Very nice service and administrative staff who introduce me to the class and explain. Her voice is soft and tone well. Can't love her enough. My soul rests. read more

I am currently taking a course at GA San Francisco Campus. I am shocked that during a time in which California has declared a state of emergency, in which many firms have moved into WFH options, and in which major California campuses have moved to online classes, General Assembly tells me courses will remain taught in physical setting and essentially they can't enforce me to show up but that any absences will count towards the 3 maximum--above which one cannot graduate. This means losing thousands of dollars on my end. It is preposterous that no online alternatives are offered or exceptions to be made to the graduation criteria during a time of a global health crisis. I believe GA would not want to be liable for any risks I am exposing to myself for commuting to and sitting in a classroom to take its courses. The U.S. is seeing exponential increases in confirmed cases, and hence why social distancing is being encouraged. It is not rocket science that sitting in a classroom of people does not equate to social distancing. Please help me better understand why the policies are the way they are and how my very real health concerns can be better addressed. read more

I've been hanging out at General Assembly a lot the last couple of months, taking their part time course in Data Analytics. I just "graduated" and can say that I learned so much from this class, deepened my understanding and I'm much more confident about my skills. The lectures were well structured and the instructors were very knowledgeable and skilled in getting the content across in a way that people could understand as beginners in the field. I was worried at first, that it might be a little too light in content, but I was wrong about that. It gets pretty in depth, and in order to get the most out of it, you'll definitely need to stay on track with homework and projects. Just the right amount of challenge for me, I'm very happy with choosing this class. The campus itself is pretty cool, modern and the staff is friendly and helpful. You can hang out here whenever you need to get some work done and I just love the learning atmosphere. You can literally see all the brains working here, which I find super empowering and inspiring. Aside from the full time and part time programs, they also offer a bunch of different workshops and events, which are cool to dive into some topics without the full commitment of a recurring class. Loved everything about this place and will definitely be back! read more

General Assembly San Francisco - Vocational & Technical School Near Me - San Francisco, California

Going into the bootcamp from a remote environment, I had the mindset that it would be both overwhelming and difficult to make friends. While the remote experience was a little strange at first, it became very comfortable as the class continued on. The classes were run well with little to no technical difficulties, and I found it easy to create a regimen around the class that helped me balance the classwork with life in general. Yes, at times it was stressful, but there are a number of resources available (including your soon to be classmates/friends) that will help you progress. Taking breaks and doing things outside of coding is a big part of bouncing back. Since many projects were group projects, it was easy to get to know some folks in my class right away! My cohort was fairly large and consisted of many outgoing characters who I began to cherish the more I worked with them. GA is one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in my life and I hope that anyone who is interested in a boot camp strongly considers GA for their experience as well. A special shout out to Kenny Bushman, Michael Petty, Yulia Tsernat, and Adonis for being such a wonderful instructional team! read more

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME: disclaimer: I think things have changed a lot. G.A. now has moved a few time. They offer several free intro nights, with access to the teachers. The sessions give you the ability to skip the middle man sales push and ascertain your true skill level and interests. Expectations managed. Check. My rational for signing up, I kept reading about the bucks developers make. I called a couple of times before paying, always assured this course would be a good fit. I knew absolutely nothing, they knew that. Their giant money vacuum sucked up my cash. The mini-course they sent out prior to Class One was supposed to get you up to speed. not I see now how naive I was, failing to understand all the options. Had this been the case, I would have skipped coding, take a free online course in HTML5, pursue UX and another direction entirely. Class One: I show up for my class. The guy at reception points to an empty classroom. I waited alone for :20 mins, went back to the reception desk, the new person had no idea what I was talking about. After about a half hour, she returns to inform me the dates had changed, I didn't get the email. I've already paid, not even one class and I'm disgruntled. I work full time and had carefully cleared my schedule for the now wrong class dates. It's been a couple of years and I'm still bitter. Why? GA was new in town, had no accountability, no organization. It was my instructor's first time teaching. He knew his stuff but lacked people skills. So very condescending to the beginners. GA had no business lumping all these skill levels in one class. It was a disservice to everyone. Class One, Part Two: Class begins, everyone introduces themselves, states why they are in this class. It was immediately clear that there was a huge range of knowledge and expectations. We started slowly, I could sort of code along, but had no idea what I was doing. Definitely over my head. I was assured it was difficult, but I would eventually get it. Class Two: Many students disappeared, never to return. As in many classes, there's alway one person who dominates the floor, showing off their superior coding skills, asking advanced questions nobody could follow. The slow learners got drowned out as the pace sped up to accommodate the very bored advanced students, and teacher. The two assistants were really knowledgeable and friendly, with too many students to help. Again, we were all assured the curriculum was hard, but we would eventually get it. I never got it. Well some of it, enough to realize I just wasted my time & money Class Three - The End of Time: The teacher railroaded through the assignments, the mantra being, this is hard, trust the process. At this point, a highly intelligent neuroscientist in the class became so angry she wanted her money back. She disappeared, along with another overwhelmed group. The teaching assistant volunteered to coach after hours, that helped a little when I could make the extra time to attend. The scene was like a little red schoolhouse, with kindergarteners through grad students. End of Time Graduation Pizza Party: I insist on talking to someone in charge. Every time I called, I was told there were no refunds. Eventually, another teacher invited me to informally attend his class. Sadly, I ran out of time and interest. I'm glad I now possess enough basic coding skills to know that the bunch of type I'm looking at, is called code. I can recognize where a specific line of HTML is and swap out a big centered image for a small right-justified image. woo hoo, $3000. read more

