RC is hard to describe. Yelp currently categorizes this as a "vocational & technical school" and I…read moresometimes hear people call this a coding bootcamp, but it's really the opposite of those things: there's no curriculum, no tuition, and there are no instructors. Unlike bootcamps, which often promise a job paying at least $X/yr, RC doesn't promise you'll get anything but a t-shirt. Well, that and three months in a safe, encouraging, environment where people can learn whatever it is they want to learn. There's guidance available, if you want suggestions for what you might want to work on or who you might want to work with. But you're responsible for deciding what you want to do. RC is heavily influence by the "unschooling" school of thought. To quote the RC website, "Unschooling starts with the belief that people are naturally curious, and that school drains us of our curiosity. We don't need grades or tests to motivate us to learn how to walk or talk, and as toddlers we are endlessly curious and excited to explore the world. The process of schooling -- that is, compulsory education dictated by teachers and backed by fear of punishment or embarrassment -- demotivates us and keeps us from developing our capacity to set our own paths. RC provides a space that supports rather than hinders curiosity and self-direction." As a result, it's hard to say what you'll get out of the experience. Personally, what I got out of it was a large, uninterrupted, block of time to learning about software (I previously worked in hardware), and a connection to a community of people that is the kindest and most helpful collection of programmers that I know. I know of a few people who didn't enjoy their experience, but they're pretty rare -- the vast majority of people I know who attended RC are glad they did, including people who hated NYC and couldn't wait get to get back to the midwest afterwards, people who didn't want to work in software and just wanted to spend some time improving their programming skills to help their work in another field, and people who'd been programming for decades and probably didn't get all that much direct programming help from other people during their time at RC. If you're on the fence about applying, I recommend applying anyway (the application only takes a few minutes) and talking to one of the interviewers about your reservations. Personally, I wasn't sure RC was for me. I brought up my specific concerns with one of my interviewers and they convinced me to give it a shot; I'm glad I did. Unlike a lot of vocational schools, RC staff seem closely incentive aligned with participants. Although they pay the bills by taking a recruiting fee when a member of the community takes a job with a partner company, RC accepts a lot of people who either aren't planning on taking a programming job or already have a job lined up, and they're quite scrupulous when advising people on job offers and will advise people to take a job at a non-partner company if that's in the person's best interest. Anyway, my point is just that if you're not sure RC is for you and get an interview, I believe that your interviewer will give you their genuine perspective on what you'll get out of RC given your circumstances. I can't say the same thing about any of the schools I've attended (college, grad school, 2nd grad school); from what I've heard from friends of mine who went to coding bootcamps, I also don't think you'll get that out of a bootcamp either.

My daughter is 10 years old, and she recently had a private Minecraft party at the Brooklyn…read morelocation. I can't say enough about how happy we were! The instructors were wonderful--facilitative, interactive but not domineering or over-directing. The girls were able to play for 2 hours in a networked environment with excellent equipment, and they had a blast! They also got to try out Minecraft on a VR rig which was an exciting add for them. She has also participated in their summer day camp program, and was very happy with both the Minecraft Architecting program and the DJ program. It is a wonderful way to expose her to different technologies and tools with great guidance to see what she is interested in!

My son has attended Pixel Academy twice for summer camps. It's an extremely pricey summer camp…read moreoption, significantly more than nearly every other camp we've attended, so I had appropriately sized expectations. Unfortunately, Pixel Academy has failed to deliver both summers we attended. Our son consistently reported that there was minimal engagement on the part of staff and he frequently seemed to be adrift during the day playing video games instead of modding and coding like he was supposed to be doing. Pixel talks a good game and really sells their offerings. They may deliver on some fronts, but be warned: you may be getting a whole lot less than you pay for.

I do not recommend that you waste your time with the cybersecurity program, I still havent found a…read moretech job with 3 certifications.

