was a lot of time spent each week on what felt like general job search advice (network, have your "elevator pitch" ready, etc.). Most of this was presented in a pretty passive way and I felt like I would have preferred to spend some of that time in the classroom. Towards the end, things got more serious with resume reviews and more personalized help. Our outcomes coach would also share jobs for us to apply to in a Slack channel. Each Outcomes coach handles how they structure this part of the program differently, so your experience may vary.
Overall, I would recommend GA but you have to understand that the courseload is not easy and you might have to put in a lot of work after class to understand the content. It would also be helpful to research what technologies you're interested in learning and find out whether the instructors of the cohort you're applying to will teach that. When I started, I didn't know enough about this field to even know what technologies I wanted to learn but the more information you have in the beginning, the better. -
d Verified via LinkedIn
scam
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I took this "boot camp" few years back they accept anyone willing to pay. I took the UX program and my instructors were promoting their DJ stuff and playing favorites(certain females who brownnosed). In my cohort we had a guy who didn't even know how to use a computer. He sold his mechanic shop to apply for this program with a promise of a six figure salary. I looked his profile up on linkedin and saw that he wasn't currently working many years later. My "career" advisor changed right as I graduated with someone who absolutely did not care about me. She just harassed me to apply to jobs and gave no help. Also while taking the course we found all course material online which was plagiarized by the instructors. YOU ARE NOT JOB READY after finishing this course no where near close to it. It felt extremely cult like with the way the instructors had everyone acting. They teach you about latest technologies as far as applications but its more of an introductory course to using these tools. I understand that you have to want this and put in the effort but the curriculum is an absolute joke. There may be better instructors at GA but obviously it's a roll of the dice. I wanted this to be read so that others understand that someone who took this "bootcamp" might be your instructor right after they finish. KEKW -
Christopher Burwell Verified via LinkedIn
Great if you want to break into coding
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A really great program for breaking into Software Engineering! It’s fast paced but my instructors were very knowledgeable, and helped me and my fellow classmates keep up. We studied the MERN stack along with Python and Django, and created some great projects along the way. I've also gained resources I never would have had before. 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! Would recommended to most beginners who know a little bit of coding. -
Jennifer O'Neill Verified via GitHub
SEI Course
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Even though a tech bootcamp is very "you get what you put in" when it comes to the work and building connections, for a 13k+ price tag it is absolutely reasonable to have expectations regarding the quality of education and how you are treated by staff. Since day one, getting in touch with the individuals that you literally need to communicate with as part of the process was near impossible. Not long after I got to their outcomes stage I was hit by a car and hospitalized with broken bones and a long list of other health issues. I was trying to communicate with them as much as possible but it would be weeks before they responded to my questions, if they did at all.
It eventually got to a point where I knew I would need to pause my software engineering journey due to health reasons. Upon communicating this (and NOT asking for a refund btw) they threw money at me for a couple of one-off classes and told me that my outcomes coach and management would be contacting me.
That was over a month ago..
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Marissa Levigne Verified via LinkedIn
UX Design Course
This course was an introduction into UX Design. However it covered more than just design practices—the course also went into user research, usability testing, competitor analysis and portfolio building/job hunting. -
Colin Verified via LinkedIn
Making a Career Change, Consider a Bootcamp
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When I decided to make a shift from being a business analyst and database admin to more design and user-oriented work, I chose to take the General Assembly (GA) User Experience Design Immersive. Candidly, there may never be a perfectly designed boot camp for you, it's all about balancing trade-offs, which I think GA did well. In particular, huge credit is due to the passion and hard work put in by our instructors and their real-world experience anecdotes. We touched on the tools, processes, and job hunting skills necessary to help us be successful. Sure, for skills I was weaker at I would have welcomed a few more weeks of coursework to practice. At the same time, a few more weeks of unemployment weren't financially appealing, so I give GA credit for trying to hone in on the right course length to weigh those competing priorities. So, if you consider this program what should you expect? You will have a solid foundation as a beginner in the UX practice, and employers be interested in those skills but vary on how junior/senior a role they feel you qualify for as a result. -
Tommy Verified via LinkedIn
Great curriculum. Amazing instructors. The real prize is the friends you make along the way.
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:::Curriculum:::UX is an ever-changing field and GA recognizes this very well. They are constantly updating their curriculum based on feedback from instructors, students, and industry trends. All of the topics and tools covered were relevant and helpful. Attending UX events or reading UX articles really demonstrated how much information I learned in the bootcamp.
Building a portfolio was one of my key goals for taking this course. By the end, I had a couple of class projects that I could turn into a case study as well as a real-world client project. This final UX project gives students the chance to work with a real client and apply their newly acquired UX skills. It was definitely one of the highlights of the course in terms of experience and has yielded the engagement post-graduation.
:::Instructors:::Our cohort had 2 lead instructors and 2 Instructional Associates (IA). All 4 were amazing. They supported everyone in the class and showed so much empathy and understanding of things UX. The 2 leads had so much experience and would constantly use past anecdotes to reinforce the lessons. The 2 IA (former graduates) were always available for help and would provide amazing feedback and one-on-one meetings when needed. They understood what we were all going through and supported us during tough times. Yes, there will be tough times but know that you are not alone (see the next paragraph).
