I'm in the design/advertising industry and I attended my first GA class to learn more about UX. My…read moreinstruct was Faz. He was fantastic. Quick, knowledgeable, and approachable. I would definitely go back to GA. In fact, I'm about to sign up for my next one! Cheers! PS- All of my UX friends recommend General Assembly. And I'm sure their other courses are reputable as well.

February 6, 2020 I…read moreleft in the last two weeks due to no more new material, poor instruction due to three instructor changes, and choosing a job in the industry. Pluses First we'll start with the positives from the physical to the logical and qualitative. Location The GA campus in DC is clean, serviceable and well stocked with excellent Frontlines support. I would give it as near as 100% as possible. Classrooms always have working projectors, enough seats and whiteboards. Coffee, Peanut Butter and Jelly and tea bags are always plentiful. Outcomes The outcomes team gives the students most of the skills I learned in this industry at dozens of customers and clients over 20 plus years. As much as the students complained about the long sessions to me, those that follow its rigors will secure a position quickly. Curricula The curricula as defined in the GA SEI Syllabus compares well with Flatiron, CodingDojo, Trilogy and others. Instruction All lead instructors seemed knowledgeable of the material covered. All instructors were approachable and inviting of the material. Delivery The Google calendar was updated weekly with relatively accurate material to be presented and learned. Labs and software functioned as expected. Installfest saved the students trouble that they will quickly learn in the field. Compatibility and libraries are key from development to deployment. Minuses Now, some constructive guidance Location Those stairs are extremely steep and elevator access restricted. Heat in these historical buildings often has trouble on those frosty days. This one is no different, a space heater or two might help if compliant ones are available. Outcomes Only one thing I might recommend here are interview dry runs. We had one or two examples of interviews, and I imagine hiring panel next week will be equally excellent. But as mentioned below, practice, practice practice! All candidates I have ever met benefit from practicing the interview questions and the discomfort. I mentor all of my charges in this area. We even do professional development sessions on it. Curricula The curricula was not taught completely. For example, one of the reasons, that I, an experienced Engineer chose GA were the Algorithms and Data Structures courses as shown in the screenshots below. These courses were not available until after the course opened and even worse were never addressed. This pattern of missing core material as we moved forward forms part of the basis for my letter and departure. Instruction Our lead instructor changed three times. None of them covered all of the material separately or together. For new students this gap will carry over into their new careers. Although I mentioned this before and in tickets, it has not been addressed adequately. It cannot be rectified at this late stage. Delivery Furthermore there was often a lack of respect for the difficulties that the students faced. Comments such as the students are "lazy," "do not want to work," or "do not like to read have been heard." While I encourage constructive criticism it must be backed by instructional excellence. Instructional Excellence Although very personable as a whole the instructional style was far too loose to give new students the comfort they need in this difficult, challenging and dynamic field. Like sport and music, training for novices is about learning patterns and executing them repeatedly and in combination. As the student grows, these patterns or katas inspire the artists to create their own symphonies. Not enough structure was provided for training the students muscle or neurological pathways to allow for confident improvisation. This is my number one guidance. When teaching new material it is vital that it is taught, demonstrated, practiced and reviewed. Although much of the material had this character, it has not been consistent enough to train the students. On my final day I was directly criticized for the instructional failures of this cohort. I was told that I was pushing and telling the students what to do when in reality all that I did was: Describe the concept. Demonstrate the concept. Allow the students to choose issues to tackle. Reviewed them as a whole. The instructor who arrived later to try to guide us was disrespectful to me and to the classroom in his behavior. Summary I chose GA over the alternatives for several reasons. First, the curriculum met most of the baselines of each of the other bootcamps in the area, although it was slightly pricier, the vibe and location seemed worth it. I was 100% accurate on the location and vibe, you are a warm and welcoming team that open your hearts to all students. Please structure the courses more. I mentioned this in my ongoing ticket

Carpe Librum bookstore used to be a pop up bookstore, now permanently housed at Farragut Square…read more Great lunch break if you work in the area. You can donate books or purchase books, the proceeds of which go to Turning the Page, a great organization that provides educational resources to public schools. The book selection, CD, and DVD collection of course depends on the donations. In terms of books, there is a good mix of classics, politics, history, cookbooks, sci-fi (definitely bought all LOTR for $4).

This organization is extremely​ involved​ with the international education community. The staff is…read moreexceptionally welcoming, and the facilities are always sparkling​ clean.

From the owner: With almost 40 years of experience, American Councils for International Education is a…read moreworld-renowned non-profit organization with a dedicated expertise in international education programming, policy, and research. American Councils creates and administers around 275 programs per year in 64 countries, concentrating in areas of the world that are challenging to access, but whose languages are being touted by the U.S. Government as "critical" to national security and international relations. American Councils has received hundreds of millions of dollars in competitive grant awards from elite clients such as U.S. Dept. of State, U.S. Dept. of Education, USAID, World Bank, Carnegie Corporation, and the George Soros Foundation, and is recognized in its field as the "gold standard" provider of student and faculty exchange programs, faculty and professional development abroad programs, language curriculum development and research.

