<p>If you want to be a programmer, and skip 4 years of college:</p>
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[quote] Back to School And Into a Job</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>The school is called App Academy, and it teaches novice developers how to code software. The intensive course, operational in New York City and San Francisco, lasts only nine weeks but crams in a gigantic curriculum. Students learn multiple software languages, like SQL and JavaScript, and solve rigorous problem sets.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Heres how the tuition scheme works: Students study free-of-charge during the courses duration. Upon gaining employment after graduation, alumni forward 15 percent of their annual base salary to App Academy, but not all at once. Instead, that sum -- typically around $12,000 for the average graduate -- is deducted incrementally from an employed graduates bi-weekly pay check for six months (30% of the first 6 months).</p>
<p>There was a thread before on these types of schools. Basically there is no free lunch – they involve a lot of work on the part of the student because they cram in what is probably about half to two thirds of the CS content of a bachelor’s degree in CS into the time frame of an academic quarter or semester.</p>
<p>If you have the motivation, they can certainly be a worthwhile choice. But check the schools carefully – the article linked into the previous thread mentioned that the schools themselves were worried about bottom-feeders entering the market and offering low quality versions and diluting their value.</p>
<p>My 9yo writes small progams in Python and larger ones in Scratch. I am tempted to buy him five O’Reilly books on the topics above and to see what happens.</p>
<p>The problem will be in getting hired regardless of their capability. </p>
<p>I hire software developers but wouldn’t even consider a grad of this program when I can hire a grad with a BSCS from a college with a CS program with an excellent reputation. As I’m scanning resumes this one wouldn’t even get more than about 10 seconds of my attention. </p>
<p>Maybe it’d be different if I was looking for low cost really entry-level positions but then in that space there’s also competition from community colleges (who are likely a lower cost than this company) and many of the for-profit schools that teach the same stuff (but at a higher cost) and the self-taught (at no cost).</p>
<p>That’s not to say some of these people aren’t excellent and relatively capable but it’s about competition.</p>
<p>Beliavsky - Has your 9 y/o used w3schools.com? They have some excellent tutorials in many areas and it’s free. It’s also good for old punched card folks.</p>
<p>The “no free lunch” that I was referring to was the amount of work one has to do during the nine weeks. The article about “CS boot camps” linked from the previous thread mentioned that the workload is about 100 hours per week, which makes sense if such a program teaches a worthwhile amount of CS in a compressed time frame. Obviously, this can make sense for specific highly motivated students, but it is not likely to be a general solution for typical students.</p>
<p>Judging from the website, it doesn’t appear to be open admission, either. The website mentioned over four hundred applicants for 20 slots. Judging from the bios, they attract a fair number of applicants who have self-studied or even taken classes for a period of time but are looking for an opportunity to consolidate what they have learned, take it forward, and present themselves to employers as skilled workers who have the capacity to continue to learn whatever is needed at a fast clip.</p>
<p>Before enrolling in boot camp, applicants need to pass an online screen and then (if successful) move on to an interview where they are given problems to solve within a time frame. This does not sound that different from competitive job interviews.</p>
<p>Anyone who has the discipline to work at something 100 hours a week and the innate talent to actually complete the work assigned could just as well teach himself from home for free. Pretty much anything you need to know can be found with Google searches plus perhaps participation in an online CS forum or two where one can ask specific questions.</p>
<p>The problem is obtaining the official credentials to get past the software keyword-reading filters to get your resume looked at by a live human. Perhaps App Academy has the connections to place its graduates in their first jobs and that might be worth $12k. But that still leaves its grads stuck with few opportunities to advance to the next level with a larger company.</p>
<p>It is a conditional $12k. If you don’t get a job, you don’t pay. If you get the $120k/yr job, then it costs you $18k. But, I would say that is a fair tradeoff for the $120k job you otherwise would not have been able to get. I think this is a great opportunity for someone on unemployment. For 9 weeks, that is your job. Worst case, you gave up 9 weeks of your life (while on the government dole) and learn a skill that might be helpful in your next job.</p>
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<p>You don’t know the person’s other skills. Maybe they have management background. Also, while at the new job, they can backfill their education - Learn systems analysis, project management, etc. </p>
<p>For some people, the $80k/yr job without advancement is more than they would have made at their prior job(s) with advancement.</p>
<p>Some people have done this, and I admire them. It is easier to summon the willpower to learn things and practice them when you have been given a schedule and when you have classmates who are doing the same thing. People tend to imitate those around them.</p>