:::UX Friends:::Attending a GA bootcamp makes you a part of the GA network and it is big! I have met so many amazing people through networking and events. The immersive course is like a full-time job and after 12 weeks, you really learn a lot about your fellow designers. You learn about each other’s backgrounds and their unique stories. We had a former teacher, journalist, architect, food server, car salesman, and so much more. I am constantly amazed at how close our cohort was and is. Even today, we still keep in touch. Having this network is amazing and I love hearing about new success stories.
:::Conclusion:::This course was tough. There is a lot to learn and do in 12 weeks. The toughest part will be finding a job after graduation. You will have enough knowledge to do UX but I have found that experience is essential. Your portfolio will look like a portfolio of a UX bootcamp graduate filled with school projects. You will need to figure out what is best to overcome this obstacle but it can be done. In the end, I would recommend the UX Design Immersive program. -
Hannah Verified via LinkedIn
UXD Immersive - You will only succeed if you put in the work
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Intro:In my experience, the online UXD Immersive was an amazing environment to learn the basic foundations of UXD. Don’t think however that going through a bootcamp is an easy and effortless way to make a career switch and a surefire way to score a UXD job post-course. The curriculum, instructors, and career coach give you the tools to become successful, but you need to go above and beyond to make the most out of it.
Pros:Amazing learning environment. I’ve never been surrounded by such incredibly positive people before. Everyone in my bootcamp (instructors, career coach, and cohort) genuinely wanted to see everyone succeed and it was so refreshing to have people constantly rooting for you and lifting you up. I’ve always been really shy and never liked asking questions or speaking up in school, but the instructors and my cohort peers truly value everyone’s opinion, so I never felt embarrassed or too shy to ask questions. I also never felt any weird competitive toxic energy during my bootcamp (versus in the past where I’ve been in environments where everything seemed like a toxic competition).
I also felt so supported knowing that my instructors were truly passionate about what they were teaching and were always there if you needed additional assistance. In the past during college and whatnot, I had so many dismissive professors where it seemed like they didn’t care about their students and I’ve never really enjoyed being in class so going into the bootcamp I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was so pleasantly surprised at how compassionate, honest, and supportive my instructors were. My cohort was about 35-40 people give or take (so I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t have a personalized experience), but I felt like the instructors genuinely cared about all of us and took the time to answer everyone’s questions.
Cons:You are taught design in a very formulaic academic way and your portfolio will reflect this and initially will probably really suck. This course teaches you UXD foundations, but understand that it’s easy to get caught up in adhering to GA’s very formulaic design methodologies when creating your design portfolio case studies and your work is going to scream “I just graduated from a bootcamp!”. The feedback given from instructors when critiquing your class projects tbh wasn’t as helpful as it could have been. During the course, it seemed like the instructors gave good feedback, but when I graduated and got feedback from design professionals outside of GA, that was a HUGE wake-up call. I feel like the feedback I received from instructors throughout the course on my projects and portfolio pieces were too easy and missed a lot versus when I sought outside opinions post bootcamp. I get that the instructors only have so much time to give feedback to all the students and that they’re tied closely to all of the projects they give out, but definitely, the most valuable feedback I got was from my networking calls after the course. Also too, when you present your projects during the bootcamp, your cohort peers also give you feedback, but this was totally unhelpful. Cohort peer feedback was totally unhelpful because a.) my cohort was just so nice and nobody wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings so it’d always be super positive, like “great job, good work!” without any actual critiques or room for improvement and then b.) we’re all students, so we didn’t really know how to properly critique a person’s design work or the small things to watch out for.
Advice: IT IS ESSENTIAL to seek outside opinions once your portfolio and case studies are ready. After graduating on January 20th, I spent about a month and a half finishing up my portfolio and then setting up networking and portfolio review calls. I went on about 30+ networking/portfolio review calls during this time. I also was applying to jobs and not having any luck. After this initial first month and a half post bootcamp, I took about another month to really fix my portfolio based on all the feedback I had received. After updating and making revisions to my case studies and actual portfolio website, that’s when I finally started gaining some traction with job applications. Then I took another month applying to jobs, interviewing, etc… I applied to about 127 roles and interviewed at 10 companies (1 intern role, 1 part-time role, and 8 full-time roles). Then on April 28th I received my first full-time contract offer and took it. So overall my job hunt was about 3 months. What I found to help me be the most successful was that initial month and a half going on networking and portfolio review calls and really making my case studies to where they needed to be. The main case study that I would present during interviews was from the GA client project and I ended up doing 3 case study revisions on that and 2 additional UI revisions to the initial project. Definitely seeking outside advice and applying that to my portfolio I believe was essential to my success.
Last Thoughts:It’s really all up to you on whether or not you succeed. Also too as far as career support goes, during the bootcamp you have “Outcomes” once a week. This was a lesson on things like writing cover letters, resumes, interviewing, etc… I didn’t find any of this information to be groundbreaking (but I suppose if you haven’t been in the job hunt situation in a long time this information could be helpful). For me I graduated college undergrad in 2018, so the process of writing cover letters, creating a resume, applying to jobs was all pretty fresh in my mind and felt familiar, but I can see if you’re someone who’s been in the workforce for a long time and haven’t had to write a cover letter in 10+ years, this could be helpful. Then post bootcamp you get a career coach. The career coach is there to answer questions and to guide you if you have questions, but they’re not going to hold your hand at all. I found my career coach Ruby really helpful because I knew I could rely on her to ask questions and to get her opinions on things. You need to actively utilize the fact that you have a career coach as a resource though, once again no one is going to do any work for you.
