General Assembly

One word - Brilliant.

This course was delivered in a timely and clear manner. Our instructors are knowledgeable and welcoming to new students especially to those who are not proficient or new to Analytics. 

The learning environment is practical and fosters creativity which is vital to a short course such as this one, allows us the freedom and confidence to experiment and improve when we are not in class. 

Furthermore, the communication between instructors and the GA admin is immediate and informative - this is a huge stress relief for us all as undertaking this course while we have other commitments can be strenuous. 

With that, it would be slightly more beneficial to students if the course could be more tailored to the local demographics - however I understand the course is designed in NYC, however some autonomy to the local instructors could serve to benefit students.

Other than that - I would 10/10 recommend this course.

I just graduated from General Assembly's Web Development Immersive in Atlanta -- WDI12. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at GA and feel confident that, with time, I will find the right company to exercise my newly honed skills. 

The instructors, teaching assistants, frontline staff, and outcomes career coach make for a safe and challenging space in which to learn. From day one of the course, both the operations manager and the instructors make it very plain -- this is going to be exceptionally hard. It's an immersive, your days will be consumed with schoolwork 9-5 and 5-9. In my experience, it was more like 8:30am to 11pm every single day -- nothing but code, new tools, face palming because you were missing a semi-colon in one place and it took you hours to find it, frustrating, and maddeningly rewarding. 

There is one variable that is beyond your control and that is who is sitting in the classroom with you. I cannot emphasize enough how important my peers were to me. I graduated with some of the most humble, compassionate, and brilliant developers. Every single person would happily pause what they were doing to help a fellow classmate whether it were to debug a problem or offer an opinion on styling. I hope every GA cohort is so lucky to have amazing peers and instructors to lean on. 

GA wasn't just about a coding experience, it has also given me an understanding of being adaptable to the ups and downs that we had experienced in the beginning of each unit. I now embody a strong self-belief that regardless of the outside circumstances, I am able to do whatever I set my mind to because I have done so many times before. Another great fulfilling experience was working in a group, it has helped me develop a team mindset and an ability to find the unique speciality in each of my team members. It also gave me a chance to push myself and support my team at the same time, which is a plus!

Most appealing aspect of General Assembly courses is the practical and hands-on nature. We get the opportunity to learn concepts and become aware of relevant tools, then  offers a platform to apply all we learn and share our findings in the form of a final project. Instructors are of high caliber, we are able to learn from true experts. Support staff are very friendly with great customer service. This course demonstrates "Data is the future of oil", when data is handled and managed appropriately, decisions can be more effective.

As a freshly graudated 22 year old math major with little idea of what career I wanted to pursue, I stumbled upon General Assembly's Data Science Immersive Program shortly after graduating and am extremely satisifed with my overall experience. My instructors in the course were extremely knowledgeable and taught me more than I ever could imagine in the course of three months. Although I can't say I'm a master of machine learning (it would be impossible to do so in just three months), I know what I don't know and have honed the ability to LEARN which is perhaps the most important skill in the tech industry nowadays. This course put me on track to succeed as a data scientist in my mid 20s and the confidence to go out into a job interview ready to answer techincal questions and having valuable skills to bring to the table.

One important thing to note about the course is that you really need to drive to constantly learn new things and also have some interest in mathematics/ programming or you will quickly fall behind. That being said if you want to make a career change into working with data and possess those attributes, the GA Data Science Immersive Program is a great start to catapult you into the field.

I went to General Assembly when I realized that I was ready for a big career shift and I was going to need some help. I was beginning the process of switching careers from an actor on Broadway to a role in the tech industry as a web developer. I am incredibly grateful to the entire team at GA for their help and support on my journey. First and foremost, GA's teaching staff are not just great educators, but also professionals currently working in the industry. Their knowledge stems from a deeper understanding of how you will actually use these technologies in an day to day working environment. As a result, I never felt like I was being taught something that wouldn't be relevant. They were all passionate about the material and had clearly taken time to prepare before the class. I am forever grateful for the teachers I had during my time at GA. 

The second thing about my experience at GA that I cannot praise enough is their outcomes team. One of the biggest problems I had with my undergraduate experience was that I felt like I was educated on what to do once I had the job I was seeking but there was no help or real hands-on training or support for how to get the job. GENERAL ASSEMBLY DOES THIS SO WELL! Their team worked with us very early on in the course and for months after I had graduated. Having people actively sharing your resume, supporting you, submitting your work, and working on your behalf who know you personally is so valuable. And they aren't just helping you find the job but educating you on how to improve your resume, interview techniques, cover letters and more. This is what puts General Assembly ahead of so many other schools that offer web development courses. 

I've worked in the digital industry for 15 years but was feeling a bit flat. I finally had the headspace (after having 2 kids) to start thinking about my career again and wanted to fill in the gaps and get up to speed.

That was my intention... but what happened exceeded expectations.

I had used the 'tools of the trade' before, and had even freelanced as a UX designer. But this course gave me a better understanding of the WHY, and HOW to turn all the bits of information into actionable insights and using that to inform the design process.

It was challenging and empowering to break old habits and to focus so much energy on making sure you are solving the 'right' problem before allowing yourself to move into solution mode. Seeing classmates go through their own 'aha' moments was really interesting, as was the breadth of final presentations and hearing all the challenges and pivot moments. We had an extremely supportive group of teachers, teaching aids and classmates.

Two months on, and I am loving my job. Applying the 'process' of UX to my current work has been immensely satisfying and achieving much better results. Instead of using the 'tools' in an ad hoc manner, I have the confidence to communicate the entire process as part of risk management and get more engagement from stakeholders. Instead of being reactive when somebody tells me they need a solution that does XYZ, I can use the UX language to find out more about the 'suspected problem' so we can move through the various stages to make sure we are solving the right problem before we even start thinking about the solution.

I could go on and on. Suffice to say I loved the course and completely recommend it.

A well run course, pitched primarily at the entry level for Digital Product Managers.  The presenter did a great job of presenting the key principles in a fresh and lively manner and illustrated many key points with some real world examples.  The class members were energetic, fun and made solid contributions to learning for everyone.  Final, group project added an extra dimension to learning and it was practical and fun.  A great way for me to get a refresh on some key Product Management principles and upskill on more digitally focussed areas.