General Assembly

I have taken both the Front End Web Development and Javascript classes at the DTLA campus, with the goal of improving my skills for work. In both cases what I learned was from professionals active in the industry and the knowledge I obtained was immediately useful in my work environment. So I know that the promise of learning current, relevant information is absolutely true. Both classes I took were the part-time evening classes (twice a week, 3 hours per night for 10 weeks...plus homework). Even though the classes were part time, I learned quite a bit. In the Javascript development class, some programming knowledge plus html and css experience really helped.

I took the Data Analytics course with GA in the Summer of 2018, and loved it. I had already had quite a bit of Excel experience before I took the course, so I was a bit nervous that it would be repetitive - it wasn't. We dove into Excel much deeper than I had before, which provided an immediate boost at my current role. Then we learned SQL and Tableau and other ways to communicate and visualize data. Lots of hands on practice in class as well as homework in class. I now feel my confident in my ability using data tools, and know what I hope to learn from here. Thanks GA!

General Assembly is an extremely welcoming and supportive environment. The frontlines staff is incredibly warm, friendly, and helpful. And the job support is so so useful and helpful.

As for the Web Development Immersive, I have so many good things to say about that program and the people who taught me.

Justin is an amazing teacher. He is skilled, compassionate, challenging, fun, supportive & encouraging. He is a rare combination and I feel very lucky and grateful to have had the experience of taking a class from him. I thank him for creating a welcoming, judgement-free, and silly classroom that allowed for great personal growth and learning.

Dalton was such a huge help throughout this entire process. He was always ready, willing, and happy to help in any way he could. When he taught us subject matter, he always presented material in a very clear, concise way. 

These instructors and the staff/space at General Assembly made my experience what is was. I highly recommend visiting for yourself - meeting your teacher and getting a sense for the place and the people. I think it's what makes General Assembly stand out above the other options in the bay area. 

GA gave me the most valuable experience for what user experience design is all about, not only with the coursework, but with the instructors (who went out of their way to be there for us) and the wonderful cohort that I learned so much from.

General Assembly's UX Design Immersive program was awesome. It was intense with a large workload. Do not go into this program thinking you will be able to have another job or have many other obligations. The bottom line in this program is you get out of it what you put into it, so if you are serious, this experience will be invaluable.

I know other cohorts have had awesome teachers as well but Imani and Shalom were amazing instructors. They have become some of the best teachers I have ever had. They bring to the UX classroom a passion for relevant issues and topics that make everyone around them see how UX can and should be applied to all areas of life. I feel lucky to have been taught by Imani and Shalom. The people in my class are also amazing and helped harbor an open environment where everyone felt comfortable giving and receiving feedback, which is an essential skill when working in the real world.

Cannot say enough good things about this program and school. Remember, if you are considering ANY boot camp do not go into it thinking a job will be handed to you, or that there will be someone there to hold your hand at all times. UX is about solving problems and you have to have the drive to do so. Like any school, this program will give you the tools to succeed if you are willing to put in the work.

I'll start with the result - I finished a 3 month Web Development immerasive course in the Santa Monica Campus in April 2018. After following the recommendations and advice of the GA 'outcomes' team I had 3 offers by the end of May. 

The course was intensive - many of us were new to programming, switching careers and required a lot of study. One thing that I underestimated was how much I had to prepare BEFORE I started the course. One recommendation to all considering this program is to do some self learning beforehand. GA has wonderful tools to get you started. Their pre-work is awesome in itself to get you familiarized with HTML and CSS. Looking back, I would've been more confident at the end of the course had I focussed on learning javascript prior to starting. 

GA is very invested in its students not just during the course but after too.The outcomes team is excellent and following their methods landed me in a good spot. They also have a yearly (I think) 'reverse career fair' event where you present your work in a fair sort of setting and companies are invited to talk to you. This is what got me 2 of the 4 interviews I had. 

General Assembly's Web Development Bootcamp in San Francisco was a very positive experience for me. I had Brock and Kenny as my instructors, and they were excellent. If I ever approached either of them with a problem, they wouldn't settle until they figured it out, and were always patient and supportive. You have to put in the work though, because they want to see that you are putting in a effort to figure out the issue yourself.

