42 School

I was expecting more support from the college itself but they have software that is supposed to correct your work sometimes you will give a perfect valid code but will be rejected and you will not know why. overall its only code challenges for you to... Read More do with no teacher and no materials. Ask your colleague all the time, they create this system which you will waste a lot of time you will end up with chat GPT. you a better off doing by yourself anyway many good training portals just peek one and use chat GPT if you get stuck on something. the good side is they give you the space computer and people around you but or me the college don't really care if who is in or out you are just a number

Even in piscine, I had friends that got a job because you get a great network. It is a great opportunity who cannot afford colleges or bootcamps however it doesnt fully support international students so you need to solve your visa problem on your own.... Read More

I came to this school to get a job in the tech industry. After 1.5 years I was able to land a great job at a big company paying me more money than I'd ever seen in my life.

42 starts off by screening people who really want to be there by having a monthlong... Read More piscine where you have to prove you are serious about learning to program before they will admit you to the FREE program that has 0 teachers or lectures and FREE housing.

The program worked well for me. After completing many 42 projects and then learning different frameworks outside of the curriculum as well as building out side projects, I was ready to get a job. I was able to get a well paying job with the skills I taught myself here in the environment they provided. They even brought the employer into the school to talk with us.

If you have motivation to make it happen for yourself and self discipline to study and submit assignments without a teacher and classes, come join the program. You should be able to find work after you have a few projects under your belt in a year or 2.

If you're a whiner that complains about FREE dorms and education when people get into debt to learn this stuff at college, then don't come here. Colleagues at the company I work at carry student loans from CS degrees and make less than me. So many people who started 42 around the same time as me with the mentality that they are going to figure it out learned to become great programmers and lots of them have good jobs with bright futures.

I'm now an alumni of the 42 Paris School. I started the test called the piscine in March 2017 knowing nothing about programming. 1 year later I started receiving so many interesting job offers that I didn't need to finish the program.
This school not only... Read More teaches you how to program, it gives you all the tools to learn by yourself and build your network (The events in the school and partners in Paris are amazing). At the end you will have the best technical skills for programming and/or starting your business.
However the way the school operates is not tailored for everyone. You MUST be highly motivated. If you are ready for days and nights of coding, then the school will make you a skilled developer, faster than any other school. Indeed you can work 7d/d, even for vacation, and you're not stuck with the other students pace.
Other reviews are saying you can't develop in other languages than C. This is not true, you can do it once you have a sufficient level in C. And believe me, C may seems boring/old at first, but this is the best way to really understand how it works. If you simply need the basics to make websites or simple programs, then maybe this formation is too much for you. You have the possibility to stop at the beginning after the first projects, but the school aims for highly skilled developers. Learning how to code is easy, learning how to PROPERLY code is harder, and this school pushes to toward that.
In short, the school is as good as your motivation. If only YOU have the right mindset, then the results will be excellent and fast.