I do not recommend this organization and its courses!!! Stay…read moreaway and think with who you spend your time!! I attended this organizations' courses in 2022 and 2023 and can say that donors waist their money!! This organization doesn't worth your time! I had problem with a computer they provided, and informed an instructor. He promised me 3 weeks that someone will re-install Windows and fix the issues. I tried use another computer since the call wasn't fulfilled by attendants. And this computer doesn't work also. 3 weeks I cannot normally perform task because they cannot fix problems with computer. All time they talk only about money. They promise if you finish their course you will get 6 figure salary. And they will talk you indirect way that you have to pay them. They will discriminate you based your background, ethnicity and any believes that doesn't match with its life philosophy. They instructors are proud that they not graduated any college and advertise it around clients. It sounds like: "You don't need to go to the college, just finish our course and you will get 6 figures job" Lol They will promise a lot, filter it and don't trust because in the reality it's fake.

PMP exam prep simplified book by Andrew Ramdayal was my goto resource for the PMP exam. It was the…read moreclearest and most straightforward prep book on the subject matter...which is extensive. It also included access to 38 hours of training videos to supplement the text. Helped to fill the gaps hearing the content presented in a different manner. Highly recommend.

Technical Institute of America (TIA) is a vocational school offering a variety of training courses…read morefor different certifications. I took the CompTIA A+ course. The prices for the courses vary depending on what you're studying. The course I took was $699 for about 35 hours of live online training with an instructor. For some courses they offer unlimited retakes for up to one year. Make sure you read the fine print to see if your course applies!! I really liked my instructor, Mohammed. He was clearly passionate about his field of study, as evidenced by his seemingly neverending ability to speak on the MANY topics in covered the CompTIA A+. They gave us their massive powerpoint presentation to keep, as well as some additional resources to help study, including an online self-paced video course made by TIA themselves. Those videos are helpful too. As someone who had no IT background besides some small things messing around with my computers, I found this course to be extremely helpful. I do not think the course alone is enough to prepare for the A+, but combined with proper study of the A+ textbook, it will be possible. I will likely be studying with them again for my next IT certification.

Dishonest billing after withdrawal; ignored records request…read more I enrolled at Fullstack Academy and later withdrew. My student advisor confirmed in writing (via Slack DMs) that my final two payments would be canceled and not charged. Weeks later I received an email saying they planned to charge me anyway. They also deleted my student account and removed me from their Slack, which blocked me from accessing the very messages that confirm the cancellation. My request for a copy of those DMs was ignored. I immediately sent a formal revocation of payment authorization and notified my bank because these attempted charges could have overdrawn my account by $1,000+. Fullstack cited a "no refunds after 6 weeks" policy, but in my case they are using it as a loophole to demand money after telling me in writing I wouldn't be charged. This has caused significant stress and wasted hours of my time. I've filed complaints with the CFPB and the NY Attorney General. Policies aside, trustworthy schools honor their written commitments and provide students access to their records. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this program. If you're considering it, get everything in writing and be very cautious about autopay authorizations.

I was in the AI/ML program. First of all, they changed the price on me a couple of times in a…read moremonth. Then, they say the program is for anyone including career changers and the first class immediately the instructor started to code and relied on the computer science students and sent a "python for beginners" YouTube for the people just starting out. They left us with just "work hard" and sent a couple of links. The rest of the classes just kept pandering to the computer science students because they were the majority and left others in the dust. Its a complete money grab because they analyze the majority in the course and teach them and abandon others.

The best part about App Academy was the people. Great instructors and likeminded peers all gathered…read morein the same place to learn and grow together under intense pressure. I graduated from the 16-week on-campus program and landed two jobs within six months. A lot of my success was due to my own hard work, but my success would not have been possible without AA.

App Academy taught me the skills necessary to succeed in the software industry. I heavily leveraged…read moretheir partnership program to get connected with the right company and I landed a fantastic job after 3~4 months. This is absolutely true. However, it's naive to think that their 24 week course will give you ultimate super powers. What they offer is teaching you how to research and learn as an independent thinker. You will become very intelligent, leading to incredible strength on and off computers. FYI, I had to learn TypeScript, Electron, Capacitor, Nx monorepos, Recoil, Jotai, creating my own Node.js based plugins, etc. since starting my new job, but I would have failed miserably if I tried to study on my own. Some people can achieve this as a self taught programmer, but if you like to learn best practices and bounce ideas off of the smartest people you've met, App Academy is for you.

