General Assembly

GA's part-time front-end web development course gave me an amazing foundation in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I got a better understanding of how websites work and had a lot of fun creating my project.

The class definitely gave me the vocabulary to better communicate with developers. I knew we wouldn't leave as expert front-end web developers after 20 three-hour classes, but the amount of information covered was impressive. Overall I finished the class feeling confident in my HTML and CSS abilities, but have a ways to go on JavaScript (mostly jQuery), which was extremely challenging for me.

Most importantly, though, we learned how to find the answers and resources we need as we continue to learn after the class. The instructors were fantastic, and went above and beyond in helping students with their projects and with difficulties throughout the class.

I came into this course hoping to learn some basic data science, and had an excellent experience. I've long enjoyed math, but have always struggled to get excited about statistics; this course was the first time that I cared enough about statistics to dive into what the many variables meant, how they were related, and how to think about the results I got. It was fun to play with data at the intersection of statistics and programming. I do wish we had more time in class to practice our skills; class time was almost entirely lecture, with most exploration left to homework, but this allowed us to cover more content. The building is nice, instructors & student experience team are awesome, and other students were also engaged & interested in learning.

i am glad I landed in GA on google one day and my choice only solidified because of the reviews I got from colleagues who were then taking courses too at GA

Once I had filled in enquiry I was helped by a team member of GA who relieved me of doubts 

And once the class started I loved every bit of it

Even the days were challenging and I was struggling my instructors helped me see through it and I am here on my final day

It’s over but I am gonna miss it 

The one week Product Management course was intensive, with rather a lot of work to do each evening. But it was well-paced, and lots of fun too and we laughed a lot during class time. I left having achieved my goal of feeling more confident about entering the workforce after being at home with three small children.
There was a high calibre of students doing the course which made it more interesting and helped my learning process. The course instructor had a nice balance of humour and seriousness, and all of the team at General Assembly in Sydney are happy to help if needed. We were asked to give feedback on a daily basis, and it was always addressed the following day which was impressive.
You get lots of helpful material to refer to later, and as a bonus I have some good memories of my time there.

In October of 2016, I found my self at my desk writing my two weeks notice that I never planned on submitting. I was just tired and bored of my current job at the time. My work life balance was nonexistence. I was out the house before my wife and kids were awake and home around bath and bedtime. A few weeks later I was laid off due to a merger. For years I have played around with code. I knew enough to be dangerous but not enough to employ. My wife saw this passion I had for tech and suggested that Go back to school for and get my CS degree. I Did my research and found out quickly that it would cost me 30-45k and 2-3 years to accomplish this. During my research, I found about boot camps. I had no idea what out how boot camps worked. I visited a few local campus here in Atlanta. One of those was General Assembly. From day one this staff has been friendly, transparent and encouraging. I was sold almost immediately after attending a weekend "How to code session".  I schedule a meeting with Jordan Evan ( Admission Counselor) to discuss the 12 weeks immersive.  We went back and fouth for a couple weeks weighing pros and cons. He was extremely patient with me.  After another talk with my wife, I decided to sign up.   

From day one of the 12 weeks, GA has exceeded all of my expectations  Everyone one from the Frontlines team to Regional Director.   Especially during my moments of doubt.  There were two determining factors that lead me to choose GA Course Curriculum and the GA Community.   6 weeks after completing the course I accept a Software Engineer position. Yes, a real salaried with full benefits. ( And the pay is above the median salary for my city)

Thank you to all the amazing staff at the Atlanta Campus for supporting and pushing me past my expectations.  If you are looking for a boot camp to attend stop call General Assembly. Your search is over.

I took completed the General Assembly Web Development Immersion course ( 3 Months) back in April 2016.

Game Changer is an understatement.

<< Background

 Before GA, I was a creative (video producer and video editor of explainer videos).  I am currently a web developer at an ad agency (video game clients).  In no way shape or form could I have gotten the job, or had the opportunities if not for GA.  Before I started, my Father doubted the Bootcamp path.  My programmer friend insisted I was a CREATIVE, and programming was hard, and doubted the program.  That programmer friend eventually hired me right out of school to work at Kik, a chat messenger.

<< Expectation

I believe ANYONE can learn to program.  It takes curiosity, a bit of stubbornness, and a strong work ethic.  But if you have these qualities. You will learn to code for 10 hours a day for 3 months.  Build 4 pretty amazing apps from your own brain. 

