General Assembly

I completed the Data Analysis Circuit on-line course offered by General Assembly.  The level of support offered by General Assembly is outstanding, each student is encouraged to select a Mentor for the course, attend on-line meetings, and participate in the class meetings.

The General Assembly team is always available to answer any questions, review your submitted projects and meet with you one on one.

This was the most positive and enjoyable training class and working with the staff at General Assembly made this a successful and informative experience.

I look forward to my next on-line training course and working with General Assembly.

This course was super valuable. It’s true that you don’t know what you don’t know.

This course has empowered me with the confidence to have UX discussions, use the industry correct language and terminology and have knowledge around what is best practice.

Since completing this course I have transitioned into a role as User Experience Designer and I am loving challenging those around me to ensure we are user -centric in everything we do.

I would have liked to have some course material that I could refer back to though.

TL;DR: Worth every minute of my time and every dollar spent.  Invaluable experience with tangible results.  Was hired at a top company within 6 days of graduation.

A little background regarding my education, experience, and character: I hold a BA in History and Comparative Religion from a liberal arts university.  I have worked as a teacher, a fashion photographer, a designer, an account coordinator, and a partner in a wedding photography business.  I enjoy traveling the globe, learning languages, and eating local foods.  In summation, I’d never had anything beyond a slim introduction to HTML prior to my decision to enroll in GA.

I formally began GA’s WDI first remote cohort after completing one month of self-directed study, a prep that gave me a solid foundation to begin but was no substitute for what I learned.  I had my suspicion regarding the efficacy of a completely online platform but it quickly dissolved as I completed my first week.

The 13+ weeks felt simultaneously indefinite and momentary.  I believe the content of the curriculum was so new and challenging that it seemed long but it was also so engaging while augmented by the fun had in class with instructors and classmates.  The most important thing about this course is that you learn and you learn a lot in a short period of time.  While the course is no substitute for a CS degree that teaches you the complex math behind machine code, the jobs a web developer is looking for doesn’t require that!  I think most people are fearful of bootcamp programs because we’ve seen the scandals involving for-profit academies (Everest, ITT, DeVry), but you need to realize that programs like this work far better for those that have already been out in the world gaining experience and looking to pivot in a new direction.

You are assigned HW nightly that certainly requires 3-5 hours of work but the projects are your true tests and ultimately become your portfolio.  I kept on top of my portfolio landing page and projects and eventually received a bite from a top company two weeks prior to my graduation.  My interests lie in front-end and web animation so when I was offered a full-time salary position with killer perks 6 days post gradation, the final validation for this course was checked off my list.

Learning to code is not a passive skill (well, at least not initially) so you must be ready to listen carefully, think critically, and apply what you learn thoughtfully.  If you do this and couple it with dedication/interest/passion/whatever drives you, failure is not an option - you will succeed.  GA has a finely tuned system with kick-ass instructors that are real people, and by that I mean they’re personable and considerate.  Many of the instructors are GA grads themselves that after a few years in the workforce have decided to come back and teach, which is killer because they can speak the same language as the novice.  I haven’t an unkind word for any of the instructors I encountered.

The same kind words apply to the operations and career outcomes staff.  GA has done a fine job sourcing amazing talent and I trust they will continue to apply these tactics to acquire even more.

To summarize, GA has an outstanding curriculum with an amazing staff that keeps you laughing and interested while teaching you hard skills that truly gets you the work you’re looking for.

I recently completed GA's Web Development Immersive and I honestly had no idea what to expect going in to the course. I had no prior development experience, beyond the free Codecademy and Code School courses I had been taking online.

I have a background in journalism and had worked for a media company designing newspapers for a little over two years prior to taking GA's WDI. I had been teaching myself to code and I fell in love with the endless possibilities that web development holds. 

I decided to make the leap and GA was the best fit for me. GA Austin is in the perfect location downtown amongst the various tech companies and you have the opportunity to meet "out in the wild" developers in that very building! GA also really stresses the importance of community and I truly have found a community within GA. I had a great community of classmates within the classroom. We got to help each other and watch each other grow. We picked each other up when someone was down and we cheer each individual's accomplishments.

The instructors and GA staff are also part of my community. Everyone wants to know how the course is going, how the job search is going and what they can do to help. I was always greeted with a friendly face or a helping hand. There are tons of networking events that help you meet past students, present students that aren't in your course and future students.

The Austin tech community is my community. GA provided networking events and invited industry professionals in to our classrooms to meet us, speak with us, and critique our work. I've met a range of developers from a variety of companies, that I know I could call on to ask questions about code, the job search or advice about the industry.

My real takeaway from General Assembly is the sense of community they provide, because the course is not easy. It takes a lot of time and a lot of energy. It is truly immersive and having that support behind you not only makes it easier, but it makes it even more fun!