REVIEW #47 I had NO idea what General Assembly was when I first heard the name. I was like GA who? But after visiting there facility in San Francisco I have to admit it offers SO many opportunities for individuals pursuing education in Tech, business and design. General Assembly is a global network of campuses for individuals seeking opportunity and education in technology, design and business. They offer a learning institution that transforms thinkers into creators through education in technology, business and design at nine campuses across four continents. They offer a range of classes and workshops and community networking events to full-time educational programs. General Assembly's goals are to educate and empower the San Francisco community with the most relevant skills today. They specialize in things from web development and user experience design, to business fundamentals, to data science, to product management and digital marketing. General Assembly was established in the early 2011 as an innovative community in New York City for entrepreneurs and startup companies and continues to grow! I had the honor of visiting there campus during a recruiter meet-up event and once I headed to the 5th floor I was quickly greeted at the front counter. They directed me to the room where my meet-up group was but I couldn't help being nosey and looking at how nice the setup was. They have a huge lounge room where many of the students chill and do homework and chat. They have a library which was a nice size and TONS of meeting rooms. The setup of this is legit! It's located in the Bush building which is right in the middle of Montgomery and very close to Bart Station which was another BIG plus for me. Great food places around the area and on top of that the staffs are NICE! I definitely recommend giving GA a chance and seeing if it's good for you. Interested in exploring upcoming part-time programs? Check out General Assembly's Part Time Courses. REVIEW 17/196 read more

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I graduated from the March-May 2015 UXDi course. Overall, I had a good experience, but I also want to be 100% honest about what to expect for those who are considering the program. I can't speak for every cohort, but during mine, specifically in my class, I received incomparable instruction from a dynamic duo of incredible UX professionals. I also made many lifelong friends and, together, we built an invaluable career network. Outside of the class, we had an amazing outcomes team lead by a wonderful career coach who was incredibly helpful and responsive while we were all looking for job placement. Perks during my cohort: snacks and beverages provided frequent happy hours weekly lunches with industry guest speakers catered graduation party with open bar portfolio week meet and hire event So, why 4-stars instead of 5? Having friends in later cohorts, it seems that there have been changes. My all-star instructors and lead career coach are no longer with GA. Prices have increased from $9500 to $11500. From what I hear, there are fewer provided meals, guest speaking events, and no portfolio week. It's a little disheartening to learn that prospective students will be paying more while receiving less. That being said, UXDi isn't about getting freebies. It's about learning the ins and outs of user experience design and utilizing that experience to start a fulfilling (and lucrative) career, right? This isn't necessarily true for everyone. The reality is that not everyone is cut out to be a UX designer. Also, there are industry biases that make it easier for some people to succeed in the field while creating barriers for others. Outside of the curiosity, critical thinking, and empathy required to be a UX designer, you have to truly be a team player and be able to take constructive criticism without being defensive. You can't lie to yourself about this. If this isn't you, then it will reveal itself one way or another and can prevent you from getting (and keeping) a job. In addition, you have to be a confident and compelling public speaker. You will be required to do weekly presentations in front of an audience. If you're not good with public speaking (I'm a terrified public speaker, myself) then you have to learn to be or pretend to be (like me). It really surprised me how integral public speaking is in UX design because you frequently have to present ideas and implementation strategies (with confidence) to your team, higher ups, and clients in this line of work. As far as biases and barriers, regardless of what they tell you in UXDi, those with programming and design backgrounds will have an easier time finding job placement than those without. Classmates with these qualities, I noticed, were among the first to find work. Some of whom were hired before the program wrapped up. However, there were also a handful of people with no coding or prior design experience who found employment. It takes a little more time and determination, but if you really love UX and are good at it, it can still happen. Degrees from fancy schools will also give you a leg up during your job search. If you have Berkeley, Stanford, or Carnegie Mellon on your resume, you're more likely to get noticed. Those schools don't necessarily make better designers (I came from a CSU myself) but I've noticed that, for some companies, there's a strong preference for academic "brand names". Sadly, age discrimination is a thing. A few older students are still struggling with job placement. Tech can be a youth-dominated industry and for some teams, culture fit trumps qualification. So, was I able to find work? The short answer is: yes. I worked HARD immediately after completing the program and applied to over a dozen job listings in the first week. I received mostly rejections and no replies, but did get a few interviews and a couple of offers within a month. In the end, I was able to land a lucrative role with a Silicon Valley tech giant. Full disclosure: I did know someone who worked for said company which gave me a huge advantage. Therefore, I can't say my overall experience is typical for a GA UXDi graduate. I can say, however, that most of my hard-working and driven peers were able to find work within 3-6 months after completing UXDi. A few are still looking and there are a handful who are simply taking their time because they're currently involved with other things. So, there it is, the good and the bad. There's a lot more to it, but this is a ridiculously long review as it is. Ultimately, I would still recommend this program, but it would only be a good investment for the right person under the right conditions. If you're convinced that UX is your calling and you've got the drive, ambition, and skill to go all in to it, I think you could have a very successful career in this industry. Hopefully this has been helpful to someone out there considering this program. Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions. read more

