General Assembly

This course covers a wide breadth of areas in data science in a 2-month time span. I hardly had any experience with Python prior to this course. It was a bit fast-paced. But, I think the challenge was very important for me to start my Python development with a boost. I believe that the course accomodates to Python beginners and those who are more advanced. There is always an opportunity to grow. The instructors provide alot of material inside and outside of class. Also, you'll have plenty of references to utilize while you cultivate your Python skills after the course is completed.

I attended General Assembly's User Experience Design Immersive program from December 2017-February 2018. The instructor was extremely knowledgeable and helpful with a rich background in the field. Best practices are tought over 5 projects of varied length and subject matter.  Like all boot camps, General Assembly is what you make of it. Their campus is open all day long (every day except Sunday in Boston), and staff are always happy to help you understand and practice your new skills. A (minimum) cursory understanding of the scientific method or research methods is my recommendation to help you make the most of this enormous amount of information. Understanding of cognitive biases is also a plus. Design background will help a lot, but if you don't have any, you can start with youtube tutorials and GA will take you the rest of the way. 

I made the decision to jump careers and become a developer. I chose General Assembly based on their course curriculum and post-grad career support, and I could not be more pleased with that decision. My time at GA was amazing, the instructors took complex topics and presented them in a very easily understandable manner, and it fosters a great environment for learning and growth. When I look back on what I learned in the 12-week WDI program I'm amazed at what I was able to learn and do, and it would not have been possible without instructors who care and a curriculum designed to optimize what you learn and do.

I decided to do General Assembly after several failed attempts to teach myself programming. I tried reading books—they were usually out of date by the time I was trying to program against them and resulted in a lot of unnecessary and confusing bugs. I tried signing up for free MOOCs and even paid online courses—I always ended up dropping them after the first evening because I got busy with life and didn’t have anyone holding me accountable. Finally, I found General Assembly - Denver —I had the desire to learn, but they expected me to show up every day and work hard to master this stuff, and it made all the difference.

Thanks to 2 fantastic teachers who believed in me, got me excited about working in technology, and helped explain complex JavaScript and web framework concepts piece-by-piece, I mastered the basics of web development in only 3 months!

One of the things I appreciated most about the web development course was the scope of the curriculum and how tightly it was aligned to the job search. Before GA, I kept switching around between C# and Python and other languages based on friend’s recommendations, and never got any traction on any of them because I didn’t know what employers were really looking for. GA is very focused on web languages and frameworks and there are a LOT of employers looking for those skills. I was surprised how many web development roles there were once I started looking.

The other thing I really liked about GA’s curriculum was the emphasis on projects. Sure, we had daily homework and lessons, but they were all aimed towards helping us succeed during the next project. And we could make whatever we wanted—it was super exciting and motivating to have that level of freedom during school.

GA’s #1 priority as a school is to help you land a job at the end. They talk about it when you apply, they talk about it every week during school, and you have constant access to a career coach during your job search. Before you graduate, you’ve taken a professional headshot, targeted your resume, updated your LinkedIn profile, and developed a personal portfolio site that highlights your 4 projects from school. Those tools, combined with some additional networking, interviewing and negotiating salary sessions with my career coach, helped me land a fantastic first gig within 4 months of graduating! And it wasn’t just me—most of the people in my class landed jobs within 3 months of graduating.

The only con I can think of is that Denver is a relatively new campus so they are still working out some of their processes. The good news is that gives you a lot of flexibility to pitch in as a student - I decided to put on a hackathon for alums and was able to make it happen. A more established program would probably have had a lot of red tape getting in the way of innovating like that. Also, even though GA’s Denver campus is relatively new, they have the resources of GA generally and are working hard to develop the alumni community. I’m still in touch with several people who graduated in my cohort, and not only are they good resources for networking and discussing issues we’re facing in the industry, they have also become some of my good friends in town!

I completed the Web Development Immersive course at General Assembly in Atlanta. The course was amazing, and I am very happy with the skills I developed. The instructors were very knowledgeable and obviously cared very deeply about the students' success. I always felt very comfortable on campus, and it is in an interesting part of the city. 

The curriculum presented marketable and relevant technologies in a logically progressive way. The curriculum is very flexible and changes to ensure students graduate with full-stack skills employers want.

The pace is challenging, and at times seems insurmountable, but the instructors and classmates help you through it all.

I am very, very glad I attended General Assembly.

I completed the Web Development Immersive course at General Assembly in Atlanta. The course was amazing, and I am very happy with the skills I developed. The instructors were very knowledgeable and obviously cared very deeply about the students' success. I always felt very comfortable on campus, and it is in an interesting part of the city. 

The curriculum presented marketable and relevant technologies in a logically progressive way. The curriculum is very flexible and changes to ensure students graduate with full-stack skills employers want.

The pace is challenging, and at times seems insurmountable, but the instructors and classmates help you through it all.

I am very, very glad I attended General Assembly.

As I was looking into going back to school for web development I had a friend(fellow web dev) help me pick out schools. We looked at what they offered and ultimatley chose GA. The reason I chose GA was for a few reasons.

1. They had a great curriculum that was not too long and not too short. A lot of the other schools are 5-7 months and it was hard to justify and be without work for that long. 3 months was the perfect amount.

2. My web dev friend knew other people who went through the program and found success.

3. I had 2 personal friends attend GA before me and they both strongly reccommend it.

The Instructors were very helpful and explained thing really well. They did have to go fast because it was a lot to cover in 3 months, but they did an amazing job. Zeb and Joe are easy to talk to and really help you get to the answer without giving it away. 

Job Assistance really turned up when they hired Nicole, She works very hard to make connections and network so that we students have better opportunites when we look for jobs. Nicole has made my resume and cover letters look better than they ever have before. She takes the time to speak to everyone and she never stops working because she wants everyone to succeed. I currently have a job, but I still talk to her weekly to stay in touch and push jobs her way for other students. 

Overall I can't believe how quickly I got up and running in 3 months and was able to secure a job. I could not have done this withou GA. Being in the class room, struggling(in a good way) and learning this world was such a great experience. So many doors have opened up becuase I took the leap to change my carreer. I can't thank GA and the staff enough!