Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
hackerschool.com
Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
1–10 of 42 posts
Re: Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
#2I'm not against affirmative action on principle, but does anyone else find it a little strange that the need-based grants are only available to female programmers? They could bias the admission process in favor of female applicants (or other underrepresented demographics) without conflating financial issues, right? Or there aren't even enough female applicants without this incentive to allow for that?
Re: Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
#3If I am a programmer who just finished a bootcamp and has some decent side projects (a book on clojure web dev, a new take on spreeder, and some other ones in the works) that are all open source, is hacker school far above my skill level for working with you guys? I've perused the website far too many times in the last several months but have held off from applying because I wasn't sure if i had the chops to work with you guys and it would be a dream of mine to take such a good chunk of time and dedicate it to open source work with other like minded hackers who seem to be a brilliant bunch.
Re: Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
#4I'm not against affirmative action on principle, but does anyone else find it a little strange that the need-based grants are only available to female programmers? They could bias the admission process in favor of female applicants (or other underrepresented demographics) without conflating financial issues, right? Or there aren't even enough female applicants without this incentive to allow for that?
I don't have a problem with it - in the past, at least some (if not all) are coming directly from Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/hacker-grants). They want to attract more women into their business because they see benefits of women being well represented in their workplace.
Re: Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
#5Hacker School is a great thing to do during a sabbatical or career break. I got pretty burned out on my previous job (of 6 years) in the Midwest. I was also a bit lonely since there wasn't much of a tech community in the area. I came out to New York for the Winter 2013 batch, and it was exactly the kick in the pants I needed. By the end of the batch, I had renewed vigor, job prospects, and a bunch of new friends. I ended up moving permanently to NYC for a new job (which Hacker School facilitated).
The Hacker School experience and community are fantastic. I'd highly recommend it to any other software engineers having a quarter-life crisis ;-)
Re: Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
#6I'm not against affirmative action on principle, but does anyone else find it a little strange that the need-based grants are only available to female programmers? They could bias the admission process in favor of female applicants (or other underrepresented demographics) without conflating financial issues, right? Or there aren't even enough female applicants without this incentive to allow for that?
We take this approach specifically because we don't do any affirmative action or bias our admissions process in favor of specific groups. These grants are our hack for how to have a more gender-balanced environment without negatively impacting men or lowering the bar for women. The grants work because they increase the pool of qualified women who are able to do Hacker School.
Also, to clarify, the grants are funded by other companies, not Hacker School (the most recent sponsors are Dropbox, Etsy, Jane Street, Tapad, and Tumblr: https://www.hackerschool.com/blog/26-dropbox-etsy-jane-stree...).
Re: Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
#7If I am a programmer who just finished a bootcamp and has some decent side projects (a book on clojure web dev, a new take on spreeder, and some other ones in the works) that are all open source, is hacker school far above my skill level for working with you guys? I've perused the website far too many times in the last several months but have held off from applying because I wasn't sure if i had the chops to work wit…
> I've perused the website far too many times in the last several months but have held off from applying because I wasn't sure if i had the chops to work with you guys
Sports analogy: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
People who get into HS fall all along the experience spectrum. Some have only been programming a few months, and some have been programming professionally for decades. Most are somewhere in between.
You might as well apply. If you get turned down, it's not the end of the world and you can try again for the next batch. I know of people who were turned down twice and got in on their third try.
Re: Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
#8If I am a programmer who just finished a bootcamp and has some decent side projects (a book on clojure web dev, a new take on spreeder, and some other ones in the works) that are all open source, is hacker school far above my skill level for working with you guys? I've perused the website far too many times in the last several months but have held off from applying because I wasn't sure if i had the chops to work wit…
You'll be fine. If you like programming and it sounds like Hacker School would be fun, you should apply. The minimum experience you need to have a good time and learn a lot is very low, and if you're writing a book on Clojure web dev then I'd bet you're way past it.
Source: I'm a current Hacker School student
Re: Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
#9I have a question:
is it just impossible to get any kind of monetary help (scholarship) for the living expenses? as someone who does not live in the U.S. My application would depend on this, and I would not like to give them more applications to read if there's no chance of that.
P.S I read the FAQ and I am not a women, that's why I'm asking.
Edit: "Our great crime appears to be the fact that we have not yet found a way to additionally give money to everyone who can't afford to come to Hacker School." So I guess that's a no, in case someone else is wondering, that was answered by nicholasjbs.
Re: Apply to the Winter 2014 Batch of Hacker School
#10You should definitely apply.
Hacker School has created a really productive space for people (of a variety of skill levels) interested in programming, and I think two things have made that the case:
#1 is definitely that interesting people apply (which is why you need to!)
#2 is that it's in really good hands: in all my interactions with the founders and residents, I've consistently been impressed -- they're smart, they're thoughtful, and they're passionate about the mission.
(Our startup has hired two Hacker Schoolers so far.)