I self studied for about 8 months prior to starting the course, and I feel that this really prepared me for the intensity of the immersive. I had the luxury of studying part-time while I was still in college getting my degree in Biology, and I had realized I wanted to switch careers before graduating.

In all honesty, the course will be rough if you come in with no experience, but it is definitely doable and shouldn't determine whether you choose to do it or not. Learning something new everyday and applying it is no easy feat, and immersing yourself into web development before the course will definitely help you. You also have to realize that your learning doesn't stop once the course concludes either. Software development is a constant learning process, to quote my instructor Kenny, you have to ABC. (Always Be Coding).

My career coach Jonathan was also very supportive and really helped me succeed at General Assembly. He gave me great career insights throughout the whole program, and he really takes his time with each student to understand their background and interests, giving each student unique advice on how they should conduct their job search. He was also great at helping everyone develop the soft skills necessary to be successful during meet ups, phone screens, and interviews.

I accepted an entry level Front End Developer position before I graduated the immersive, and couldn't have done it without the support of my instructors and career coach. General Assembly's program is great, but you also need to put in a massive amount of work to be successful. I sacrificed a ton of free time to learn this stuff before attending the program, so if I have one piece of advice for people on the fence about a bootcamp in general it's this: if you can survive 4+ months of self study for atleast 2 hours a day, and still have the drive to attend a program like this, do it 100%, it will really accelerate your learning process and you will succeed if you put in the work!

To start - with any boot camp you do, what you get out of it is what you put into it. Most of these courses will have pros and cons, which you have to weigh before you choose one. But you absolutely have to put in the work or you won’t get as much out of it. Also - prepare yourself for what you’re getting into, read this.

General Assembly’s full-time UX course is the only full-time in-person course that I know of in the L.A. area. It is also the most expensive option that I am aware of.

But, since I could live with my parents if I stayed in Los Angeles, and wanted to do in-person because online learning isn’t a great option for me, and didn’t want a course that would take 6+ months to complete, and taking into consideration that I would likely end up working in Los Angeles, I went with GA.

 

PROS:

Professor: My professor, Gerrit, was awesome. He explained complex issues really well, was relaxed and calm in his demeanor, provided helpful feedback, and was always honest and transparent. He brought in explanations and rationales based on personal experience and was originally a graphic designer, which was nice since that is part of my background.

Classmates: I loved that I was in an in-person program. My class was about 17 students, which at times felt like a lot, but I am ultimately grateful because I enjoyed the groups I was in, loved meeting and learning with new people, and overall was honored to be surrounded by people from such a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and ages. I enjoy surrounding myself with those who are different than me so I am continuously challenged.

Job Support: While I just finished the program last week, I’ve enjoyed the openness and support from our Career Coach. He’s easy-going, readily available, easily reachable, and pushes you to utilize him for help. He helps with interview prep, portfolio, and cover letter review, and you can go to him for pretty much anything and if he can’t specifically help, he’ll go out of his way to find someone who can, which is amazing.

Group projects and portfolio pieces: I also chose an in-person course so I could work on projects with a team since that is how it likely is in a job. I enjoyed my teammates and I gained valuable experience in learning how to balance personalities and differences of opinion. We got to work with a real client as our last project which is great as well since the other two are spec projects. One project is also solely focused on your portfolio, and GA puts a lot of emphasis on trying to make you as career ready as possible.

 

CONS:

Coding/Development: The primary gripe I have but didn’t negatively impact my experience, is that we don’t work on projects with developers. I don’t know if that is something other schools do, but it would be smart to pair up UX students with someone from the web development classes to work on a  project together. Designers have to work with developers in a professional setting, so it’s great practice to do that in a school setting.

The course also didn’t cover any coding basics, but they give you $500 towards their courses, and you can take night classes and all day weekend classes to learn some basics, which is what I did. You can also do that for visual design, job prep and more. So I don’t see that as much of a negative, but some might.