I came to the course with no prior experience coding or designing anything. It was a fantastic jumpstart, super fast, engaging, at times overwhelming but overall awesome. I had two great teachers Jason, who brought his great experience and deep knowledge of the subject knowledge and Will who was a very talented teacher and very passionate coder. The learning experience was great, but I was not prepared to struggle so much to find a job afterwards. It should be expected though, when you launch 100+ Junior developers on the market at the same time the process of getting them hired it is not an easy task. 

Just be ready, you are going to be amazed about the skills you have learned but getting a job is not an easy ride. 

I attended GA for their Web Development Immersive from May 30 - August 19, 2016.  I’ll start by saying it was an experience.  

The bootcamp is a very intense experience where you’re in a classroom for 40 hours per week - taking notes, listening to lectures, and working on mini-labs as well as day-long labs.  You also have, on top of the 40 hours per week in class, an additional 20-40 hours of homework and projects to complete outside of class putting your workload realistically at 60-80 hours per week.  It’s physically exhausting as well as mentally exhausting over the course of the 12 weeks.  Bear in mind that this isn’t a full-time job and part-time job that you’re probably tired of or bored with.  This is a course where you’re constantly being pushed mentally to grasp new material and apply it in solo settings, paired settings, and group settings; it’s exhausting, but also refreshing and exhilarating at the same time.  You’re encouraged to go to meet ups when you find the time between class, homework, and projects if you have the energy, to meet new people, expand your network, and hopefully meet someone who needs what you have to offer (i.e. employers and freelance work).  Somewhere in the mix of all that, you get resume coaching by a professional career coach, personal portfolio site coaching by professional designers, behavioral interview prep by professional recruiters, technical interview prep by professional programmers, and lectures about freelancing, negotiation, and a host of “soft” skills to prepare you for your eventual job search and career.  Somewhere in there, you also tour a couple of local tech/tech-oriented companies.  We visited uShip and Atlassian.  

The 12 weeks are structured in 4 units - 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 3 weeks, and 3 weeks.  You’re asked over the course of the 12 weeks to build 1 game, 2 group projects (1 front end, 1 back end), and 1 final capstone solo project with most people opting to make a full stack application for this, but the program leaves it open-ended as to what you do.  With the exception of the game at the end of week 2, where everyone is assigned the same game, the other 3 projects are left completely up to your groups and yourself to decide what to build.  You’re asked to be creative.  You’re asked to be logical.  You’re asked to be patient.  You’re asked to be motivated.  The program is very demanding of what you bring to the table.  

If you’re not so much intimidated by all of that that as you are excited by it, then please keep reading because you might have found your next step in life.  

It’s a blast!  You’ll meet people from so many different walks of life.  In my class, there was a college student majoring in business, a former Computer Science major, a former Army Ranger, a game designer, a journalist, 2 people who worked in finance, a guy who took on various roles at various companies, and a former Apple employee.  I was a music composition major in college, and worked as a pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher for a few years before I decided to transition to something new, which ended up, after a year and a half of searching, to be computer programming for web development.  You’ll come to make friends with these people, love them for their quirks, hate them for their quirks, and eventually have a sense of camaraderie with them because you all made it through something together that not everyone wants to do, nor, I’m not even sure, can do.  

ALSO, you’re in one of the coolest towns in the U.S.!  Austin is the live music capital of the U.S., so just the live music scene alone is something special.  Austin also has all kinds of hiking trails, like the Barton Creek Greenbelt, and natural swimming holes, like Barton Springs, to explore.  Everything Austin offers makes for a great environment to deflate and relax from the intense programming environment you’ll be entering into.  

This is pretty standard information, though, so I’d like to talk more about my personal experience with and in the program.  

I had never coded before GA, and so I was really going out on a limb here spending that kind of money, investing that kind of time, and putting myself way outside my comfort zone.  I’ve never been “a computer person”.  I used computers, but not for anything extraordinary; just Facebook, YouTube… the usual suspects.  I always had this weird interest in learning to program for some reason, though, and an acquaintance of mine always talked about it with such passion and verve.  I never gave myself the time or credit to teach myself how to program, so I ended up telling myself, “Now or never… you’re not interested in pursuing music professionally anymore, you’ve worked several odds-and-end jobs with nothing really catching your imagination… go for it!”  So I did.  It was the best decision I’ve made in my adult life.  I’m 27.  So now you know my non-existent programming background prior to GA.

(Note:  For anyone older reading this, there were also people much older than me, though.  I think in the cohort that started a few weeks after mine, there was a guy who was in his 40s.  In my class, the aforementioned game designer was 31.)