<< The Job Hunt and my path

1) Hired 2 days out of school to do a hybrid part programming, part partner relations

2) 6 months later took a pay cut to do a full programming job at small agency

3) 2 Months later hired full time at a Bigger Agency to do Front End Development (this was my strength, still do PHP as well)  

<< Downsides

Even out of school you will get recruiters who think dev camp programmers compared to CS grads are not as good.  I mean we are talking about 3 months vs 4 years.  You will be on coding interviews and may bet your ass handed to you.

<< Upsides

In this profession, you just need to keep learning to get paid more.  Every day is an opportunity to code and become a better programmer.

Not only did the staff and my fellow cohorts provide a professional and engaging learning environment to work in, the entire experience made me feel like I was moving into an industry and potential job that really suited me as a person.

As expected in a classroom environment learning from others was where I thought I would gain the most benefit, however I also had the opportunity and privilege to solidify my own understanding of concepts by helping others through their problems along the way, this was by far one of the most positive personal gains I took away from the experience. I’m now in a great position where I can start to build on the strong foundations laid at GA, and continue expanding my knowledge and understanding of all things web development.

I would definitely recommend the Digital Marketing course, it is a great way to get an understanding of the majority of the digital marketing best practises and platforms. If you are wanting to start your career in digital marketing, or just trying to get a better understanding about the numbers you are tracking, it helps to start building the knowledge.

It's practical application helps you learn while achieving and implementing well thought out strategies. Highly recommend this course.

I am a graduate of the User Experience Design Immersive Course in London from May-July 2017. I originally was on the February 2017 intake but had to pull out in Week 3 due to a sudden illness. While I was recovering in hospital they could not have treated me any better and offered me whatever options I wanted to take. I then re-started the course in May when I had recovered and am now in the job search phase of it. So far the job support has been quality and you are going to get out of it what you put in - but it's important to note that the support is there. The course itself is fast-paced, full on and requires your 100% commitment - and I wouldn't want it any other way. We had an experienced senior UX Designer as our teacher, and if we had any feedback we were constantly encouraged to speak up. It was a positive learning environment, (but it did help that we had a classroom full of students that handled the pressure cooker well). If you are unsure about General Assembly - they are top notch and are worth the investment. But if you are deciding on a career change like I did, make sure you go to the many free open nights and speak to the team there to see if it's right for you. And if it is - go for it!

General Assembly was a great experience for me, and I would recommend it whole-heartedly. But you need to know what you're in for before you sign up. It's like a language immersion, but for data. The data science immersive was very challenging because they're teaching you a ton of stuff in a very short amount of time. To get the most out of it, you will be getting 8-hours of in-class instruction each day, and should expect an additional 3-hours of homework after that to solidify the material you learned. Each day, you learn two important topics related to data science (one in the morning, and another in the afternoon). They don't really repeat things if you don't quite get it, so you have to pay attention, you have to do your homework, and you have to not sweat the fact that you probably won't leave the course a total master at everything. If you come into the course with a bit of python as background, that will help you immensely. If you do the work, you will come out of the class with a solid data science foundation. You should know though that completing the course alone will not get you a job. You need to actually have the skills at the end, as employers will test your abilities during the application process. You can't fake knowing data science. For this reason, the job coaches can only get you so far. Think of this less as something you "buy" or "get" and more of something you "do" or "work for" and you should be able to get a lot from the class. If you don't have the right attitude, the time, or the discipline to learn the materials, then this course is not for you.

I move to London for the UXDI Course and it's been one of my best decisions so far. The course was everything I needed and expected. I wanted to shift from Visual Design tu UX Design and GA gave me the skills and knowledge I needed. The 10 weeks are divided into different projects in groups and individualy. You have to work hard but at the same time you enjoy every single second that goes by. The Instructional team was very professional, supportive and engaging all the way through. You meet very creative fun and interesting people that by the end of the course become your 'GA Family', your friends. 

Doing this course changed my life. After I finished the course I got the TA position for the following course and the Outcomes team was very supportive in helping us find a job. Before I finished the TA role I had done more than 8 interviews and had 2 job offers. I started my current job a week after which was my main goal of moving to London and I have to thank GA for that. 

Have in mind that GA gives you the structure, tools, team and techniques you need to pursue your dream but you must work hard too. I'd recommend GA to everybody who wants to learn in an innovative environment surrounded by amazing people and creative minds. 