Another point I wanted to make - why I chose GA over other bootcamps… I looked at other courses like Springboard, Designlab, Flatiron, etc… What made me choose GA is because I wanted that accountability factor of having to be in class 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week, and to really commit myself to this career switch. I think I would have really struggled to make this career switch if I had done a course like Springboard where you go at your own pace. I like being held accountable and having hard deadlines. Also having a cohort there to support you. GA's bootcamp price was worth it for me, I took out a loan for GA which was scary at first since I am still trying to pay off my undergrad loans. Also to note I am in a privileged position where I was able to quit my old job and move back in with my family so I wouldn’t have to worry about paying rent while doing this course and job hunting. So I’ve been fortunate enough where I haven’t had to worry too much about not having a job during these past 6 months of the bootcamp and job hunting since I’m living with my family, but if you’re someone who isn’t in the same situation, obviously the commit of GA might be too much.
Overall if you realize that your success will be based on how much work you put in and the GA bootcamp will not guarantee a job, I think this could be a great experience for someone who wants to make a career switch into UX! Also overall too this whole experience has been incredibly positive and has made me much more confident in myself and feeling much happier and positive! -
Carmelle Verified via LinkedIn
UX Design Immersive
This was one of the best experiences I have had! The instructors are veterans in the field, extremely patient and helpful, and willing to help whenever needed. Not only were the instructors incredible, but I have met some of the most talented and friendly people through this bootcamp. Although the price is a bit hefty, the experience and outcome are worth every penny. -
Mahdi Shadkam-Farrokhi Verified via LinkedIn
Great curriculum and instructors
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I was a student, then an instructor, and then got hired in the industry I was concentrating in. I took the Data Science Intensive and found the curriculum to be solid and the instructors very knowledgeable. Given the intensive nature of the course, outside effort was required but extremely rewarding. Do NOT go into an intensive unprepared; do the pre-work and commit to the course as if it were a job. -
Jess Verified via LinkedIn
Great program to kickstart your engineering career—but you have to do the work!
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Before I go into detail, I want to make it clear that this is a 12-week course. You can't learn everything in 12 weeks. You should go into this knowing that you're going to pull all-nighters, cry, and become frustrated—but you have tons of support and resources available to you, so take advantage of it! I enjoyed GA's course. I feel like we learned all of the things that we'd want to learn from an instructor and not on our own. This is an incredibly fast-paced class. I was in the remote program due to COVID, and my course was M-F, 9-5. The work doesn't stop at 5. Expect your 40-hour week to actually be 80+. PROS: You'll be exposed to in-demand technologies, languages, and frameworks such as JavaScript, React, and Python. My class had 2 instructors and 2 instructor associates. We also had 2 TAs who spent their evenings with us for help 7 days a week. Everyone is incredibly supportive and knowledgeable. I never felt intimidated asking for help. You'll also have career support after the program ends. We had 4 projects to help build out our portfolio. One project was a group project, so I was able to work on a team and get that experience which is obviously useful in the real world unless you're working for yourself. You'll come out of the program as a full-stack engineer, and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. CONS: This is a 12-week course, so you're not going to be job-ready at the end. You're going to learn just enough to be able to continue learning the rest on your own. You've got to make extra time to practice, and you're going to get burnt out. This is a BOOTCAMP. I felt that the curriculum could've been structured a bit better. We hardly spent any time learning data structures and algorithms, which is the main thing that you need to ace during a technical interview. We only spent 1 week learning React, which is unfortunate since it's the most in-demand library in the industry. We also never went over hooks, functional components, or Redux. We only spent ~1 week learning Python—again very unfortunate since that's in-demand as well. I don't feel comfortable having Python as a language on my resume at this point. You'll want to blame the instructors, but please don't—they're doing what GA is telling them what to do. We also only had one mock technical interview—it would've been great to have more since that's very intimidating for new engineers. There wasn't really any focus on CSS frameworks, so you'll need to learn those on your own. GA reuses their course notes, which is expected... but many times they weren't updated. Generally speaking, it wasn't a huge deal until we got to PostgreSQL. You're encouraged to code along during lecture (muscle memory works!!), however, it's very fast-paced, so you're going to fall behind at some point, but that's what the notes are for. It was very frustrating when we were learning PostgreSQL, because our notes referenced SQLite. This was crammed into the week that we learned Python, so it was an absolute nightmare. The instructors even told us not to refer to the notes for PostgreSQL since the notes were wrong. It can't be that difficult to update the notes, right? When you graduate from this course, you'll be ready to apply for an internship, apprenticeship, or junior-level role. If you're in this because you think you're gonna make bank after 12-weeks, you should get on Glassdoor and check the salaries in your area for junior-level engineers. This isn't necessarily a con because you have to start somewhere, but just know that going into it. I wanted to review their Outcomes program separately. Outcomes is GA's career support, and you'll be paired with a career coach. It was frustrating to attend the Outcomes class during the week—and especially during project weeks. I wish the program would've been voluntary up until you graduate. The program is awesome and super beneficial to folks who have little to no job experience. You'll learn how to craft a resume and build out your brand, and you'll learn best practices for using LinkedIn and networking. However, if you've been working professionally for some time, you'll find this frustrating because you've likely been doing that already. That being said, once you graduate, the Outcomes program is so super incredibly helpful. You've got to meet certain criteria to remain in the program. Expect to spend around 20 hours a week applying for jobs. You'll also be expected to attend networking events. This is all up to you. You're not going to get handed anything, but you'll be coached and given the tools you need to be successful. You'll also have access to GA's direct job recommendation