Recently, we had a smallish event at General Assembly (roughly 30 people). The facilities are great (spacious, clean, user-friendly, well-designed, and comfortably minimalist). Armando is EXCEPTIONAL!!!! He went well beyond the call of duty to help us troubleshoot and fix the audio (we had a problem connecting a laptop to play to all the audio speakers in the room). Personally, I was going to give up on trying to make the audio work (the issue was from our end, not General Assembly's). However, Armando figured it out, made the proper connections to the audio system, and it worked splendidly! Niña and Sarah were also very helpful. We really appreciated their support and efforts. Yes, General Assembly San Francisco is staffed by excellent people! Ps: If you park in the building, make sure you leave shortly after the venue closes, otherwise you might need to call the number posted near the garage exit, so that the guard can let you out (not a long wait...we only waited for a few minutes). read more

So happy to come to this place for a free course on wedding and tech. They have tons of classes here. Saw #learnedatGA @generationTux and was blown away at this talk. Coming back for the other classes available. read more

General Assembly San Francisco - Saw #learnedatGA @generationTux - Vocational & Technical School Near Me - San Francisco, California

I love GA's classes. The teachers are always knowledgeable and fun to watch. I've been to a handful of their classes and always had a great experience! Not to mention GA SF HQ is a super cool office with a stocked beverage kitchen to enjoy during those 3-hour classes after work. :) read more

I have been at my current job as a UX Researcher for close to 2 years and can can safely now say that GA launched me into a career that I love! I am looking into different roles and now have some solid experience. read more

A month ago I completed the 10-week part-time course in product management. In my mind the two main benefits that at course such as this could possibly provide are: 1. Teach one how to do the job 2. Help one get a job Let's tackle the second one first. To begin with, taking a "proof is in the pudding" viewpoint, to the best of my knowledge none of the students have gotten jobs in product management. Read into that what you will. But should one even expect the course can help? In my mind the most likely ways a school could help one get a job are: A. The cachet of the educational institution B. Job placement help C. Networking i. With classmates ii. With current students in other classes iii. With alumni Concerning A, in all my networking no one has seemed to perk up and pay attention once I told them I studied product management at General Assembly. The name barely rings a bell. B. Job placement? For part-time courses such as product management GA does not in any way act as a career/placement center like one might find in a college. GA did *not* introduce me to any prospective employers. C. Finally, networking. There were only three other students in my class (admittedly an unusual situation). So there really was little hope that my classmates can help me meet prospective employers--there just aren't enough of them! What about networking with other current and former GA students? I asked repeatedly, but there was no formal process or events to facilitate networking with students in other classes. They had a very few optional social events. Nor any recruiting-type events at which they bring in representatives of employers. Finally, although they do have alumni groups on LinkedIn and Facebook, they are inactive and of little use. So if GA does not help one get a product management job, does it at least do a good job of teaching one how to be a product manager (and does it cost a reasonable amount for what they teach)? The class was riddled with irritating quirks: Each week's do-at-home "pre-work" was often out of sync with the corresponding lectures. And neither the instructor nor instructional assistant (IA) seemed aware of what was in each week's pre-work. The homework was often out of sync with what was taught in class. The exercises would use different terminologies, frameworks, etc. from what had been taught in class. These two things weren't deal breakers. But it was disheartening that a class so focused on eliminating "pain points" for users would let so many of these little irritants slip through. I found the quality of the curriculum to be unremarkable. (I have some sympathy for the instructor--he clearly wanted to use his own slides, but was not allowed to.) In the subject areas that I already had substantial training and real world experience (and there were a number), I could see that what was taught in class was often a gross simplification (occasionally dangerously gross) or even incorrect. I realize that there was very little class time and so simplifications had to be made. But even a back of the envelope calculation must have internal consistency and logic. And I think the course did the attendees a disservice by not even acknowledging the limitations and risks of the simplified methods. And while the class often dealt with what made a "good" product, the analyses were almost exclusively performed from the point of view of the customer. It wasn't until the 6th week that the word revenue even showed up on a slide. And no methodologies were presented for analyzing whether a product was good for the company. In my assessment the instructor was very well intentioned, but only of average quality. The assistant often seemed unaware of what was covered during the classes she missed. In summary, it seems unlikely that the course will significantly help me or anyone get a product management job (unless it's a lateral move within a company). And while the course did teach many components of product management, it's unclear if it did a better job than the same amount of time spent on a few books and a few Coursera classes. Let's do the math: the course consumes about 40 hours of class time and 40 hours of homework time (plus commute time, but let's ignore that for now). I think it's likely that one could get a similar (or better?) education by spending that same amount of time reading several books and taking a Coursera course or two. And consider that this "home study" alternative might cost $100. So even if General Assembly's education is better...is it $3,900 better than home study? Unlikely. read more

This is a review for their bootcamp and workshop classes, specifically the UX design and Sketch bootcamps and their Intro to Sketch and Finding Purpose (Standford d. School) workshops. I thought the classes and instructors were great, with material that was helpful and the facility itself was clean and well kept. The staff at GA does a good job of keeping the topics current and finding instructors working in the fields they teach courses on. Plus, they have some free online classes to try out! read more

