Pursuit

There are better options. Don't even consider it if you're looking to do the night and weekends program. It's a difference of 25 vs. 40 hours per week, and you're expected to keep up with curriculum that's intended for the 40 hour week. The night and weekend cohorts get 400+ less hours of instruction (about 35% less instruction) and they are still expected to pay the same amount back. This utterly doesn't make any sense, considering that the resources and attention that the daytime students get is clearly superior.

Previous reviews mention this. Without scratching the surface, the concept of Pay It Forward seems like a great idea. But when you read the fine print, it's just deferred tuition and they avoid talking about it as such. Ethically, to target people from marginalized groups who seek a financial stable life in such a way is not following to the mission statement. If things go accordingly for fellows (a $60,000+ job shortly after graduation), this ends up being an incredibly expensive program, when other programs offer more affordable options. They need to put a tuition cap, and restructure the system, because their present agreement has a maximum $36,000 a year tuition (if the student makes at least $300,000...no one is going to make that). It seems like they are milking students for what they got just to fulfill requirements of a hefty loan.

The cons vastly outweigh the pros. The nights and weekends students didn't get access to the same opportunities as daytime students. A lot of the staff and program guidelines were just outright abusive. The truly good-hearted staff members left before the cycle ended and even before they finished one year of employment there. That's how toxic this place is. The students who get jobs fast are the ones who already had programming knowledge before coming here and some were recruited internally by volunteers. 

They didn't provided resources that were promised. Office hours were scheduled, but were often cancelled. Apparently, one student needing help is not enough to justify them calling in a volunteer from the tech community. Staff were afraid students would flake. That's not right. You can't deny help to students seeking it. On top of that, they kept encouraging people to sign up because it's a good networking opportunity.

There's little help post grad that's actually useful. You're more likely to find a job posting with a simple Google alert than by relying on this school's partnerships.

They told a white lie about the pay-it-forward tuition. For my class, it was explained as being inspired by a past student's donation of his first chec because he was so grateful for the program. In reality, the deferred tuition is really helping the school pay back investors and other loans. WTF. Some students actually take jobs with a low salary on purpose just so they don't have to pay back the school.

The most shocking incident of abuse happened at graduation. Students who did not finish all requirements were allowed to continue until they completed the program. These students were also invited to graduation and allowed to walk the stage. They were forced to accept blank certificates. The students had no idea this would happen. Some people had families in attendance. Imagine having to explain this to your loved ones. The cermony's program already listed these students with a note saying they were on track to graduate. This humiliation was not necessary. This was all to fill seats.

I was a fellow and I had a good experience. A lot of students complained about it, expecting a school-like experience, but I chose to not see it that way. We were being provided education that I couldn't pay for before, and had access to computers and opportunitites to perspective that I couldn't afford. I kept my attitude positive and open minded since computer science is a super deep topic and it's not something that anyone truly learns in 10 months. A professional knowledge of the subject is built over time, with experience. What the program provides is the environment and acess to working proffesionals and the opportunity to become a self learner through the guidance provided. 

I went in expecting a ramp from which I could take off, and that's what I got. I think a lot of those complains from previous students come down to personal struggles and a decision to mantain a negative perspective. I worked hard and asked questions instead of complaining, spent my free time studying, knowing that even if I didn't get a job right away I was building a skillset to get there. I didn't expect them to get me a job because I knew that it was not only technical skill but also professional skills that are necessary to land a job so I worked on those as well.

Eventually I got there, and now I have a good paying job at a great company, thanks to them. Because I understood that in the field, an engineer is tasked with using what they know, to come up with innovative solutions, fix less-than-ideal problems, learn on their own when they need to, and do so with a positive attitude in a collaborative environment. 

I would say that if you want to apply make sure that this is something you want to challenge yourself to acheieve. They won't do it all for you, but they will do their best to help you do it for youself. 

• Instructors and most Teaching Assistants lack teaching skills.
• There is no set curriculum.
  • Material is presented to students in a haphazard manner.
• There are unrealistic expectations of students.
  • It is too fast paced, especially for students who do not have a computer science background.
• Faculty and staff are rude and disrespectful toward students.
• Rules are changed seemingly at random.
  • Faculty and staff acknowledged there was not enough transparency.
• There is very little support for alumni.
  • Only a select few students at the end of the school year were given opportunities to interview with employers.
  • One staff member blatantly stated that it was not possible for them to assist all alumni with finding jobs.

C4Q (soon be "Pursuit") was one of the worst experiences of my life.  If I had known what the experience would be like, I would have simply attempted to teach myself instead of enrolling in Access Code.