Price: GA is definitely the most expensive school I looked into, which means my loan is bigger, but the school could use to be a few grand cheaper. Here’s to hoping I just get high paying job!

Admissions variations: While I naturally get neurotic when making major decisions so I spent weeks, sometimes even months, doing research on programs and UX in general before I chose this program. But many students don’t necessarily do that. Some students in my class were told different things by different admissions people, and there really needs to be consistency so all students are coming in equally prepared. For example, if students don’t have any visual design experience, they should be prepared for what they will need and spend time learning. Or if students want to work while doing a full-time program, they should be heavily warned against it - not casually warned against it.

Interaction design: We didn’t spend too much time on learning the nitty-gritty of this, which, in a sense, makes sense since it’s only an 11-week course and UX is a massive discipline with many verticals. But a quick project on it would have been nice.

 

LAST THOUGHTS

Again - I spent a lot of time preparing myself for this course mentally and financially. I watched YouTube videos, read Medium articles, talked to folks who took the course before, and really made sure its was the right fit and the right decision. I come from a graphic design and marketing background, which was incredibly useful. So take what I am saying with a grain of salt.

 

Some students in my class came from wildly different backgrounds, like acting, music and finance. If you feel like you need to take a few brief courses in things like visual design or the like to prep, it’s incredibly useful and just makes it so you won’t fall behind.

I had an incredible experience in David Bickham's 1-week Data Analytics course. This course had the same curriculum as the full 10-week course and I loved being able to get so much content in that 1-week structure. David was an incredible instuctor who brought so many real world examples into the course. He made sure every single student was truly comprehending the course work. We had a nice small class size and it was really fun to get to see everyone's final projects because we really learned a ton. I used a data set from my work and was actually able to use my final project for my job. I highly recomment taking the Data Analytics course and was really happy with the depth of the curriculum and the instruction. Being a block from the beach was a pretty amazing location also.

The Web Development Immersive at General Assembly was a wonderful experience. The curriculum was challenging but very rewarding. The environment and support I received was the best. The instructors really challenged me to get out my comfort zone, while providing great advice. The camaraderie built with my classmates and teacher is one of the few surprises. I still keep in contact with all of them and we still lean on each other for help. This class is worth it and a great way to jump start your career in tech.

I was a journalist feeling unfulfilled in many areas of the profession and decided I needed a new passion to pursue. When I decided I wanted to go after web development, I got recommended GA and got a good vibe for what the full-time program offered. I quit my job and pulled the trigger and got introduced to some of the most challenging moments of my life but also some of the most dedicated instructors I have ever met.

General Assembly gives you the resources to transform your life, but you have to put the work in. There are going to be some pretty frustrating moments, and you might have to be in the classroom from 9 to 9 to grasps the new concepts and get your work done, but it's worth it. 

It definitely helps to start teaching yourself how to code before you sign up for the bootcamp. I would not recommend signing up with literally zero coding experience, that's just not prudent. It's a huge investment so you should prepare yourself as best as possible and be ready to put your "life" on hold for 12 weeks. You have to live at GA if you wanna succeed, at least if you were like me and were making this 180-degree change.

Good luck!

The curriculum that GA has for Python is very flawed.  It was filled with errors and typos, and there is no homework.  Its basically a powerpoint presentation, and a very thin one at that.  There is a lab that asks you to do things that were not covered in class.  I did a free course on Kaggle that had far superior written content and actually had written homework.  I complained in a nice manner about all of this, and the result was the typos on the powerpoint were corrected, but no homework was ever given.  The instructors were great, very nice, talented and caring.  But there advice to me was to direct me to free materials on-line.  So they were aware that people needed better source material and homework.  I also heard this feedback from almost everyone I spoke to in the class (about 25%).  Note many participants have the class paid for by their company, so they are not as interested in the value they are receiving.  But if you have to pay the tuition yourself, you will realize its a total waste of money.  Please don't take this class.   The GA feedback person was very pleasant but nothing changed.  The school is most interested in making money, do not be fooled.   For Python you are better off doing an on-line course.  (I also reviewed the curriculum with an NYU student and several python coders I work with, and they also agreed the course was not created correctly). I hate to leave a bad review, but I want others to avoid paying for something that is a rip off. 