I want to give GA more stars but one bad experience is enough for a bad review. This a review for the User Experience Design course. While the teacher is extremely knowledgeable and helpful, I feel like like the curriculum is a bit off. There is A LOT to learn about UX, I understand that. The course is quite lecture heavy (which is fine) with some activities mixed in. The only thing I don't understand is why we never got the chance to work on our final projects throughout the class. Because of this, it led to most people scrambling at the last minute to get feedback from the teachers and TA's the last two weeks of class. This usually led to a lot of edits and suggestions for our projects. I wish I knew half the things I should have done with my app a month ago instead of a week before it's due. Fine. Whatever. It just sucks bc this course is so expensive and I barely got any one-on-one time with either of them. And when I did, I feel like I received conflicting suggestions. BUT the reason I will give GA three stars is because I question their hiring process. My class had a wonderful and talented TA for the first month and a half and then the last three classes were accompanied by someone else, who in my opinion, is very unprofessional. My one on one with her was appalling and she was rude and harsh. She seemed really inexperienced in working with others and collaborating. Most people in my class felt the same way. GA, make sure you know who is teaching your classes! I've taken a two hour negotiation workshop which is great but will not be taking longer courses there. Not worth all that money in my opinion. read more

Took the part time data science course and multiple workshops (google analytics, sql, python, javascript). The part time data science course won't necessarily prep you for a data science position, but will provide you with skills for a mid-level data analyst position and/or an immersive course. As for the Bush Street campus - the employees are always friendly and welcoming. The instructors and assistants are also more than willing to help during and after the course. read more

This is based on attending one paid class and two free classes. I had some questions/concerns related to the paid class and it was very difficult to get someone to help me. Also the GA person at the start of the class mentioned recording will be available, but it was not provided. For a free class I registered to, they never sent a link to join after multiple follow ups. Don't recommend. From reading the below reviews, I think they will ask me to contact to one of their email addresses under this review for resolution. But that is one of the email address I was using to communicate with the team during the above experiences. read more

I've taken two classes here and they've both been fantastic - super inspiring with solid takeaways. And the teachers were LEGIT! Both with blockbuster resumes and all sorts of accolades in their industry. Intro to Content Strategy - highly recommend for anyone with a marketing or journalism background who wants to better understand breaking into the content world. Andy Raskin was so professional, thorough, interesting and inspiring. How to be a Better & Funnier Public Speaker - also awesome as it dissects the art of oration and how to sneak laughs into any presentation. This won't make you an amazing public speaker overnight, but gave some good food for thought and tips to practice and perfect over time. I'll probably need to read his book to get the full skill set. I did have another class that the teacher didn't show up for, which was super annoying and unprofessional, but they refunded us. Based on the two classes I did take, I would definitely sign up for more at GA (and will!) The prices are pretty reasonable, and definitely doable if your employer is helping pay for educational or development programs. The facilities are well-equipped, comfortable, and spacious. Feels like a more modern, compact version of a college campus, minus the cafeteria. But they do have free coffee/tea available. read more

My class was awesome! I did the 3 hour Intro to Google Analytics with Ian Howie, it was just enough knowledge and moved along at just the right pace. I definitely feel more confident with Google Analytics and the professor was super sharp. -- Alyssa Ausen read more

The worst customer service, you can never get in touch with anyone, even if you do, they won't get you to the right place or even bather to follow up on anything! read more

As a former student of GA's WDI program, I can't say anything negative about them. With that being said, you may be wondering why I only gave 4 stars then. I thoroughly believe that all the instructors here enjoy teaching and want their students to succeed, and they are willing to work with you as much as they can to help you out. This also includes the TA's. The reason why I didn't give 5 stars though is because GA says that experience does not matter, and it comes down to you get what you put in. And I would say yes and no. I had a little experience with HTML and CSS before starting class in addition to their Dash program that is available to anyone, with some of my classmates having more experience. I would advise anyone considering taking the WDI course to have some experience, especially with JavaScript, before starting class. This is a very intense class, and it is really hard. I don't want to sound like I am saying anything negative about them because I really truly enjoyed my time here. But it is very difficult and if you do not have experience prior to starting, you are setting yourself behind. And be ready to work your butt off because if you are going to make it through the program, you need to be willing to put in that effort. read more

I took the UX/DI Full-Time Immersive Course from July - September of 2016 to transition my career to becoming a UX Designer. The thing is, you have to put in the work to get the job you want. This is also a foundational course and you should look into finding additional resources online to specialize in the industry you want to go in (whether that is AR/VR, Enterprise, E-Commerce, etc.). They don't teach you very many visual design skills or the tools (they do teach you the theory and foundation necessary for you to practice and get better at these things). Also, the tools are constantly changing so it's okay that you only learn the foundation. You in turn, have to put in the additional work to get the job you want. You do have to utilize resources like Coursera, EDx, Udacity to learn things like Unity, HTML, CSS, etc because they do only cover very limited basics. My instructors (Billie, Jamal, and Jen) were extremely encouraging and helped me feel confident about the work I produced throughout the course. It was also an extremely transformational journey for me personally, in terms of my presentation skills and self-confidence. GA is a supportive environment. The career coaching team is awesome. Andy and Katie are willing to put up with your insecurities while job searching and give you tips to get over them. They tell you exactly what to do. Andy is awesome for simple encouragement. read more

