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Lambda School lays off 65 employees

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Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#71

Post by cheriot »

teruakohatu wrote: post #28

Can someone explain how you can train Data Scientists in 6 months? What jobs do these grads walk into? The tech prerequisite is: "You should feel extremely comfortable with how a computer works including: touch-typing, web browsers, search engines, and basic computer programs." The Curriculum: Stats, Linear Algebra AND Data Wrangling: 4 Weeks Modeling: 3 Weeks Data Engineering, Databases, SQL, Productionisation: 3 We…

In addition to selecting for people with related backgrounds, the goal is not mastery; it's getting to the point that they can learn on the job.

Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#72

Post by donw »

potatoman22 wrote: post #40
HenryKissinger wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Stats, Linear Algebra AND Data Wrangling: 4 Weeks Ridiculous. Introductory statistics and linear algebra are two separate undergraduate level courses. And if you want a real grasp of statistics, you need to learn probability theory first, which is another semester long course. To say nothing of "data wrangling", whatever the fuck it means.

Ehh, you could come close to condensing 1-2 college courses into 4 weeks. It wouldn't be fun though.

Depends. Mathematics? Chemistry? There's some room for compression there, but not much. If you ditched all of the absolutely useless "general education"[1] classes, and kept class sizes small enough to allow time for individual coaching, I think most STEM undergraduate degrees could fit nicely within two to three years.

[1] Students are welcome to "expand their horizons" when they aren't paying thousands of dollars for the privilege of being forced to do so.

Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#73

Post by chrisseaton »

teruakohatu wrote: post #28

Can someone explain how you can train Data Scientists in 6 months? What jobs do these grads walk into? The tech prerequisite is: "You should feel extremely comfortable with how a computer works including: touch-typing, web browsers, search engines, and basic computer programs." The Curriculum: Stats, Linear Algebra AND Data Wrangling: 4 Weeks Modeling: 3 Weeks Data Engineering, Databases, SQL, Productionisation: 3 We…

How complex do you think most data science jobs are?

Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#74

Post by mxschumacher »

sandofsky wrote: post #42
teruakohatu wrote: post #28

Can someone explain how you can train Data Scientists in 6 months? What jobs do these grads walk into? The tech prerequisite is: "You should feel extremely comfortable with how a computer works including: touch-typing, web browsers, search engines, and basic computer programs." The Curriculum: Stats, Linear Algebra AND Data Wrangling: 4 Weeks Modeling: 3 Weeks Data Engineering, Databases, SQL, Productionisation: 3 We…

You assign precourse work that rejects 98% of applicants. That helps select students with existing experience, sometimes even STEM degrees. According to the example contract on their site, their income share agreements last up to seven years. Even if they fail to teach a student anything, the student can spend years studying on their own (or even get a degree), and still owe money.

if you have a STEM degree, what value can you derive from short introductory classes on linear algebra, Python and relational databases?

Countless truly excellent and free/cheap resources on these topics exist and you don't have to give a way a significant percentage of your yearly salary.

Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#75

Post by Ericson2314 »

Anecdotally we are seeing a lot of slack at the junior dev end of the labor market, and a popping of the bootcamp bubble.

But make no mistake, this is mission accomplished not mission failed for some. We're the last best-paid skilled trade, and Capital is after us.

Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#76

Post by sokoloff »

legerdemain wrote: post #44

> Lambda pioneered the income share agreement (ISA) in the career > and technical education space, and we're now watching many of > the schools who followed us abandon their ISA offerings because > they believe it's impossible to make this model work. We strongly > disagree. In fact, many things at Lambda School are working very > well, and we are... > ...laying off 65 Lambda School employees.

I think that’s an uncharitable rewriting. To Austen’s credit, he leads with the difficult, negative message (as he should) in the very first sentence.

Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#77

Post by nrmitchi »

void_mint wrote: post #43
pilingual wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about it makes you say that?

Most code schools (including Lambda School) don't really train students effectively. It's closer to a crash course in a bunch of different topics. Students that graduate often aren't actually able to perform whatever they were supposed to have learned effectively on the job. Worse, to pad hiring stats, lots of code schools also will hire recent grads that cannot find employment as instructors. They technically aren't…

> Worse, to pad hiring stats, lots of code schools also will hire recent grads that cannot find employment as instructors. They technically aren't lying when they say "95% of graduates get a job within 6 months", but their statistics would be a lot worse if you looked at those hired _externally_.

I'm aware that many other bootcamps and programs have done this, and it is obviously extremely misleading.

I have not heard that Lambda has specifically done this; are you claiming that they are as well? Your comment kind of implies it, without outright saying it.

Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#78

Post by breck »

thelean12 wrote: post #59
wbronitsky wrote: post #32

The levels of inhumanity and doublespeak in here are staggering. This post attempts to euphemize 65 people losing their incomes, and probably healthcare, to the point that it reads almost as farce. Not to mention what the impact will be on those remaining, students and staff alike. "...they believe it's impossible to make this model work. We strongly disagree." This is wildly insensitive to those involved. I find it…

Austin seems to take corp-speak to another level. See his response when they settled with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26948258

> "they had to settle"

I am an outsider, but clearly looks to me like they chose to not fight that battle, which was just legal thuggery. Colleges in the U.S. are a racket that make the mafia look like a bunch of amateurs. The Bankruptcy Exception for student loans is one of the most corrupt scams going on in the USA today.

Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#79

Post by jurassic »

mxschumacher wrote: post #74
sandofsky wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You assign precourse work that rejects 98% of applicants. That helps select students with existing experience, sometimes even STEM degrees. According to the example contract on their site, their income share agreements last up to seven years. Even if they fail to teach a student anything, the student can spend years studying on their own (or even get a degree), and still owe money.

if you have a STEM degree, what value can you derive from short introductory classes on linear algebra, Python and relational databases? Countless truly excellent and free/cheap resources on these topics exist and you don't have to give a way a significant percentage of your yearly salary.

I think the value is similar to the value of a personal trainer. There's no rocket science involved in maintaining fitness, but many people find value in the added accountability and planning support.

Re: Lambda School lays off 65 employees

#80

Post by seriousquestion »

lifer555 wrote: post #21
idoh wrote: post #9

That's too bad. I'm rooting for Lambda School, they are trying hard to innovate in the area of education. Maybe ISAs are the future, maybe not, but the traditional university track of spending out $100K+ is clearly not the future. They should have been really excelling during the 2020 year of covid, I wonder where things went wrong. Anyone know?

I am a recent LS graduate. The program is a total shit show. I was able to get a job but I would never recommend it to anyone. They are just very good at marketing. Great idea, terrible execution.

If you could do it over, what would you do instead to get the job?
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