process. Essentially, they've got a Partnerships team that literally acts as a Sales Team to find open roles for GA grads. If you meet the criteria for one, you can actually get a written recommendation for it. I know that I listed a ton of cons, but overall, it was a really great experience. I'd definitely recommend GA to anyone looking to make a career change. You can't do this by yourself. Just know that you have to continue doing the work after class ends. You've got to make time to practice during the week, and you can forget about self-care! But, you're going to have an amazing and supportive group of folks including the instructors, TAs, career coaches, and your entire cohort. You reap what you sow. To answer the burning question that you likely have—it took me 23 days to find a job as a full-stack web developer at a great company. I applied for 38 jobs, had 3 interviews, and had one offer. The offer that I accepted had a great starting salary for where I live (NYC)—it was more than what I expected and an awesome benefits package. I was very strategic about my job search, and for this particular job, I actually met all of the requirements because I had engineering experience prior to GA. For some folks, it might take a year to find a role, and that depends on tons of factors that GA may not even have control over such as your location and specific career goals. I'm very happy to have chosen GA, and I think that it's 100% worth the $15,000 price tag. -
Sonia Verified via LinkedIn
Excellent
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I registered for a digital course online thinking it will not be as good as going ot a class. What an amazing experience that was , when i end up finalising a project and having a wake up call on even building my own business. GA have excellent teachers! the best in the industry , really passionate and entertaining no matter what. How hard is it to go back to school when you 've done it years ago. Well this is just incredible the way they manages a team of very different people - we all loved it! I really fnished the course thinking i can't beleive how much knowledge i gained in few weeks. I will recomment GA to anyone who wants to upskill, find a new purpose or even keep up to date with the market . -
Cecile Verified via LinkedIn
Solid Program, Great Teachers
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After being a stay-at-home mom for 5 years I wanted to reenter the workforce but wanted a career pivot. With a 15 year degree in marketing and graphic design I had a good background for UX but didn't know how to make the jump. On top of that, I needed a way to support myself since I was planning on getting a divorce. General assembly was the perfect chance to change my career into something that that I could support my daughter and I with. The program was intense but I couldn't have asked for better teachers and fellow classmates. It was a lot of work but I'm currently on the job search and General Assembly made my future a lot brighter in that regard. Anyone looking to radically change your life, buckle in. -
Jennifer Piwonski Verified via LinkedIn
Software Engineering Immersive - Highly Recommended!
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I have always been interested in working with computers and after being surrounded by some amazing software engineering friends, I decided I wanted to delve deeply into coding projects and problem-solve just like them. Fast forward to my General Assembly experience, I graduated from the Software Engineering Immersive program where I developed skills in JavaScript, React, Ruby on Rails, and other technical skills that allowed me to build four projects over the course of the twelve-week full-time program. The amount of support provided during the program was absolutely amazing and next to none. I really felt cared for during the class with the instructors, teaching assistants, and classmates. GA is a wonderfully collaborative community.
After graduating, my career coach Anna stuck by my side for an entire year until I got a job in tech (at General Motors as a Software Developer!). It took a little longer to find work due to the pandemic, but Anna and the entire GA community are extremely dedicated to seeing you succeed. I am extremely excited about my new job and will continue to grow and learn within the field of technology long after my experience with GA! -
Sean Verified via GitHub
Software Engineering Immersive (Remote, part-time)
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Easily the best career decision I've ever made. The flexibility of the part-time program and depth of the curriculum make this a perfect course for someone with a full-time job who is looking to make a career change without having to leave their current role.
The instructors were phenomenal—extremely knowledgeable/willing to answer questions, supportive and empathetic throughout the duration of the course, which was 6 months. There's a lot of work involved, but it's definitely worth it if you can hang in there and give a solid effort— I was recently hired as an engineer at a FAANG company! -
Brendan Quirk Verified via GitHub
Software Engineering Immersive Remote
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GA was the best experience of my life, I had virtually no coding experience going into the program and came out with the vast knowledge I desired going into it and I loved every second of it. All of the instructors do a wonderful job from the get go setting expectations and guidelines and really help and support you through the course. Yes the course is difficult and fast paced but it is designed to get you job ready in 3 months and teach you all of the necessary skills, not just coding skills but all of the soft skills you need to succeed in this industry as well. The material is very challenging but it needs to be to get you job ready in 3 months, if you ever find yourself looking for even more of a challenge the instructors are always willing to find ways to help you push yourself even more. The job assistance portion of the course is wonderful as well, weekly meetings with your classmates and a career coach to go over how to break into this field from an employees perspective is invaluable. You also get 1:1 time with your outcomes coach to go over personal career goals as well. Overall I would recommend GA to every person in the world trying to break into tech, it changed my life in so many ways I cant even describe and I will always value my time there as a student. -
Carlos Godoy Verified via GitHub
Software Engineering Immersive Remote
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General Assembly changed my life. GA makes it clear from day one that the course will not be easy. They help to prepare one mentally to face the emotional rollercoaster of learning to program. When I came to GA, I had left the safety of my job with benefits to bet on myself again. I was not let down. The ~12 weeks in the course are hard, really hard. It is so rewarding to graduate knowing that I gained valuable skills and can now build beautiful, functional web applications. This has opened so many doors for my life and my career. GA has a hefty price tag but what it did for me is invaluable. Attending GA was scary but easily the best move I have ever made for myself.