Review for Courses: Part-time front-end web development night class && Web Development Immersive full-time bootcamp I took the part-time front-end course in 2015 when I was still working full time. I wanted a career change from the medical field and I had worked with HTML and CSS in the past, though my knowledge was very outdated. The front-end class gave me the stepping stone I needed to introduce me to Javascript, HTML5 and CSS3. The instructor, Avand, was immensely helpful, knowledgeable, kind and motivating. The course producer, Mercedes, was extremely helpful and energetic, creating a really wonderful sense of community which really drew me to choosing General Assembly for the full-time Web Development Immersive course as well. The instructors for my WDI course were immensely knowledgeable, kind and very organized. I went into the full-time course with the intention that I'd study 7 days a week for the full 12 weeks, and I used all of the resources I could find to deepen my knowledge of software development. It was an extremely fast-paced and in-depth curriculum which covered all of the basics of being able to understand both back-end and front-end development. The most beneficial part of the program for me was the group projects. Being able to collaborate with a group on GitHub and git is invaluable when you're looking for a job as a software developer, and it's hard to gain those skills while learning programming on your own. After graduation, I followed GA's outcomes to a 'T' and I got my first contract about 75 days after graduating, and my second contract a week after that. I've been working at that position for three months and I absolutely love it. The hardest part for me was the job search after graduating - you have to keep a lot of balls in the air at once, like continuing working on your projects and portfolio, contacting hiring managers and programming leads at companies, networking with fellow GA alumni and going to meet-ups often, and sending out thoughtful job applications with a positive attitude all the while being rejected A LOT! In all, my journey from the medical field to software development was a time and financial sacrifice, but it was entirely worth it and my life is 100% better today than it was just a year ago! read more

I payed a down payment for an online course, and waited almost 2 weeks AFTER the course start date, but nobody got back to me. There were some "we'll get back to you promises", but nobody ever did. This is very disappointing as the company is hard on selling and calling you when you express interest on the course, but once they sell it... then - where is the proper support and calls back? read more

Unless you already have a degree in the field from a real university don't bother with this as it is a huge waste of money. Most recruiters and hiring managers will tell you they won't hire from this school. Save your money and pay for a degree not a certificate program as you are contending with real industry professionals with their masters. read more

I found the Data Science Immersive course at GA to be extremely challenging and even more worthwhile. The amount of knowledge bestowed upon me is unbelievable. On top of that, I built incredible relationships with my classmates and my instructors. Furthermore, the Outcomes team was a tremendous help after course completion. While results will vary for each individual, I do believe it is worth noting that I received a Data Scientist job offer just three weeks after graduation (an offer that I accepted). If you're considering the DSI course at GA, and you're willing to work your tail off for 12+ weeks, I strongly encourage you to go for it. read more

I graduated from General Assembly's Web Development Immersive program in October 2015. Prior to coding I had a successful career as a mid-level marketer but I felt underutilized, bored, and wanted something more intellectually stimulating and challenging. I found myself using some basic HTML/CSS for email marketing and soon enough I was hooked. Before joining the program I was learning to code on my own. I felt coding bootcamps sounded too good to be true, and way too overpriced for something you can totally learn on your own and for free. But then I hit a wall - I was struggling to understand technologies/tools deeper and knowing which ones were "better" than the other ones. I was also struggling to understanding how they worked together (an effective and efficient architecture). You don't know, what you don't know. My coding bootcamp research spun over 3+ months. I attended meetups and networking events and met bootcamp grads. I attended info sessions. I made spreadsheets comparing bootcamps in the Bay Area AND online. I went above and beyond. For me, I narrowed down to 3 places: General Assembly, Hack Reactor, and Hackbright Academy. (My experience communicating with the last one was so unbelievably awful - but that merits its own review). In the end I selected General Assembly for a myriad of reasons: they understood what it was like for an older (Im 30 y.o) person like me to switch careers and start from the bottom, they knew the risks, challenges, fears, and insecurities that came with such a switch. They have seen it again and again and again. They made sure my expectations were realistic: "it will be hard", "it will be intense", "no guarantee job/ salary afterwards", "you will eat/breathe WDI for 12 weeks", "say bye to friends/family", "you gotta really enjoy coding - liking it is what will carry you through", "...but we will meet you half way, always". The people I met at GA during my research were so amazing, I wanted to be friends with them. I felt that GA was the real deal. I am so happy I went with GA. I completely underestimated how great GA is. I had amazing teachers, some of them also bootcamp grads who fully understood what was like to go from 0 to 100 in a matter of weeks. They understood the sacrifice, challenges, and the mindset we were in. They really knew how to reach to us, and make really complex high-level concepts easy enough to comprehend and apply. They taught us how to learn, how to teach ourselves and that is probably one of the most valuable things I took with me. Shortly after graduating I interviewed with a company that wanted me to learn a brand new framework (Ionic) in 5 days and present them an app - and I did!! I received an offer (but I declined it for another offer). I never thought I would reach that point, when I can pick up new tools/technologies in a matter of a couple of days AND get jobs out of it. One other super valuable thing I got from GA was the network. GA campuses span over multiple cities and countries. I have made GA friends and connections in NYC, Denver, Austin, etc... The people are GA have the following common denominators: curious/inquisitive, kind, empathetic, helpful, open minded, and adventurous (risk takers). I got to meet people from all walks of life, all ages/races, and we bonded over this experience. When things got hard, and that happened a lot, we pick each other up. We reminded ourselves why we were there and told each other to stay focused and work through the problems - eyes on the prize. Going to GA and graduating from WDI was one of the most memorable life experiences - right up there with getting married, graduating college, getting your first job, etc. It was so hard, so difficult, so intense- I had too many sleepless nights, some tears were shed, but all of that made it even more amazing. I was able to overcome ALL of that and then some more! I have come so far, farther than I thought I could. I left GA more prepared and more knowledgeable than I expected I would. I cannot recommend GA enough - but the truth is that GA only met me half way (but they always did). I had a positive demeanor, the drive and the determination to "make it", and I REALLY wanted it. I saw some people give-up and quit, and I also never saw those people working on homework or staying late. (And I think this is also applicable for other bootcamps. read more