The application process was cool.  They give you very limited resources and ask you to build your own About Me website and submit it.  I did this, so they scheduled an interview.  I got accepted.  It wasn’t stressful.  They just try to engage you, see what gets you ticking, and get to know you.  Next was the pre-work to be completed before the program started, so there was at least an exposure to fundamental concepts.  The pre-work is challenging, and, unfortunately, in my opinion, I think GA could do way better with this pre-work.  Every time you come to the exercises, you feel like you aren’t prepared for them, which is not how the program is.  The labs, homework, and projects are very challenging, but you’re very well-prepared for them.  It may seem like you’re not at times, but you are.  You just have to really mine your mind for the information you’ve been exposed to.  This pre-work, however, can be quite harrowing at times, so if you decide to enroll, start working on the pre-work, and feel like an idiot… don’t worry… I was the same.  I’m not sure if it’s the exposure to a completely new way of thinking, or if it’s just the pre-work is insufficient in its explanations… it definitely leaves you wondering whether you’re going to be able to do this.  I can assure you again, though, the rest of the program plays out much better.  

My instructors were awesome!  Sean, Amanda, and Britney Jo… they were something else.  Very patient people who want nothing more than to see you succeed.  I don’t know GA’s process for hiring teachers, but they seem to pick the cream of the crop.  These people are so knowledgeable and very kind.  To boot, instructors from the other classes like Ross, Riley, and Mike reach out to you and make sure you’re doing well.  

The staff is really great, too!  Really cool people from Leah and Emily, to Nicole and Sarah, to Chris… there’s several of them.  They went above and beyond to make sure all of us were doing alright, and would always say, “Hey, how’s it going?” when you passed them in the hallway.  They hosted a potluck where all of the students brought food, and we ate together.  They know you’re spending money and time to be there, and they want to make it worth your while and really make you feel like you’re part of something.  

Something I haven’t mentioned about my experience is what was happening in my life outside of GA.  My father passed away halfway through the program, and I was very distraught by this loss.  The staff and faculty, with the exception of 2 or 3, all came up to me individually and privately to express their condolences.  Leah sent flowers to my mother.  They were incredibly flexible and accommodating, going so far as to offering to extend the program an extra week for me so I could go be with family for a week in the immediate aftermath.  They were also very supportive.  Everyone would engage me in conversation and check to make sure I was doing alright.  I really wouldn’t have graduated without the support they gave me.  I was completely alone in Austin.  I’m from Arkansas, so Austin is 9 hours away from my family and friends.  What they did for me meant the world to me, and, I think, speaks very positive worlds about the people you’ll be engaged with on a daily basis.  

I’m a very cynical person, but I believe in this school. 

A friend of mine I met there who was enrolled in the previous Web Development Immersive which started prior to but overlapped with mine, said something very succinct, which describes the experience in a hilarious, but apt way.  He said, “WDI was the greatest experience of my life that I never want to repeat again.”  I expressed this sentiment to my friends in my cohort as well as my friends in the Android Development Immersive and the User Design Immersive that were happening simultaneously with my cohort, and everyone who heard it laughed and agreed.  It’s damn intense, but it’s also a damn good time.  

If you have any further questions you didn’t get answered here, I encourage you to talk to the staff, but you’re welcome to contact me on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinstandefer 

I'll tell you first and foremost, deciding to attend GA was one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself.  If you're like me then what you really want to know is "am I going to get a job". that depends on a lot of things like how much work you put into it, how good your instructors and classmates are (mine were incredible), and that je ne sais quoi that makes some people successful for no quantifiable reason. What I can tell you with certainty is GA will make you employable. I went from no coding background to full time salary employee at a startup tasked with building out the android app by myself, and I'm doing great.  You will leave GA with those skills.  The greater hurdle is convincing employers that despite the notable lack of a degree you are actually more qualified that Johnny Justgraduated because you've spent the last three months doing the job they are hiring for.  It's not fair, I know, but a good friend once told me you gotta bet on yourself.

Before General Assembly, I was attending a traditional university studying computer science. There, I found that I wasn't learning any real-world skills. I had the desire to create something, but I didn't have the ability to do so. I heard about General Assembly through a friend, and he had told me it was the best decision he's ever made.

I decided to take the plunge! The interview process went smoothly. The admissions staff is very kind and informative, and I learned about General Assembly's mission through them. I had some prior knowledge of development, so the pre-work was a bit simpler for me than it may be for others. However, I could see the benefit for anyone coming in with no experience. 

I was nervous. Perhaps the course wouldn't quite live up to my expectations. I had heard so many different things, and read polarizing reviews. Soon after arrival, I figured out that General Assembly was the real deal. It is tough. The workload is intense, and you will find that the only thing on your mind at times is the course. This is exactly what I wanted though. It is called an immersive, and that's exactly what you get from GA. It really was an experience unlike anything I have done before. I was constantly thinking about code. I believe this is the only way someone can learn such an immense amount in only three months.

Besides the course load, GA gave me much more. I made new friends in a new city. I was given confidence in myself that was missing. I was provided mentors and peers that will be connections for life. I found a challenge, and I overcame it. Most of my cohort was comprised of people who were not challenged in their current careers, or were just not satisfied with them. I can say confidently that GA's immersive programs are the perfect way to make that change.