They teach you two complete tech stacks as well as computer science topics that cover both data structures and algorithms. They teach you how to think like a programmer, by breaking every step down to the smallest piece, which makes large undertaking less intimidating. They also teach you how to fend for yourself online. You need to continue learning post course to keep up with new technology and deepen your understanding of the technologies you are using and they set you up for that. The outcomes coaches are the best! Not only are they your cheerleaders when you feel beat up by the heavy material but they also help set you up to make an online presence for yourself. They helped me do the stuff I loathe doing, like revamping my resume and social media, and it has made all the difference. -
Esin Saribudak Verified via GitHub
A worthwhile investment
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Enrolling in the Software Engineering Immersive was the best career move I've made. The course is a significant investment of time and money, but it was worth it. I had wonderful instructors who didn't just teach programming, but also explicitly taught a lot of the meta-skills around software development. The Outcomes career-coaching portion of the course was invaluable as well. The best part was being in a cohort with around 20 other students, who were my first community in tech, and it's also been great to continue connecting with the incredibly wide GA alumni network post-course.
The material is definitely challenging, and there were many long nights and weekends that I spent coding and learning more things on my own in bootcamp. You get as much out of it as you put into it, and expect to work very hard post-course to land the role that's right for you. But the skillset taught is highly sought after, and the immersive gives you the tools you need to build fullstack applications. Overall, studying in the company of others interested in programming and learning from some of the best teachers out there was an incredible experience, and gave me the knowledge and skills I needed to transform my career. -
Ray Velasquez Verified via GitHub
Software Engineering Immersive - Flex
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I finished up the SEI Flex course a few months ago and I'm so glad I made the decision to enroll in this course. I was provided exceptional instructional support and I now have a strong foundation in some of the most popular languages and frameworks being used today. I specifically learned JavaScript, Ruby, Node.js, Express, Rails, and React but I also believe General Assembly provided me with the tools to successfully teach myself any other languages or frameworks I might be interested in. Finishing this course allowed me to reach my goal of successfully changing careers and I was able to land a software engineering job within 90 days of graduation. -
Yanny Castrillon Verified via GitHub
GA Graduate and experience!
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Overall I do not regret my decision of taking my career to the next level by attending GA's 3-month Software Engineer Immersive Program. Although a had a CS bachelor's degree, I decided to invest in this program to step up my game into trending technologies like ReactJS and backend languages like Ruby and Python. I met some amazing instructors who polished and helped me sharpen my programming skills as well as design patterns. I truly believe I've learned fundamental skills that have benefited my career and aided me back when I was on the job hunt. It's been around 3 years since I graduated and I am currently working as a Mid-level Software Engineer at a great parenthood startup. I also work as a part-time Instructor associate to bring my experience in the field to our GA students community. From my personal experience, I can say it took me around 3 to 6 months to land my first job after the program. I highly encourage new students that are seeking to step up their career paths in programming to deep dive into General Assembly's academic SEIR program. -
Hunter Wallen Verified via LinkedIn
Software Engineering Immersive Remote
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I had an amazing experience with General Assembly's 3 month Software Engineering Immersive program. After a COVID-19 sabotaged my ability to attend college and work full time, I thought my dreams of breaking into the software industry were going to be seriously delayed. Fortunately, I was able to get enrolled in the three month immersive program and get my goals back on track for less money than I would have spent on my degree!
It is still amazing to me to go back and look at my skill level when I started vs my skill level when I completed the program. I came into the bootcamp with a very basic understanding of html and css and I had maybe written a few lines of javascript in YouTube code alongs. But I really had no idea what I was doing. By the time I completed my capstone project, I was able to teach myself React Native, build a full-stack mobile application and get it launched on the Google Play Store in two weeks time. It was invaluable to be able to tackle the challenges of learning to code with a group of like-minded individuals who were just as hungry as I was to make a life out of software development. I felt continuously supported by the great instructional team with GA and when I found myself ahead of the pack a few times, the instructors were quick to provide additional challenges and goals to allow me to keep growing as quickly as I could. The single most valuable thing I think I gained from my experience was a strong software engineering foundation that allows me to learn whatever technologies I want with confidence.
