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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

#81

Post by runno »

I think part of the problem is the funnel. They don't charge students until a month in. They start off with a large number of student who they anticipate will drop before the ISA kicks in, then they prorate the ISA, although not evenly. The count should probably start once the ISA kicks in, even if the student doesn't get through the entire program. Fair enough right? Otherwise do not charge students unless they graduate. I think they aren't transparent about how the count/ outcomes are measured.

My biggest concern with the program, however, is the instruction and the lack of one on one feedback with qualified people.

The other concern is will their desire to fill diversity quotas. Perhaps this is coming from the market, demanding certain races in hiring, but in my personal experience, highly qualified people who can easily pass the entry exam were denied the female scholarship and given to racially diverse woman who couldn't pass the entry exam. Also, the founder tweeted out that over 50% of their students surveyed were LGBTQ like that was a goal of some kind.

I think Lambda is more concerned with racial quotas than training software engineers. So if you want a token hire look towards Lambda.

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

#82

Post by chris11 »

sjg007 wrote: post #72
sugarwater wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After Lambda School completely removed code review, grading, attendance, TLs when I was enrolled... I just couldn't see how the incentives were aligned anymore. There was no one looking at my assignments, my assessments, my projects and telling me what I got wrong and how I could do better. Those choices made by Lambda only hurt students' learning and therefore chances to get a job. And when students complained, the…

Pair programming is the best way to learn so that's unfortunate.

I don't see as much benefit from pair programming if it involves two students and replaces being taught by an instructor.

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

#83

Post by runno »

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?

College debt will be forgiven in this administration, so you have to be really dumb to pay for Lambda school, which isn't backed by the government and isn't going to be forgiven.

Lambda preys on the dumbest of the dumb, only dumb people are paying for school with their own money.

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

#84

Post by effingwewt »

sandofsky wrote: post #75
austenallred wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That isn't how any of this works. There has been a constant allegation that Lambda School sells its ISAs and therefore no longer has incentives that are aligned with students. The assertion is that, in “Big Short” style, we sell off all the risk of our students being placed to someone else and don’t have to care about outcomes. Nothing could be further from the truth. When Lambda School finances ISAs here’s how it wo…

The original poster said, "If their students don't get a job, Lambda doesn't get paid." Absolutely nothing in your reply changes the fact Lambda is paid before the student gets a job. You're trying to change the topic to something you can wiggle through, and I refuse to engage. You were caught on tape lying about this, and I have no reason to believe you've stopped lying. https://soundcloud.com/vwoo/interview-with-au…

Thank you! Allred constantly lies through his teeth and it makes me fucking rage.

He spouts the same bullshit over and over. Lambda isnt free for the students, they pay, and here's Mr Disingenuous to claim he needs to get money to train students 'from somewhere'

And not to mention he uses students to teach students! He can't even keep 'teachers' on board!

Edit- males->makes.

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

#85

Post by [deleted] »

Tomminn wrote: post #51
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?

Then great, you'll be interested in a salary sharing agreement with me. I promise to impart wisdom upon you that will help you get a job over 100k, and ONLY if you get such a job, ONLY then do you have to give me 30% of your earnings for ONLY 2 years. Do we have a deal? Also, this offer is extended to ANYONE reading. I'm that generous. * * * Breaking character now. If there is any volatility in peoples lifetime earni…

[deleted]

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

#87

Post by dghlsakjg »

etripe wrote: post #67
Tarsul wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thanks for that link. "More than 53 million people— 44 percent of all workers ages 18–64 in the United States— earn low hourly wages", which is defined as earning 2/3 of the median male worker. The median hourly wage for those 53 million people is $10.22. One might argue about semantics but these stats are devastating nonetheless.

A quick search tells me that the median is 35k per year, the mean time off is 10 days and there are 13 national holidays. So that would put it at roughly $15 * 48 hours * 48 weeks. For 35k . I agree, that's devastating.

I don't know if you are in the US:

US national holidays mean nothing in the context of employment. The US does not require private employers to close, pay extra, or provide paid time off for those holidays.

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

#88

Post by sandofsky »

toomuchredbull wrote: post #86

How is it predatory if they don't charge any money upfront?

Some students pay up front.

But if you want to focus on the ISA, the terms are for five years. If the program delivers no value, you only get out ahead if you decide to give up programming until it expires.

Imagine the program failing you, you decide to pursue an associate's degree, and still owing them money.

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

#89

Post by splistud »

sandofsky wrote: post #75
austenallred wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That isn't how any of this works. There has been a constant allegation that Lambda School sells its ISAs and therefore no longer has incentives that are aligned with students. The assertion is that, in “Big Short” style, we sell off all the risk of our students being placed to someone else and don’t have to care about outcomes. Nothing could be further from the truth. When Lambda School finances ISAs here’s how it wo…

The original poster said, "If their students don't get a job, Lambda doesn't get paid." Absolutely nothing in your reply changes the fact Lambda is paid before the student gets a job. You're trying to change the topic to something you can wiggle through, and I refuse to engage. You were caught on tape lying about this, and I have no reason to believe you've stopped lying. https://soundcloud.com/vwoo/interview-with-au…

So you just pretend to not understand that getting a loan with the expectation of future payment as collateral is not the same thing as 'getting paid'? Sure, in your shoes I'd refuse to engage as well. I mean, how in the world could you explain this stance?

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

#90

Post by 908B64B197 »

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…

Few things I can't figure out from a tweet.

1 - Is Lambda going to train engineers already hired at Amazon and is just going to provide an onboarding bootcamp for new hires? Doesn't sound like a bad idea considering Amazon's scale and the amount of internal tooling they must have.

2 - Is Lambda going to supply bootcamp-grads programmers to Amazon?

3 - What do they mean by "Back-End"? Is it Software Engineering roles or back-end customer service/SRE they are training them for?

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