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Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

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Re: Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

#11

Post by smegma2 »

potions wrote: post #5

Lambda School seems questionable for a few reasons I was already aware of as a semi-habitual hirer of bootcampers: trying to scale too fast & degrading the product, possibly disaligned incentives if ISAs are sold off immediately, etc. If I weren't aware of these issues, this tweet/thread would not have taught me about them. However -- "Naturally they're partnered with Amazon"...to get people jobs as programmers at Am…

I find it surprising that they sell their ISAs (it seems to be true based on a quick look at this https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/12/21135134/lambda-school-st...). Doesn't this look bad to prospective students? It implies that they don't think that they'll pay off. Is there a good faith explanation for this?

Re: Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

#13

Post by ec109685 »

smegma2 wrote: post #11
potions wrote: post #5

Lambda School seems questionable for a few reasons I was already aware of as a semi-habitual hirer of bootcampers: trying to scale too fast & degrading the product, possibly disaligned incentives if ISAs are sold off immediately, etc. If I weren't aware of these issues, this tweet/thread would not have taught me about them. However -- "Naturally they're partnered with Amazon"...to get people jobs as programmers at Am…

I find it surprising that they sell their ISAs (it seems to be true based on a quick look at this https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/12/21135134/lambda-school-st... ). Doesn't this look bad to prospective students? It implies that they don't think that they'll pay off. Is there a good faith explanation for this?

I think the charitable explanation is that they needed the funds now versus after the student gets their job.

Re: Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

#14

Post by sandofsky »

seriousquestion wrote: post #7

Colleges are predatory, putting kids deep into debt that they may never be able to repay and can't even remove with bankruptcy. And said debt has exploded in recent decades with no corresponding improvement in outcomes. Whereas Lambda aligns their interests with the student. If their students don't get a job, Lambda doesn't get paid. Why is a better model being attacked like this?

> Colleges are predatory, putting kids deep into debt that they may never be able to repay and can't even remove with bankruptcy.

We're not talking about colleges. The fact other scams exist in the world has zero bearing on whether one specific company is scamming people.

> Whereas Lambda aligns their interests with the student.

They align themselves with their investors. That's their fiduciary duty. If you want to understand how their model doesn't necessary align with students, here's a good starting point: https://applieddivinitystudies.com/lambda-lies/

> If their students don't get a job, Lambda doesn't get paid.

When a student signs an ISA, Lambda School is immediately paid by reselling that debt to hedge funds.

Re: Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

#15

Post by exporectomy »

sandofsky wrote: post #14
seriousquestion wrote: post #7

Colleges are predatory, putting kids deep into debt that they may never be able to repay and can't even remove with bankruptcy. And said debt has exploded in recent decades with no corresponding improvement in outcomes. Whereas Lambda aligns their interests with the student. If their students don't get a job, Lambda doesn't get paid. Why is a better model being attacked like this?

> Colleges are predatory, putting kids deep into debt that they may never be able to repay and can't even remove with bankruptcy. We're not talking about colleges. The fact other scams exist in the world has zero bearing on whether one specific company is scamming people. > Whereas Lambda aligns their interests with the student. They align themselves with their investors. That's their fiduciary duty. If you want to u…

We are implicitly comparing it to colleges and every other competitor. That's what relative words like the way "predatory" is used here mean. Predatory relative to the rest of the field. It doesn't really have an absolute meaning.

Re: Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

#16

Post by [deleted] »

potions wrote: post #5

Lambda School seems questionable for a few reasons I was already aware of as a semi-habitual hirer of bootcampers: trying to scale too fast & degrading the product, possibly disaligned incentives if ISAs are sold off immediately, etc. If I weren't aware of these issues, this tweet/thread would not have taught me about them. However -- "Naturally they're partnered with Amazon"...to get people jobs as programmers at Am…

[deleted]

Re: Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

#17

Post by sellyme »

potions wrote: post #5

Lambda School seems questionable for a few reasons I was already aware of as a semi-habitual hirer of bootcampers: trying to scale too fast & degrading the product, possibly disaligned incentives if ISAs are sold off immediately, etc. If I weren't aware of these issues, this tweet/thread would not have taught me about them. However -- "Naturally they're partnered with Amazon"...to get people jobs as programmers at Am…

> an Amazon FC job @$15/hr + healthcare is a "holy shit amazing" job. This is true tons of places. It's double minimum wage! Affordable healthcare!

I don't disbelieve you, but the fact that this "holy shit amazing" job in a highly-skilled and in-demand field pays less than I was earning at McDonald's when I was 14 makes me extremely concerned about what Americans have been convinced is normal.

Re: Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

#18

Post by [deleted] »

potions wrote: post #5

Lambda School seems questionable for a few reasons I was already aware of as a semi-habitual hirer of bootcampers: trying to scale too fast & degrading the product, possibly disaligned incentives if ISAs are sold off immediately, etc. If I weren't aware of these issues, this tweet/thread would not have taught me about them. However -- "Naturally they're partnered with Amazon"...to get people jobs as programmers at Am…

[deleted]

Re: Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

#19

Post by vasco »

smegma2 wrote: post #11
potions wrote: post #5

Lambda School seems questionable for a few reasons I was already aware of as a semi-habitual hirer of bootcampers: trying to scale too fast & degrading the product, possibly disaligned incentives if ISAs are sold off immediately, etc. If I weren't aware of these issues, this tweet/thread would not have taught me about them. However -- "Naturally they're partnered with Amazon"...to get people jobs as programmers at Am…

I find it surprising that they sell their ISAs (it seems to be true based on a quick look at this https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/12/21135134/lambda-school-st... ). Doesn't this look bad to prospective students? It implies that they don't think that they'll pay off. Is there a good faith explanation for this?

Supposedly they want to be teachers and not risk managers, though the whole thing smells fishy.

Re: Lambda School is a predatory bootcamp that lies about students outcomes

#20

Post by throwawaysea »

I’m not sure who this works is or why his seemingly shallow tweets are important to pay attention to. Can someone explain? Surely criticizing Lambda is far less useful than criticizing the university system, which provides far worse outcomes for far more money?
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