I considered a number of bootcamps before deciding on General Assembly and I think the deciding factor was the proven track record that GA has for consistently giving their students the skills they need to land that first job. If you are wondering where you should go and are overwhelmed by the variety of choices, look no further. You will not regret the decision to enroll at General Assembly! -
Calla Verified via LinkedIn
UX Design Immersive
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5 stars for General Assembly, where I found my calling as a UX designer! There is so much to recommend - from the subject matter to the collaborative learning environment. The Outcomes support (career coaching) was a game changer in confidence-building and helping me to set realistic expectations and goals. It's clear that instructors and career coaches work together to provide the most up-to-date guidance based on industry trends. Class projects are designed to set you up for success when putting together a professional portfolio, and there is a whole unit devoted to building that portfolio. The instruction is designed for universal learning - ideal for those of us with learning disabilities. And lastly, and maybe most importantly, the commitment to diversity in the classroom is an enormous strength. I learned just as much from my classmates and peers as I did from my wonderful instructional team. -
Connie D. Verified via LinkedIn
UX Immersive Program
Great experience being in the immersive. Gave a solid understanding of UX methodologies and concepts. Remote learning can be difficult, but GA made phenomenal efforts to make it feel like you're in a classroom setting. I felt supported by my instructors and peers while attending the program. -
Shanel Vicente Verified via LinkedIn
Stellar experience
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I am recent grad of the User Experience Design Immersive (UXDI) program at GA! First off, let me just start by saying that the experience was incredible and totally worth it!
Remote learning is extremely difficult. I imagine that remote teaching is just as tough, if not more. Teaching adults and keeping them engaged, is an especially added challenge. The instructional team of my cohort took those challenges with stride, and went above and beyond to cultivate a healthy and exciting virtual classroom environment. Shout out to Zach Thomas, Javi Calderon, Daijah Reese, and Johnson Cobb from Washington, D.C. They are the REAL DEAL! The dream team! Through and through, they each exude the core quality of a true UX designer--empathy. As a student, I had no doubt that they had a genuine interest in my well-being and success in this course. The classroom experience that they created is the epitome of authentic user experience design. It was beyond evident that each element of our classroom experience had been implemented with careful consideration, creative thought, clear intent, and passion. The discussions that we had were very interesting and engaging- very cool, real-life, relevant illustrations. They were also very conscious of our screen fatigue, and offered regular breaks so we have a chance to stretch and be refreshed. I super appreciated the special attention to mindfulness with the creative exercises and feedback sessions. The coffee time and morning meditations were a nice, considerate touch. I was also very grateful for the constant humor and interpersonal interaction between the instructors and students. The visuals that they'd incorporate were super helpful (GIFs, memes, video/movie clips, TED talks, etc). I always looked forward to our new unit projects, because my instructor gamified them and wrapped up our unit with a mini “award ceremony” and recognitions. I loved our weekly group activities, they were usually low-intensity, fun, and allowed our group members to connect and learn together. I was told in the beginning of the course, that what I get out of this course is totally dependent on what I put in. And it's so true! I think that also applies to the instructional team. I believe what the instructors put in heavily influences, and I would even say directly influences, the outcomes of the students in the course.
Some general observations about the course:- I'm social, and didn't want to do a self-paced, independent course. GA's live, virtual courses were a great substitute to in-person classes. I thought I would struggle with it, but it was surprisingly refreshing and actually one of the best courses I've participated in, including in-person high school/college courses.
- Career Foundry vs GA. I tried Career Foundry for a week or so, and I switched to GA because I wasn't motivated to do so much independent study. Career Foundry is chock-full of great resources, they have mentors available for you to meet with regularly, but the bulk of your time is spent independently reading and watching videos. There is a forum/community of other students that you are able to connect with, but I did not find it to meet my needs. The pro about Career Foundry is that you set the pace-you can go as slow or quickly as you like, and maintain a job while studying. For GA's UXDI course, it's a twelve week, full-time program, and therefore impossible to maintain even a part-time job if you want to be successful. The course offers live instruction, and the opportunity to build wonderful relationships with your classmates. There are several resources made available to you throughout the course to help you succeed. I think the human element is invaluable. Each week there is a 2 hour session with "Outcomes" that assist you with preparation for post-course job-seeking.
- GA's UXDI was $14,950 compared to Career Foundry's $6,900. This is a big difference, but totally worth it for the experience, relationships, and resources/tools you gain.
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Blu Verified via LinkedIn
Better than expected
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I was hesitant to go to General Assembly due to having a poor experience at a coding bootcamp in Utah. Due to that experience, I felt jaded by the whole bootcamp experience and assumed they were all the same, that it would be just another revolving door. Come to find out, that was the furthest thing from the truth at GA. I asked a lot of questions to the instructor and to the people at the finance department. I really pressed on them and they answered my questions genuinely and was not trying to pitch or sell me their product, which are the bootcamps. Instead they gave me the facts, the stats, and data that I needed to see to confirm my choice in going there. I went through their UX design immersive program in Denver, and it was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. The teacher has real world experience working in UX and web development. He has a background in teaching and made the course easy to understand and digestible. He was always available to talk and provide sound advice. The projects we worked on also helped me get a head start in my career search. The career coaches have been phenomenal and have provided me great feedback which essentially helped me get a job in UX. I am happy with the results I have gained here and I have already earned a return on the investment I have made here at GA. -
Greg D Verified via LinkedIn
Software Engineering Immersive Remote
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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 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. -
Alanna Celentano Verified via GitHub
Happy with my decision
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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 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. -
Eli Dagostino Verified via LinkedIn
A bit of luck and a dedication to giving it all your all will make this program an incredible experience!!