I recommend this website to all my friends who teach. It really saved me last year when I was told…read moreI had to teach Macbeth to a group of at-risk kids from Oakland who can barely read at all, let alone decipher the word of The Bard. Because of Flocabulary.com, my kids were absolutely riveted by Shakespeare. They all understood the story and were able to summarize it, analyze it, define and use Shakespearean vocabulary. They were able to understand the characters and to put on plays of their own modernized versions of Macbeth. This doesn't mean they all did their work and got good grades, but at least they were all engaged. I know they all understood the story, because they got all As and Bs on the assessments I did. I really felt like they were learning something about literature. I ordered the Shakespeare as Hip Hop CD with the accompanying lesson plan book. There is a music video of their Macbeth rap that I showed the class. They didn't talk or mess around while I was showing the video, which is amazing for this group of kids. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4cMHnWIR9k As part of the unit I had them make their own soundtracks to Macbeth. They had to pick five scenes, pick a song for each scene, and say why they picked that song for that scene. I have also used this CD to teach Sonnets to 8th graders in Hayward. They loved it! I could hear them rapping Sonnet #18 in the halls, and with a few exceptions, they all wrote their own awesome sonnets without grumbling. Direct quotes from the end-of-unit evaluations I gave them: "The Bluest Eye was hecka boring but Macbeth was cool. I liked doing plays and the music video." "I didn't relize (sic) that Shakespeare is so bloody. I liked all the battels (sic)." "You made Shakespeare fun because you let us use music." "Imma (sic) make my own movie of Macbeth from the play I wrote!" "Can we do more Shakespeare next semester? I liked writing a play and I liked the sountracks (sic) I made." I thought Flocabulary was sort of corny and silly at first, and I was a little scared about how the kids would react, but I'm SO glad I used it. I usually dread teaching Shakespeare, but now Flocabulary makes it one of my easiest and most fun things to teach all year.

This is a great site for resources for education. I am new to education so this was a great find!…read more Great post.

I had a great time at this school, I had a good instructor called Miss Smith…read more She pushes you to bring the best in yourself and keeps you on your toes. I successfully completed my Pharmacy Technician course and have passed my National board exams! Glory be to God! Mizz Jimm.

Ms. Martin Maritza was my instructor and went above and beyond with her class. She is genuine and…read moreactually cares about her students. She does not give up on her students. She will be missed. School staff are friendly and kind also respectful.

I've been searching for places to explore glass, and I was excited to find a one day workshop at…read moreUrban Glass. I was drawn to the flameworking class because of the thoughtful expression of how the instructor, Saint, described the process of working with borosilicate glass in their class. Truthfully, I was so blown away by it all. Urban Glass has a beautiful community based inclusivity spirit and artist centered focus. The studio was well organized and vast. The staff and technical support team are friendly and helpful. Saint's class had a wonderful pacing to it for a 6 hour workshop. We got to know all of the participants and connect together in a fun way, had a few informative demos on equipment safety and glass techniques, and then got to creating! Han, another glass artist at Urban Glass assisted the class, and it was really great to be able to explore making marbles, small figurines on our own and also have Saint and Han jump in when we needed a bit of extra hands on help. I felt confident from the demos and my practice time to be able to rent space on my own after. Our class has stayed in touch since, and I know several of us from the class have been back to the studio since to create. I'm excited to return to explore and learn more!

We had a private glassblowing lesson in July. The lesson was very fun and well structured. We…read morestarted with learning the basics of glassblowing, and then got a choice of simple items to make (glass bubbles, flowers, cups, bowls). The lesson was pricy, but definitely worth the cost. Would recommend a lesson for special occasions, and one of their classes if you want to go more regularly!