I really did enjoy my time here at GA. I took the UXDi course (10 weeks full time 9k).... And I would recommend it. I came from a COMPLETELY unrelated background, and from this course (as well as working my ass off afterwards) I landed a job 2 months after I finished the program (and one of those months in between was December so I don't even really count that entire month because seriously no one even hires then....). I also received multiple other offers, and ended up having the first world problem of choosing which job I wanted the most. HAH never had that problem before. This course will teach you the fundamentals and prepare you to be a generalist, however does not dive deep into any one pillar of knowledge, but what do you expect for only having 10 weeks. You need to figure out what niche you want to get into afterwards, and GA will kind of go over the basics of each niche but seriously you need to keep your ass motivated and continue to learn on your own outside of class. If you're motivated, learn relatively fast, are good at storytelling/presenting you'll be a rockstar at this. And even if you're not good at storytelling/presenting you'll learn how to be, or at least fake it. I went from completely freaking out about public presentations to speaking at panels and giving an hour long talk about my work just from all the practice I got here. I hope you make the jump into UX as I have, it's the scariest but best decision I HAVE EVER MADE IN MY LIFE THE END. read more

Intro to Python last weekend and SQL bootcamp this weekend. Both taught by the same instructor and both less than satisfactory, for the money spent. The classes were both from 10am-5pm and by 2:00pm, I felt I had learned nothing. The first hour and a half of each class was spent going over syllabi and doing introductions (which included a "fun fact" that while fun, was not a great use of the limited time). Slides were read verbatim, and the exercises took an hour each because of the large class size and the "move at the pace of the slowest" mentality. I am by no means the smartest cookie in the jar, but the pace of these classes put me to sleep. In the first 4 hours, we had discussed SELECT ... FROM ... WHERE, Group BY, Order BY, and basic aggregation functions and arithmetic operators. At one point we actually had the football game on! It wasn't until the end of class when things started to get interesting (IF ELSE Statements, Loops, and functions in the Python class AND Joins in the SQL class). It really left me wishing we had gotten into the meat earlier in the day. I think the instructor could benefit from better time management skills. I appreciate General Assembly's attempt at making tech accessible to everyone, but they need to have some minimum requirements or divide their courses into various levels of complexity, so that everyone can get the most out of the experience and that the instructors for each class can get through the entire syllabus. read more

I enrolled in their $3,500 FEWD program. I did learn some coding skills, but they didn't offer me any of their own course specific materials other than the introductory session they use to lure you in. They offer limited tutoring sessions and I once took BART from Concord to SF on a Sunday and was only able to spend 20 mins with a tutor because another student from another class was ahead of me. Then, on a separate occasion I came to class early after the teacher had announced he would be there for anyone that wanted help and he wasn't even there. I did discuss this with General Assembly and they tried to accommodate me, but this doesn't change their program or the fact that none of their instructors appear to have teaching credentials. I would say before you commit to anything, it is worth researching less expensive/free options such as codeschool.com. Additionally, they do offer evening sessions, but for those that don't currently work for a startup this may be a waste of money and most importantly, time. read more

This review is for the Visual Note-taking for Creative Thinkers class at General Assembly in SF. First of all, I'm always a little nervous about the "first day of school", not knowing what to expect, or if I'll fit in, etc. (even though this was a one-evening class). Upon entering, I felt comfortable right away. There was a good mix of ages in the class, and not one "type" of student, and it was a pretty intimate size which was also nice. The instructor, Abbey, was very kind and enthusiastic about the course. She started with an intro about how this technique has helped her, and shared the progression of her notebooks as she learned the art of visual note-taking. The notebooks helped demonstrate that in the beginning it might not be pretty, but you end up developing and refining your own "language" of note-taking. It was nice that we had a chance to jump right into a non-intimating practice start for a warm up, and we had the opportunity to build on the practice in exercises throughout the class. The visual note-taking technique is a more expansive, non-linear way of taking notes, that with practice is surely a more efficient way of doing a normally pretty boring task. I definitely recommend. read more