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You get out of this immersive what you put into it. I dedicated myself to listening intently to and participating in the in-class exercises then often put in 10-20 hours of work outside of class each week to get ahead and immerse myself beyond what GA offered. This dedication and commitment to participation helped me leave GA with a perfect score and rave feedback from my instructors. As far as luck goes, you can't pick your instructors, my cohort had friction with one of ours, and there were a lot of students very unhappy with their experience due to that one instructor's performance. I totally understand how they felt, but I approached the situation with the attitude of, "listen, you can't pick your coworkers out in the real world, and sometimes it's going to suck, but make the best of it you can!!" I'd do another immersive with GA. I don't think you'd regret doing one as long as you are 100% dedicated and committed to success! Also, outcomes (career) support is BOMB AMAZING!!! Having someone on your side through the job seeking process is invaluable. That is a fantastic cherry on top! Shout out to my amazing outcomes coach Chelsie! -
Samantha Verified via LinkedIn
Software Engineering Immersive Remote Flex
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I have had an overall positive experience with General Assembly's courses so far. I completed the Front-End Development remote course and it really prepared me for the next course I'm currently in, the Software Engineering immersive course. I'm currently in Unit 2, the course is very fast paced, but the instructors and TA's are incredibly helpful. The office hours and just your fellow classmates on slack are always open to help each-other, I've had study groups with multiple different classmates that have really helped me through some tough homework. The amount of homework assigned each week isn't as intimidating once you start understanding what you're learning. It's been great so far, I'm very eager to complete the program and start my new career as a Junior Full Stack Software Engineer. -
Tyler Verified via LinkedIn
You get out what you put in.
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What background in coding did you have prior to the course?- I came into my course having already coded a decent amount in my life. It was all hobby-based, but I felt pretty comfortable with HTML and CSS, as well as the basics of JavaScript. At the behest of some friends who were already software engineers, I also followed the advice I mentioned above, and tried to take advantage of AS MUCH free learning as I absolutely could. So for probably 2-3 months before I even enrolled in my Bootcamp, I took advantage of some sales on Udemy and bought some Stephen Grider React courses and learned as much as I could about the MERN Stack (MERN meaning MongoDB (your document database), Express.js (your Node.js web framework), React.js (your client-side JavaScript framework), and Node.js (essentially your JavaScript server). If I had time, I would have loved to have learned even more beforehand. Two main reasons for all of this: 1.) you get to test the waters and see if you even enjoy being neck-deep in a text-editor writing code! It’s not for everyone and that’s okay! 2.) and just-as-importantly… Most modern coding languages are just off-shoots of other languages. Many, many, many front-end languages are built on top of JavaScript/HTML/CSS. So, having a really solid fundamental understanding of these languages will do nothing but make learning the more difficult languages/concepts/frameworks THAT much easier. I personally don’t feel that it is possible to over-prepare for something like a bootcamp for these specific reasons.
Has the instruction been thorough or are you googling a lot?- Slightly loaded-question. I have LOVED my instructors. Incredibly knowledgable, empathetic, caring people who have bent-over-backwards to make sure that as many of the students in my cohort are equipped to succeed in a professional SE role post-bootcamp. The class moved kinda slowly at first, but picked up speed VERY quickly. The communicated goal was to teach us the 20% we would need to know in order to accomplish 80% of the work we would be doing. All of that to say that they, inherently, can only teach us so much in ~13 weeks. Thus, a huge focus quickly became teaching us how 1.) ask the RIGHT questions and 2.) how to scour Google or StackOverflow or wherever for answers. So… Both? The two core instructors for our cohort are very thorough, but a skill of being an effective software engineer is ultimately just problem solving, so you’ll definitely have plenty of situations where Googling a particular error or what-have-you is a must. Again, just part and parcel of being a developer.
What material haven't you get that you wish you had (not sure if you have a sense of that yet)?- Not sure I have a great answer for this one, but there are definitely things that I had to put time toward myself because we just patently did not cover them in class. Immediate things that come to mind are the core computer science pillars of data structures, algorithms, design patterns, and code-testing. We touch on each of the above in class, but I was not prepared for any of these appearing in technical interviews based on class. GA could definitely do a better job here, but 1.) there admittedly just isn’t enough time in 13 weeks of class and 2.) they did point me at resources, I just had to tackle them in my own time.
Why'd you choose this program over other programs?- Languages. I spoke to a lot of friends who were Software Engineers already, before I ever even really truly considered enrolling. They pretty much all told me the same thing: focus on what languages they’re teaching and how they support you on the job-front. GA is pretty solid on both fronts I’d say. Their tech stack is ultimately what pulled me in (we started with HTML/CSS/JavaScript to learn front-end development; then moved to full-stack and learned MongoDB, Express, Node.js, and others; then focused on drilling-down into front-end frameworks such as React; then finally learned API-driven development and kinda tying it all together, learning Ruby, Ruby on Rails, SQL, and how to make those work nicely with our frontends). Their Get You Hired Team (GA calls this “Outcomes”, which I’d say has been a little lackluster… but most of my issues with it could be tied to the fact that the entire team for my cohort is based out of DC. So they’re all crazy knowledgable, but I don’t know. There’s only so much they can do from a distance and during a global pandemic). For reference, I also seriously considered HackReactor, Flatiron School, and Turing School.