I took my first medical board exam here on July 11. If I could make one suggestion, it would be to…read moreseparate those who have to type (ex. those taking essay-based exams), from those who do not have essays on their tests; simply because the noise of typing on desktops is pretty loud in an otherwise silent room. Another way to address this would be to warn all students to bring their earplugs in if they'll be in the room with people who are typing. While I did get surprised in the middle of one of my test sections with some loud typing, I otherwise could not have asked for a better test day experience. Primarily, I didn't realize what a huge difference it makes to have test center staff be at their best on a day when I was (pretty much) at my worst. Upon entering the test center, I was extremely nervous and was having trouble following the (extremely simple) instructions of the person responsible for checking everyone in. Fortunately, this person, Sunny, was very kind and patient. He told me I could eat my breakfast in the back of the foyer, which had a table near a window. This was helpful because I was able to separate myself from the other test takers, eat my breakfast, and calm down. After that, I felt a lot better, got checked-in properly, and began my test on time. Everything from there went very smoothly. Checking into prometric test rooms is an arduous process, you have to use your thumbprint and get swiped with a metal detector. Fortunately, the center is small and the staff works quickly. I was third in line to check into the test room, and I was waiting for my turn for less than 10 minutes. The amenities in this prometric center are great. The bathrooms are clean and close to the testing room. The temperature in the testing room itself is comfortable as well. The woman (unfortunately I didn't catch her name) responsible for checking me into and out of the test center during my break times was great at getting me in and out quickly. She clearly cared about getting me back to my seat as fast as possible. This was a relief to me because I was on the clock and had a limited amount of time for breaks. She also would have the sign-out book open to my page before I had even left the room. I was impressed that she took the time to learn my name, and also that she noticed and took action as soon as I got out of my chair, all to save me time on my break. I know I certainly would have zoned out, and I really appreciated her attention to detail. Overall, I was very happy with my test day experience, and it is important to me that the staff here knows that they are doing a great job. Thanks again!

I've gone here multiple times before and never had a problem. This time, I get there and they tell…read moreme I have to reschedule. Why couldn't they call me? And the guy telling me had this awful attitude of no sympathy. Acting like it's my fault when I just wasted my whole afternoon. There's no reason they couldn't call.

Way back in the Spring of 2009, I interned in DC through TWC. I would (and have) recommended it to…read moreanyone in college with any interest in DC. Things are a bit different now then they were during my time there (the TWC building in DC wasn't open, we lived in 4 different locations) but my internship, housing, and classes/programming were great. TWC was a great opportunity to meet so many people from all over the country (and the world!), it's something I just couldn't get at my college. I also got to take a peace studies class with the amazing Colman McCarthy. I absolutely fell in love with DC. The biggest piece of advice I would give to potential interns is to wait until your last semester of school. Two of my roommates were on their last semester and both now have jobs in DC, in part as a result of their TWC internships. I still had a year and a half left when I did my semester. Also, it's pricey (of course) but unless you have a real working knowledge of DC and it's intern world, it's worth it.

I recommend this internship program 10/10. I met a lot of great people from the program and learned…read moreso much from the internship and my class. Thank you The Washington Center.

If you are looking for an opportunity to help young folks in the city then this is the place to be…read more Through their Math and English Tutoring, Leaders in the Making, and Post-Secondary Education Preparation programs For Love of Children (FLOC) has been working to educate and empower young people in Washington, DC for over 40 years. Try saying that ten times fast! I've volunteered at FLOC for several years, tutoring junior and senior high school students in Math and English. The time commitment involved has been minimal: 3 hrs a week, one night a week during the school year. It has been a fun and rewarding experience for me, helping teens and pre-teens to improve their basic reading and math skills. FLOC is always looking for volunteer tutors. Tutors work one-on-one with students on either Math or English. If you are interested then consider contacting them. Training is provided. FLOC is currently located in Columbia Heights at 1763 Columbia Road, which is about halfway between Columbia Heights on the Green/Yellow lines and Woodley Park/National Zoo on the Red line. The phone number has not changed. More information about FLOC can be found at their web site http://www.flocdc.org/ FLOC also operates an outdoor education center, located near Harpers Ferry, West Virgina.

From the owner: For Love of Children provides educational services beyond the classroom to help students succeed…read morefrom first grade through college and career. We bring together students, volunteers, families, and community partners in proven programs that teach, empower, and transform.

I know this is not a business but a non profit but I'm yelping about it because I feel that they…read moreare extremely unprofessional and really need to consider the fact that having good work ethics and being considerate are also important parts of 'Education' I applied for a job on their website and went for 2 interviews. They don't realize that other people have work to do too and when someone takes the time out of their schedule to meet you twice you at least let them know when they are not selected. So I just found out that the position had been filled pretty much a day or two after the last interview which was over 2 weeks ago! they've even updated their website to reflect this but never bothered to contact the other candidates to let them know they weren't selected. No email, no call, nothing. I'm not upset that they didn't hire me. I understand that there might have been a candidate who better fir the position. I just would have really appreciated it if they had let me know and I didn't have to be hopeful for 2 weeks and find out this way. Really very unprofessional. All of them. Not worthy of the educational background that they so proudly promote.

The non credit options have been on hiatus for a while. Their site mentions vaccine status, so most…read morelikely covid related which is a few years old now. Hopefully they have some sort of update on their one off or non-credit classes.

Great classes, and great teachers. I think it's the only high quality art school in DC…read more Everybody is so helpful there.