The User Experience Design Immersive (UXDI) was worth the investment, time, and effort for me. Despite my limited tech and design educational background and work experience, I was able to get a job offer before the end of the course at a salary 2 years beyond my reach pre-UXDI. THE GOOD Community You feel the collaborative spirit no matter what course you're taking. The staff is super supportive and responsive. Locations You can hop over to a different GA location across the globe and receive career services there. Quality of Education You get what you put in. It had the right fast paced, challenging rigor that I needed to exhibit my skills and abilities in my portfolio case studies. Facilities Snacks, tea, private pods, couches, rooms, kitchens, and TONS of white board painted walls. Accessibility The pool of students was diverse in race, income, age, field of study, city of residence, country of residence, sense of humor, etc. Getting accepted isn't too difficult (good or bad depending on how you see it). There are multiple payment options and access to loans. There are scholarships (opportunity fund). Events The variety of events gave me the opportunity to meet many interesting people and explore different learning opportunities. MY ADVICE Bond with your classmates. They may be the key to your well being and sanity amidst the stress and information overload. Set goals, focus your efforts, and use time strategically to meet those goals during the course. Don't complain about the free food. They can and may just take it away like they did for us. Don't eat too many granola bars like I did. Too much sugar... I attended UXDI Sep - Nov 2015 read more

I'm currently a year removed from my full time WDI class. I figure it was time to give a good reflection on how it was. My cohort was the first class above 50 students. I was considerably aware of this from the beginning. Thankfully, the woman that helped create the cohort (hi Annie!) has a knack for building a group. My group was not only motivated AND we all came from diverse backgrounds. That was the magic that made my time fruitful and worth it. We learned so much from each other, supported each other through the 18 hour days. I gained so many friends and we continue to keep in touch, and keep motivating each other through our professional journey. That's 5 stars. My teacher group kind of taught us in an agile way - they'd feel us out, and see where to adjust. It worked well enough, but some parts were lacking. Like, the way they introduced JavaScript to us was incomprehensible. That in turn made what an easy-to-start language seem harder to grasp than it should have. I have to give it up to the teacher group, they learned from that mis-step and introduced JavaScript early in the next cohort. That's 3.5 stars, considering they had to learn that lesson on my time. My teacher group was diverse in programming approaches - scholastic, fresh off a bootcamp, C level, senior, mid, startup, corporate, indie. It was a good pool to brain-pick from. 5 stars Many of us completed the cohort, I remember that not many dropped out - one did because the class was too slow for him, others because it was too fast. Some stayed anyway whether it was too fast or too slow for them. Post-cohort job hunt support was very strong. Brooke was very supportive, continually checking in and pushing me to get out there, passing down quality networking events, job leads, and conference tickets. 5 stars, hi Brooke! It feels so fun when you're going through the bootcamp, you learn so much. At the end, after you learned so much, it feels like you only chipped off an ice cube from an ice berg. Be prepared to not have an immediate place to land after completion, the job search is its own hustle. I finished in March and got my internship in June. I stayed busy with my cohort classmate (and now my friend forever), coding every day. Beefing up the projects that we made in WDI, and job hunting. There were rejections, phone and technical interviews, and a whole lot of nothing in between it all. GA will be an unforgettable time, everything was in sync. The timing, the network, the support, the knowledge base. I just really tip my hat to Annie and whoever else had a hand in it, because her team made one heck of a class. read more

I graduated from GA's Web Development Immersive (WDI) in September 2014, and I could not have been happier with the experience and the outcome! I honestly didn't know what to expect when enrolling in a full-time coding bootcamp, but I ended up coming out of the course with a new career, great friends, and an amazing community to be a part of. What sets GA apart from other coding bootcamps is the instructors. I was lucky to have four incredibly smart and passionate instructors with different backgrounds and perspectives on web development. They always went above and beyond to make sure every student was getting the most out of the class, and they were constantly iterating on the curriculum to make sure we were getting the most up-to-date knowledge based on how the web development landscape was trending. Thanks to WDI, I can now say I have the skills to learn any new technology on my own, and I definitely felt prepared to start my full-time job as a developer when the course ended. read more

Prior to going to GA I was in a job that was unsatisfying, unchallenging, and way too stressful. I was ready to buckle down and come into terms with the fact that I'd hate working for the rest of my life. But by some FB algorithm and some friends who happened to like the GA page an ad showed up and I clicked it. I asked a lot of questions to the staff and took a chance with their WDI. It was probably one of the best decisions I've made...EVER. The best part is the staff still follows up with me. I'm not just another number to them which is the cherry on top of an overall AWESOME experience. FAQ: Q: Are you employed now? A: Yes...gainfully employed Q: Do you like your new job? A: Yes...very much. Q: Would you recommend this to your friend? A: Yes and I'd also recommend it to my family, my friends, your friends, your friends' families, and their friends. Q: How much do you make? A: Don't worry about it... :) read more

I went to GA for web development and truly believe it changed my life. I came out of the program with a new skill set, portfolio, and fully fleshed out resume, ready to take on the competitive, fast paced, SF tech world. The networking opportunities are substantial and substantive, but also having a campus in the middle of the city makes it easy to meet people who work in all the buildings around you. General Assembly isn't a school, but a fresh start. It's an interdisciplinary coworking space with some amazing alumns all around the world. It's the hardest thing I've put myself through but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. read more

