General AssemblyReviews of generalassemb.ly

I loved my General Assembly bootcamp! Super informative, very intensive, and incredibly supportive. Would recommend to anyone who knows they like to code.

The content was not up-to-date, and the skills are really general - same as what their company name suggested. Not helpful in making you competitive in today's job market. Not to mention the overpriced tuition.

I had great instructors who set aside time to make sure each student felt like they were understanding the course material. Ben Manning and co-instructors Austin and Mark were very great at leading engaging discussions and class projects. I was able to take what I learned from this course and apply it to my web production role.

The course definitely helped me learn to code and be a software engineer. I am most disappointed I am almost 3 months post grad and still have not found a job. I thought this would be a lot different post graduation.

The ease of creating the canvas account and being able to complete the course on the go was excellent! That should be a marketing point.

The instructors I had were the best part of my experience. Rod and Daijea were attentive and insightful. I do wish there had been more transparency about the current job market during recruitment. It's tough out there right now.

My GA experience came at a very pivotal point in my professional career. I decided to leave the financial industry and jump into tech with absolutely no knowledge or experience with coding and software. GA was so welcoming to me and made me feel like I belonged there. I looked into many coding bootcamps before making my selection but eventually I chose GA because it felt so homely, amazing staffs, and beginner friendly for people getting into code for the first time. I love GA and I will always feel indebted to them for everything they were able to give me.

Will you learn enough to get feel comfortable? No. Will you learn enough to get a job? Maybe. I was not the best coder in class, but I was far from the worst. By the end of the program, my portfolio, compared to my counterparts was one of the top best looking portfolios my cohort (class) had. So whats the issue? GA makes the claim that they are the #1 bootcamp and they staff more grads than any other bootcamp. If that is true, then that just means that other bootcamps arent staffing at all, or they atleast know they shouldnt be making that claim. After 1 year, I have seen GA provide a handful of Fortune 500 job opportunities. With that being said, not all job offers are in the industry you are trying to get into. For example, the job posting may be for UI/UX and you went through a software engineering course. If that wasnt the issue, then the job available wasnt even in your town, may not even be in your state. Basically, you either have to be lucky or move across the country for this opportunity. GA also makes the claim that you have 1 on 1 coaching experience. Which is technically true, because you can request 1 on 1 sessions, however, 90-99% of the sessions you do will be group sessions. Unless youre just inexperienced with work, resumes, applying "strategies", or things similar, that is the only way you will find these sessions beneficial. Other than that, literally 99% of it consist of an hour of people practically sitting in a circle telling each other "dont give up, keep applying." 1 year, approx. 2000 applied jobs, and $16,000 later, no job. You decide if this is an experience you are willing to risk to experience. If youre sitting here saying "maybe he just had bad luck." Maybe. I will tell you what though, had I known then what I know now, I would have never gone through this course. Not even because of the negative experience, but I could have learned just as much on my own and a mentor for like a 3rd of the price, and thats on the expensive end.