The part-time data science course was a fantastic crash course in data science with Python.  Ben did an amazing job taking us through all of the different parts of the machine learning process (after reviewing the Python basics to get us ready to work through all of it), and we then were able to get the practical experience of putting together our own projects and presenting them in front of the class, which was invaluable.  The course was structured very well, as each bit of information built on top of the last.  I would happily recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn data science and can't commit to a boot camp! 

For the amount I paid for this course, I definitely feel scammed. I have to say I could have learned elsewhere for free or for much less. The promise they make of assisting you to get a job after finishing the course is a complete sham. I followed every single step the outcomes team tells you and 5 months later, no jobs. They don't teach you how to think like a programmer they just teach you how to copy and paste and that will not get you a job. If you are thinking about joining General Assembly. DO NOT do it. You're better off taking Udemy classes (I've learned more with udemy that with GA) and use the money to pay for your own living expenses for 3 months and learn on your own.

Data Science

I was really pleased with the pacing and content of the class. I feel like I was able to get a solid overview of practical UX theory and application, and through the class I made a working prototype of a project I'd built and tested.

The remote aspect wasn't an impediment at all-- the class used a clever combination of video conferencing and Slack to create a very communal environment. 

I stumbled across coding during my Biology degree, quickly deciding that playing in Python was far more fun than looking down a microscope. On graduating I hung up my white lab coat and applied to GA, choosing the Data Science Immersive programme for its analytical and statistical focus.    The bootcamp-style greatly appealed to me over a year-long masters; with the goal of entering the industry it seemed logical to concentrate on the skills directly required for my career. The GA mantra of eat-sleep-breathe-code just works: like any language, the best way to learn is by immersing yourself in it. Being able to discuss projects with peers and receiving constant feedback from industry professionals also means that you learn at a much faster pace than if you were battling it alone.    I came out of GA knowing how to brand myself as a data scientist for the kind of company I'd like to attract, and I'm delighted to say it worked. I am now at a machine learning startup: it's challenging, cutting-edge, rewarding and fun. Incredibly grateful to be where I am.

The course at GA in London was brilliant, i cant believe the amount i learnt and what i was able to produce within the week. The campus was really inviting and the teaching team were obviously passionate about their subject and taught in a really considered way. What I loved was that all through the course I felt like i was being taught all really practical skills, very real world. The environment within class was friendly and collaborative which furthered the enjoyment of learning. I would highly recommend this course, and would suggest you put this first for the week you are there as thats the best way to get the most out of it. I left the course feeling a lot more confident and really productive about my future and my abilities. 

The Good: Curriculum was broad enough to get a great taste of Data Science methods and deep enough to make you conversive in key concepts. And if you plan your capstone correctly, you get to go a little deeper into specific methods that interest you. In the end, I was able to leverage the combination of my experience and the tools learned at GA to land the job I wanted.

The Bad: Instructional method was heavily dependent on virtual classroom, with too little in-classroom support. Local instructor should have been more involved and coordinated with virtual instructors. Regarding the two primary instructors, one was really good at keeping the class engaged through Slack, but the other was not. Most of my cohort had a clear preference and learned a lot more from the more engaged instructor. Having said that, the course materials are generally excellent and sufficiently detailed to make up for any instructor concerns - I learned a lot from the notebooks provided.

I really liked the Job Assistance that was given throughout the course. They offered the right level of input for updating your resume/LinkedIn/portfolio/etc. in order to present the right story to potential employers. My LinkedIn profile was key to me landing the job after graduation, though I have to admit it took longer than expected. The Outcomes team also provided several good leads, a couple of which I got pretty far with.

 

The excellent teachers and great facilities were just a small part of the fun and intense time at GA i’ve Had over the past 3 months. Coming to GA after a year spent researching, I just  wish i’d come here much earlier to begin my transition to become a confident and versatile UX Designer.  Thanks GA 🤗🤗🤗