I attended General Assembly's WDI (Web Development Immersive) program in November 2014 - February 2015, and my experience was nothing short of fantastic. I felt prepared to enter the program as they had given me pre-work to complete leading up to the beginning of the program. Any questions I had leading up to starting the course were immediately handled and to my satisfaction. GA does a great job at making you feel welcome to the community that they are building. The course work itself was taught by three instructors, between all of which had a combined 20+ years of experience in programming. They kept the material interesting and were very good at explaining it in simple terms. The material is not easy, but it's not supposed to be. They cover all facets of programming, and although you won't come out of their program a master of any particular aspect, you WILL have experienced most of what you need in order to get into a career position. Coursework included working with Node.js along with various javascript frameworks (Express, Angular), jQuery, Bootstrap, Ruby on Rails, algorithms, data structures, version control (GIT), HTML/CSS, teamwork, agile development, and more. I came out of the program feeling very confident that I had all of the needed tools to keep moving forward and that I could enter a job as a junior developer. Though GA does not offer job placement, they do have a team of very dedicated career coaches that work with you to fine tune your resume, help you map out your strategy to finding the right job, and they bring in a lot of people that are in the industry to speak to students about what they should expect to see when they are looking for work. GA has done a great job at offering up additional services to help students find employment after they graduate, from having an internal job board solely for alumni/students, to having post graduation job fairs, and the career coaches still email me about recent job postings. I have since found a job as a front-end developer, and it only took me 8 weeks after graduation to do so. Several of my classmates found work shortly after graduation, others chose to continue to hone their skills before even looking for work. The environment of the building itself is very nice. It's got a modern feel without being too lavish. There is usually ample space to work alone or as a group. There are always lots of people there as GA operates several different courses at any given time. The staff are very nice and respectful of your needs/space. The only criticism I have about GA is that they do an awful lot of events at the building, which can sometimes (but not all that often) impede on the amount of space that can be provided for students/alumni while they are studying/working on projects... but I also understand that as a business, they have to make money. On top of that, most (if not all) of these events tie in directly with the tech community, so there are actually lots of positives that come from these relationships (GA is all about building community). In the end, I wouldn't hold it against GA as something that would keep me from wanting to attend or support them, just something to be mindful of if you want to attend read more

WDI 18 graduate - July 2015 One of the best decisions I've ever made. When researching bootcamps to attend following my decision to switch careers, I found that GA was the only one to offer an info session. I decided to attend. I knew immediately that it was the right bootcamp for me. The bootcamp is very difficult and the people who seem to struggle are ones who may not put in the work necessary to graduate or they lack the passion behind coding for a majority of their day. The instructors, GA team, and support that they provide are all excellent. I never felt like I was out of the loop or worried about a question not being answered. This course is not one where you can just show up and succeed. It's on YOU to learn. The courses go through continual change to be the best that they can be. We were taught exactly what we needed to know in order to become a programmer/developer in the industry. The campus is phenomenal and provides a great learning experience. There are many bootcamps going on at once and GA does a great job of offering students a chance to mingle with other classes. There are also workshops and weekend events that they provide that can be of additional learning. If you'd like to see more about the WDI program in depth, feel free to check out my YouTube videos covering my bootcamp. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ6shAyi_8eqr9tNTbW_UJUfj4gMv6ff2 read more

I am very satisfied with my experience from GA. I completed the WDI course in March of 2015 and feel very confident in my abilities to continue in the Web Development field. The instructors were very knowledgeable and helpful with many of the advanced topics presented to us. They were also available to help with any extra guidance we needed throughout the course. I still have a great rapport with the instructors and they are available for any advice and guidance post course. What makes GA stand out is the amazing atmosphere for learning. They do a wonderful job of helping students in all facets of Web Development. They have career coaches to help with the job search after the course has completed. The workspace is extremely inspiring and bustling with energy. The staff is extremely welcoming and helpful with anything you could possibly need. I would wholeheartedly recommend any of the courses to people looking to gain a new skill in the technological field. read more

About a year ago I (successfully) completed the part-time FEWD course which was overall a pretty incredible experience. My instructor was Timm Michaud and Avand was our TA (who I think used to teach FEWD). They were just really great instructors for such a complex subject matter. Even though Javascript is something that I still greatly struggle with, Timm and Avand were really patient with us once we hit this section of the course (and they noticed a lot of blank stares in the class). They set aside class time to work with us individually and were also available outside of class to meet one-on-one to work through any problems we were having, particularly when it came to our final projects. One thing that I did really like during the course was working through all of our homework, together, in class (after we submitted our assignments of course). For me, this aspect was really beneficial because it helped me to understand the logic behind the step-by-step process rather than just 'here's the code' (particularly for the javascript section). Overall, my experience with General Assembly was excellent. Everyone was always very welcoming and accommodating and somehow made a 3-hr class, after a full day of work, actually quite fun and engaging. read more

Before starting my Digital Marketing Bootcamp this past week, I had already spent quite a bit of time in this space for various workshops, events and presentations. There's always something going on, whether it's a content strategy workshop for new social medialites, an experienced UX course, or an Instagram meet up hosted by influencers in the Bay. While I'd love to doll out cash to attend every workshop on the agenda, they add up quickly. That said, I've attended at least a handful of events that have no cost. To top it off, you're almost always greeted with apps and a cold beer when you arrive "on campus". I bet your college English professor didn't do that! The mentors are resourceful, smart, and down to earth, and I genuinely feel like they want me to succeed. Great spot to meet other creatives or entrepreneurs, and certainly a space I intend to continue keeping up with. read more