This place is a joke...they rob you of your money and run!!  I took the wdi course and it was a waste of money and time.  Do not go here, they will teach you nothing!!  if you struggle, all  they do is push you aside, instead of helping you figure out why you are.  The student services and outcome sucks too!! [NAME REDACTED] is not a good person and very rude!! as well as her coworker, [NAME REDACTED] they are too self-involved with their reputation then trying to help you out.  Do not fall into their scam....it is a waste of money.  they will tell you to quit your job to take the program and when you struggle they will try and convince you to drop the class.  They don't care about you, only about your money!!!

The content was relevent, prepared in advance and presented in a simple, easy to read way. The teachers were extremely knowledgable in their area of expertise and no question was a silly question. Not only were the teachers available during the course of the day but were happy to stay back after class each day to answer any questions.

Coming in from a low level degree of knowledge in digital marketing, I feel like I learned quite a bit and it's given me motivation to explore it and apply it to my career.

I took the UXDI course in London early last year. My background had nothing to do with it, I was working in a warehouse moving boxes here and there and working on weekends.

Right after the course I got hired as a Teaching Assistant at GA London for the next UXDI, which was an amazing experience, and nicely paid, which was great because I was broke :)

I finished teaching on a Friday. The next Tuesday I started my first UX job at an agency in London. Now I just got offered another job, with a great pay rise and better conditions. I went from 23K to 40K in year and a half. Pretty sweet. And no more lifting heavy boxes or working weekends.

One thing though: The course is just the beginning, you need to work hard during and after the course. Read books, go to meet ups, roll in courses, online and offline, keep learning. GA can teach you the way, but you have to walk it.

General Assmbly was amazing. I went in knowing a bit a bit HTML and CSS having tried to teach myself for a few months so found the first week pretty straight forward. After that, it was incredibly full on and we got stuck in with the more difficult concepts of web development. 

Starting with basic JavaScript, we learnt the fundamentals of programming and quickly progressed to fullstack languages and frameworks.

I learned more in the first week and a half at GA than I did after 3 months of teaching myself. They really push you but are their to support you when you get stuck. 

We covered a huge amount of languages and tools and I would massively reccommend doing it, but you've got to fully commit to it and definitely keep up the learning pace after you finish. 

The outcomes team don't get you a job, but they really help with feedback and get you as prepared as possible for the job search so we really helpful! Definitely a case of work hard, play hard!

Hand on my heart, I would recommend(with bright lovely colours)WDI to anyone who asks me. 

Environment: 

The London campus is full of support, laughter, and fantastic vibes, all of which mix very well for a perfect 12 week course. The front of house staff are exceptional, and they maintain the campus to the highest standard. London hold superb events to which I have made a great deal of fantastic contacts from. The campus is in the heart of Aldgate and is surrounded by yummy food places and cheeky 'drink' places to kick back in. 

Instructors/ Staff

The instuctors at GA are on another level. Their complete expertese, patience and support really help you feel like you can smash the course (with hard work). They are not only supportive, but they are honest too if you're not pulling your weight during the course which for me, is vital. The outcomes team who help you through the course with your job search are outstanding. They go above and beyond to help you find that first job after the course. The patience they have for each and every student is one of the reasons I would reccomend the course and the London campus. 

Curriculum

GA's curriculum was a part of the course I was completely blown away with. We were all told from day one that the course would be full on and that basically you wouldn't have a life but the way they structured the course was perfect. I understand now that the WDI course will be moving to React as part of the curriculum which for me is the absoloute right direction. 

Overview

Overall I would give GA 9 out of 10. Anyone who is looking to step into the exciting pond of development would be utterly over the moon with this course. Putting the price of the course aside, this for me was a complete investment. 

So much love for GA 

A friend recommended this course and found it really great. However, there were only 16 people in their class - there were 30 in mine. I felt sorry for the tutors having to deal with a large group of students with such a diverse range of skill and needs - They were actually quite good, but getting their attention was difficult. The pace of the classes was greatly affected by the wide range of skill levels and the number of students. With regards to our projects, there were a few times where tutors would take over and basically do our code.

I felt mislead by this course. Firstly, because the website implies that there's a daily structure - a period of time designated to labs etc. Secondly, that there would be pair programming. We didn't have many opportunities to do any labs and experiment and speaking to graduates from Makers, pair programming really helped them progress and learn.

I would only recommend this course if you have a solid foundation in coding already, or have a STEM background. Before joining I was led to believe that you didn't need much experience and that everything will eventually click into place. 4 months on and I'm still waiting for things to fall into place. I can now see why Founders and Coders are very strict with their entrance requirements - as it pays to be prepared as you can before an intensive 3 months of learning.