General Assembly

I took the Web Development Immersive in Providence which is supported by the Boston GA office. The immersive was everything I wanted it to be. Expectations for course content were very clear and there was support at every step from instructors and outcomes staff. 

Taking a bootcamp feels like a big risk and I looked into a few different options before choosing GA. I chose this bootcamp because it had positive reviews, friendly and informative staff, relevant programming langauages, and some convenience factors including cost and location. The full-time immersive curriculum is very challenging and definitely requires full commitment. 

When you finish the program there is still so much opportunity to stay connected with classmates and instructors. The job support staff hold ongoing weekly workshops and regularly check in about the job search. They are also available for one on ones to talk through any challenges and offer input on job offers. After two months of rigorous job search after completing the course I accepted a position as a software engineer and the GA reputation really helped get my foot in the door. The possibilities after GA are endless and you will walk away with a solid understanding of full-stack development and object oriented programming. You will also walk away with a sense of community. 

The course content was nothing more than could be obtained for a fraction of the price on various sites: exclusively lectures that provided a very broad overview of JS and various flavors (jQuery, APIs, React, etc.) but never got into depth with any of them. The scope would have been excusable, but there was none of the interaction/cooperation with peers or the instructor that I expected from an in-person class. Additionally, the little homework that was assigned was barely graded and the only “project” was something that the instructor loosely defined as “anything that can prove you learned something from this class.”

Short version: look elsewhere for a cheaper introduction to JS.

Here is a honnest summary of my experience at GA:

The instructor was often disrespectful and would make fun of foreign student accents, show lack of patience or inappriopriate humour.

During projects, he would just go out to the hairdresser or disappear, and sigh when we ask questions.

The content of the curriculum was ok, but would not be explained in details. If you want to learn to code, then learn it beforehand...

At times, the teacher was showing a clear lack of mastery of the languages he was supposed to teach, being corrected by students on several occasions. Courses were lacking a clear structure.

They would spend more time telling you off if you run 2' late rather than making sure you understand it all...

Also, there is a pressure as they pretend they are supposed to be your future reference for employer which adds some tension.

If you say you don't understand, they will get rid of you and just say "You will understand later and this is absolutely normal".

Don’t expect any support from the Program Team either who will reply that this formula has worked perfectly for the previous cohorts.

Finally, the outcome team would stress you out so much about job search and provide minimum support, spending time correcting insipid details from your CV and expecting you to standardize your portfolio to fit the mold.

I am really glad I did the UX Design Immersive program! I did a lot of informational interviews with past graduates before enrolling in the program. I think that was helpful in terms of expectation setting. I knew the biggest value of the program would come from the fantastic instructors, the connections we would be able to make in local industry, projects we could display in our portfolio, and the immediate network we would have with the cohort. I was totally satisfied in regards to those thigs. I know there are cheaper ways to go about a pivot such as this, but the immersive experience and the connection with others going through the same process were both really important to me. 

There are some kinks that they are still working out in terms of on-boarding, curriculum, and career services - but most of that is due to the fact that the program itself is still fairly new and they had just brought on a new career services person (who works really hard to help out all the students and graduates from each immersive program GA offers). 

I felt like I received everything I needed to prepare me for the career search hustle. I was given concrete tools to work more effeciently in my search. And like others have said, it is important to check your expectations - GA will not place you in a job. But they will give you what you need to engage in that process. 

I found the landscape to be a slightly difficult for a junior designer. All the more reason a program like this worked for me. It provided me with an opportunity to build relationships with others in the industry and totally dive into this new world. 

GA and the immersive program is not for everyone. I definitely recommend speaking with graduates and finding out as much as you can given the cost. But it worked for me!

I'm so glad I found this class! I took this class to broaden my skillset and explore whether or not UX would be a good career choice for me. Our teacher had a great deal of experience in the field, plus he brought in several guest speakers to dive deeper into specific topics. Every class focused on an aspect of UX design, and the curriculum was incredibly thorough. We ended up with a polished final project to potentially use as a portfolio piece. Overall, this really was a great experience; GA puts together a very collaborative environment that's focused on students' growth.

Having wanted to learn Web Development for years—and having failed to do so in my spare time—I dropped everything and spent my savings to attend General Assembly's Web Development Immersive. The immersive nature of the course helped to make this a turning point in my life, where I left behind a career that was comfortable for me, but less and less satisfying. Between classroom time and homework, I spent up to 80 hours a week learning the technology. I liken it to holding on for dear life to the rear of a speeding train. Every day, a new subject folded into the tools we were taught. I felt more uncomfortable than most, moving on before feeling I had a firm grasp on the subjects we'd already covered, but that’s the model. Maximum exposure, minimum depth. And it has proved true in the real world of tech that I’m utilizing new tools constantly, and need to skim and integrate on the fly.     The curriculum varied depending on the teachers. A second Web Development cohort that ran concurrent with ours had somewhat different scheduling and subjects covered.    Since our cohort of around 24 students had 3 teachers, I'd expected more individualized attention than what we got. (Instead, it was an opportunity for the teachers to rotate lectures. Different teachers had different areas of expertise, and the lectures were excellent.) We were often told that this was a pedagogical choice, with the constant refrain, "Nobody will hold your hand in the real world.” As a person who had spent many years in the “real world,” I found this exasperating. I know that I’m not learning unless I struggle. I also know when I’m not learning because I need a push in the right direction. This was not the real world. It was an expensive one-time opportunity to learn all I could in 12 weeks. Teacher interaction would be a thing that separated the experience from, say, online courses.    In the same vein, we were provided a teacher’s assistant for a few hours, 4 nights a week. It was hard to take advantage of this, as the competition for the TA’s attention was overwhelming.    Overall, I'm glad I did it. The curriculum was fine, the lectures were interesting, the environment was pleasant, and it served to give me a new direction. But the promise given the night I attended an information session before enrolling—"It's hard, but you won't be struggling alone"—was unfulfilled. 

I took the Front-End Web Development course a few years ago, and my experience at General Assembly was subpar. I know a lot of people who swear by and love it, but this wasn’t the case for me. I did meet some really nice people, and our TA was also very helpful. This class taught me a few things and while I am thankful for that, it was a ton of money, and way too much for what I got out of it. The teacher I had, although very smart and skilled, was not great at teaching beginners.

And I will add that this was definitely not a beginners-level class by any means – but it would be a great class for anyone who has a background in or aptitude for coding, or anything computer sci-related. GA should definitely have some sort of pre-requisite coursework for this class, because there was way too much content jammed into this program for a newbie. HTML and CSS should be in their own class, JavaScript in its own. The pace was also too fast, we were given assignments that were extremely challenging and there was not enough time to master the basics.

I also feel that we should have been given more time to work on our final project in class, instead we spent our time making card games or nerding out in JavaScript that would stump most developers. I had no interest in game design, I wanted to learn about web design, and the class didn’t approach it from a start-to-finish process. It jumped around.

And although my teacher was talented and knew his stuff, his style didn't work for me. Being told by my teacher to “Google it” or “figure it out” if I have questions or am lost is not helpful. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to be Googling or figuring out! Understood that after class ends I will be on my own, but when you’re in school, you should be able to feel comfortable asking your teacher questions and getting the help you need, especially when you’re paying a lot of money to be there. That’s the whole point of taking a class, and why I specifically chose to take this class, because I thought there would be that guidance. If I wanted to figure out web development on my own, I’d Google things and save myself the $3,500. I’m not sure I would return for another go-around with GA. Maybe if it were a different course, but that’s a big maybe.