31–40 of 43 posts
We want to build General Assembly to still be thriving 75 years from now There's a lot of negativity here on their pivot and marketing. I just like that they're talking about building a company to last. (Of course the VCs will want their money back well before 75 years)
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To play devil's advocate, it's not all about the quality. It's about the product, and to whom they are selling it. GA is something like the University of Phoenix meets the Apple Store. In-demand course offerings, aspirational customers, sexy downtown location. Good luck earning all that money back though.
> GA is something like the University of Phoenix Show me one person who takes a University of Phoenix degree seriously.
Slightly off-topic: does anyone have any experience with GA's courses? I'm considering taking one now, but I don't know anyone else who has. If so, would you recommend them?
So much money for such terrible( http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-san-francisco ) classes! Some highlights from Yelp: "Their web immersive is a joke, but you'll never hear anyone admit that because they make you sign a waver/NDA that you promise not to tell anyone anything truthful/negative about your GA experience." "Most of the money goes towards the advertising and marketing team, they have more marketers…
Sounds like a typical danger for an organisation like this. I'm in NYC and the GA here (the original one) has a fantastic reputation. Maybe they need to tighten up on quality control in their new locations. And to be fair, the Yelp link you've posted also has a number of very positive reviews, you just didn't post quotes from them.
1) The instructors: They are sharp, highly engaging, both active participants in the local start-up and open data communities.
2) The location: It's IN the biggest start-up incubator in DC, 1776.
3) The integration with people who are hiring and non-profit DC organizations who want help with their data. We are already having start-ups coming in to recruit with test projects (which is in my opinion the ideal way to hire)
I think the shittiness of the SF class has more to do with SF and their ridiculous VC bubble and talent shortage than anything else.
Edit: I meant to add this: Most of these type of courses really don't think about industry WORKFLOWS. This course, instead of relying on people submitting their assignments to instructors via email or a website, is instead forcing students to learn Git (if they don't already know it) and then merge their answers into the official class repository as if it were a large codebase. This is one small example of the industry focus of this course. I think the reason this course is so good is (unfortunately) the reason the SF course referenced above was so shitty: they give free reign to the instructor without over-burdening them. This allows a great instructor to shine but also lets shit instructors to really tank.
I subsequently signed up for a longer front end course after that. True, a bit pricey, but I like a classroom setting and committing myself to a regular learning block each week.
In NYC, GA conducts nighttime Meet & Greets with their "graduating" classes. As an employer, this is an efficient way to recruit. I attended one a couple weeks ago and thought it was fairly well organized. If GA can help people get placed into companies, then that's a huge advantage / differentiator for them versus online-only course providers. So without speaking the quality of the classes themselves - GA specifical…
My view is this: if a class has good teachers, a difficult, portfolio driven curriculum, and a decently high-bar of entry (my DBA coworker struggled to be admitted to the course because he was rusty in his programming skills. He ended up having to put in a lot of time just to be able to pass their test to gain admission into the course), then it will probably be a good course to take.
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I think the in-person element is crucial to the future of education. While there are many people who live in rural areas or internationally who benefit immensely from online platforms like Coursera, there are also a ton of people who live close enough to a city that it's worth it to pay more for the opportunity to learn in a physical environment. That's why GA is great - it takes the best of both, and can provide onl…
Don't want to be "that guy" but compare these offerings: GA Data Science (4000$ and taught by MBAs): https://generalassemb.ly/education/data-science/new-york-cit... Johns Hopkins Data Science via Coursera (490$, taught by Professors of Biostatistics, and granting a cert with Hopkins' name on it): https://www.coursera.org/specialization/jhudatascience/1?utm... Now I'm not taking either class, but going to be very hard…
Regarding the online stuff like Johns Hopkins, I'm a self-learner. I love doing the online courses, but there is something that is fun, engaging, and advantageous to meeting classmates in person. Unlike University of Phoenix, this is a class where people are actively building shit. You can clearly and objectively see who is and is not competent among your classmates. This makes identifying people you would want to work with a lot easier. This won't happen in an online class.
But let me add: 4000 is a lot. I probably couldn't have swung it without my company picking up the tab.
Slightly off-topic: does anyone have any experience with GA's courses? I'm considering taking one now, but I don't know anyone else who has. If so, would you recommend them?
I took the web development immersive. I will say, the experience you have depends mostly on two factors: 1) your instructor, and 2) your own ability to want to learn and the amount of effort you put in. That said, they did try to fit a lot in the 12 weeks, but there are so many facets of the tech stack they didn't cover (they rushed through html/css quite a bit, so those that don't know it will still feel lost after…
For those of you trumpeting code school: It's fucking awesome, but for people like me with full-time day jobs, it will never work. I like GA, and I hope they don't turn into a University of Phoenix dressed up like an Apple store. That would be sad.
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Sounds like a typical danger for an organisation like this. I'm in NYC and the GA here (the original one) has a fantastic reputation. Maybe they need to tighten up on quality control in their new locations. And to be fair, the Yelp link you've posted also has a number of very positive reviews, you just didn't post quotes from them.
The one here in DC has (already) earned a decent reputation, and its very new. I'm currently enrolled in a "Data Science" course (which is really an "intro to machine learning and quantitative statistical analysis" course) and I'm very impressed with: 1) The instructors: They are sharp, highly engaging, both active participants in the local start-up and open data communities. 2) The location: It's IN the biggest star…