What have been the best and the worst things about the experience?- The best has been discovering a new love and passion, honestly. I absolutely adore what I do at this point, but BOY was it tough. Like, anyone considering a bootcamp just needs to be really, really honest with themselves and set realistic expectations. You are trying to learn an entirely new career field in 13 weeks – IT IS NOT EASY. There is an OBSCENE amount of information — and often incredibly dense, convoluted information at that. Once again, it IS NOT EASY. I drive that point only because we 100% lost multiple people from our cohort because it was just a lot more than they were expecting. A totally normal day for me was to be in class from 8am to 4pm (with breaks here and there + a longer break for lunch), take a power nap immediately after, and then grind on homework for 4 or more hours. That time is important too, because your homework is really your only chance to practice, and if you’re not practicing every day to some degree, you’re just making it harder on yourself. Then there was probably longer homework for the weekend, or a project, or whatever. Just wanting to be totally clear: I ate, slept, and breathed code because that’s kinda what it takes to make it through a bootcamp like this (again, just my opinion).
What kind of time are you putting in outside of class?- Not to be a broken record, but this will require a huge amount of time. I spent 500+ hours just IN-CLASS over my 3-ish months. With homework, there was generally the expectation that you would put at LEAST 4 hours toward it. If you got it done, awesome; if not, you should probably get sleep rather than throwing more than 4 hours at homework. We also had 5-ish “projects” over the course of the class. I couldn’t even begin to estimate the time I sunk into those, but we generally had 1 week of self-led work-time to finish each of those. So, ideally, you really want to have a deep interest in coding and the technologies at play with whatever you’re building. Otherwise, it just becomes difficult to stay motivated. Again, just my .02.
Are things working out with the fully remote covid plan? Are teachers accessible and approachable?
• Best as can be expected, I think? I would have preferred to be in-person, but remote learning hasn’t been nearly as drastically different as I kind of expected. You meet in your Zoom classroom everyday, anyone/everyone is only a Slack message away, my instructors were both always really good about hosting regular office hours + responding to random requests for help or insight. I also was still able to make a bunch of friends which I would 1000% recommend. The people in your cohort are quite literally the only one’s who will understand the depth of what you’re going through. It’s an experience that really brings people together, in my opinion. There are people I will most definitely keep in contact with after the Bootcamp.
Hopefully the above wasn’t too much or too overwhelming. I am 1000% a proponent of a bootcamp like GA offers, I just think everyone should know that it is, unavoidably, a massive undertaking. But you will get out what you put in.
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M.Sebiaa Verified via LinkedIn
Optimal Marketing Campaigns For Your Business
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I signed up for the accelerated Digital Marketing course which ran for about a week. Before the class, I was a bit rusty with Facebook Ads, Google Analytics/Ads and SEO. The instructor delivered real life marketing campaigns from his own business that helped us better understand how to formulate our customer persona + target market and take that research to design optimal websites/fb pages for our clients or business . I came out having finished a marketing campaign for my consulting practice. I was able to create websites + facebook pages for my clients and nurture the campaign by setting realistic KPI's; delivering optimal solutions. The marketing campaign I built for the class project became my template for future campaigns and really a recipe for success. I'm still involved with GA as an attendee of their workshops and from time to time I go there to network or work on independent projects. It's a really cool friendly community. Once you become an alumni, the possibilities are endless. -
Billy Boman Verified via LinkedIn
A Transformative User Experience Design Immersive at the London Campus
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'd never have been able to transition fully into the Digital/Tech & UX spaces without the User Experience Design Immersive at GA that I undertook at the end of 2019.
It was truly a transformative experience where I got to meet industry pros, my fantastic cohort, guest lecturers and engaged teachers. Given the time-frame, the curriculum was overall well balanced as a long as you are aware of that you are being taught the "Cookie-cutter" UX-process and that it will most likely differ to what you'll experience as a working professional.
Post-GA I was able to score a job not even a month after graduating, and this was at the height of the global pandemic in the beginning of 2020. Later in the year I ended up as a UX/UI Designer at Vodafone in London earning 44.000 GBP per year, which from my understanding is way above average for people graduating from GA.
Pro's:
- The London Campus, which is a fantastic environment filled with daily seminars after class and is overall a highly motivating and stimulating environment to immerse yourself in.
- The cohort, I've met some friends for life and the support and encouragement of the fellow students truly contributed to the learning experience.
- The outcomes team did overall do a very fine job in terms of the job support and post-course preparation for the job search.
Con's:
- Not always up to the latest developments in the industry with the rise of the product designer title, requiring more focus on product thinking, strategy and growth.
- Not everyone will be able to progress as fast as I did since I'm leaning on 10+ years of experience in other fields of design - although this wasn't always completely clearly communicated in my opinion when you often have people joining without any design experience what so ever which will result in a much harder time getting a job afterwards in the current highly competitive job market for juniors (at least in London)
- Expensive, and might not fit all budgets. -
Kiersten White Verified via LinkedIn
10/10 on all coursework
I have taken multiple courses through GA - both paid and complimentary. All the courses that I have taken have been awesome. The instructors are fantastic, knowledgeable and I always learn something. I would remind their Data Analysis Circuit and Marketing courses, especially.