I'm going to give you a 100% honest review of this school, not from the perspective of a someone who failed and gave up, but from the perspective of failing, and then getting in.
DO NOT COPY.....without understanding. That is THE Biggest thing I can tell... Read More you to help you through this entire program, even the Piscine.
THE PISCINE
Is just as brutal as they let it on to be. You are constantly bombarded with projects and tasks, and honestly, the purpose of this is to get you accustomed to a routine of intensive programming, problem solving, and self evaluation. You WILL Fail multiple days from their Very rigorous testing software. They want you to develop accurate, and real world testing. The norm and the way the code is built is difficult, not going to sugarcoat it. It almost seems pointless, but as the course suggests, you do research and you find out that other companies have norms and software writing standards. The norm here is INTENTIONALLY OVERLY Complicated to train you do be able to adapt to any software architecture. This is painfully obvious, and anyone complaining about anything I have said so far, does not posess the courage. This is just the Piscine.
I failed once and came back two months later after seriously studying and caring, and got in.
CADET LIFE (FULL PROGRAM)
Not easier as far as project difficulties AT ALL, in fact, the only thing that is easy, is that they ease up and you only have to maintain a level a month (1-2 projects every month) and 35 hours lab time minimum. The project tree is extensive, and every previous project builds on the latter in magnificent ways. The way you learn here, makes you really question why this costs hundreds of thousands of dollars elsewhere. Typical schooling here IN America teaches you to skim and find an answer, NOT actually understand why the answers is what it is. 42 DOES THIS AND EXCELS.
THE DORMS
This is the only time you'll hear me reference this in this posting, but you get what you pay for with the dorms lol. Our maintence man isn't the best at all, I still have an AC that hasn't been fixed, but I had to man up an get a fan. Don't come here to get babies, come here to actually learn and push through to get to the goal. 99% of people who get to level 9, or last for 8+ months, get jobs. And I means everyone. Someone in my first Piscine just got a job at a 3D audio company, and that's just one of many. He has been here for 5 months and has no degree, just the thirst for knowledge.
Come here to learn and grow. Then you will succeed without a doubt!

If you're thinking about joining 42 I'm not going to flat out tell you to avoid it, but I will tell you to read all of this so you aren't going in blind.

If you get accepted for the Picine you will code for 26-ish days. You'll be learning terminal commands... Read More for the first two days and then it will be nothing but C. They give you problem sets that cover everything you really need to know about C. It's brutal in its workload and grading, but they don't expect anyone to ace it, they just want you to learn and grow. I have no issue with this part as it's very effective in weeding out the people that aren't made for it. The reason I gave it one star is what came after.

Like I said, the Picine covers almost every topic that really matters in C, so you'd think that after the Picine you'd be allowed to submit projects in a different language - a marketable language. The marketing material (at the time I went to 42) certainly gave that impression. Nope, you're still coding in C. And on top of that, you're still having to code using their style guide that doesn't even allow switches or for loops. It got so bad that I found myself writing terrible code, that was a nightmare to debug, simply because I had to make everything conform to the "norm." It honestly almost encourages bad coding practices, though they swear it's better that way.

If you try to have a reasonable conversation about the fact that C is not a language that many companies hire for they will say it's not about getting jobs, it's about becoming the best programmer possible. If you try to tell them that the "norm" promotes bad coding practices they will say it exists to make it more challenging, thus making you a better programmer. It is mind-numbingly infuriating.

My recommendation to anyone that goes to 42 is to take CS50X (it's free) before going so you don't burn a lot of time during the Picine, but you'll also become very good at coding in C. Then if you get into the program literally get the minimum requirements out of the way in order to stay in the dorms rent free and spend the rest of your time teaching yourself how to code in a language more marketable than C.

Of note, they have a C++ Picine you can take once you've reached level 7. So teach yourself C++ at some point so you can "pay rent" with the points you get from completing the C++ Picine.

Oh, and don't expect them to be a good source for jobs. The job fairs are literally such a joke that it was painful to attend. Do not expect them to be able to help you get a job. Make interesting things in the language of your choosing and use that for job interviews, because 42 isn't going to give you projects that will impress a potential employer.

Prior to attending the Piscine, I had approximately 2 months coding experience, from some online courses in Javascript and C. I think it helps to understand a little bit about the C language before starting the Piscine, but that being said, my experience... Read More helped me through maybe 2 or 3 days during my first month here.

Right from the start, it is prudent to commit the majority of your time to staying in the lab. I personally spent approximately 90 hours a week. Some people needed less time, and some needed more. There are something like 200-300 students present at the start of the Piscine, and most people will learn at a different pace. However, it is fairly easy to make friends and find learning partners, and it is entirely necessary if you want to get the most out of your first month here.

After finishing the piscine, if you've put in enough work/time, you will have hopefully been accepted into the full-time program! Unlike the Piscine, the full-time program is at your own pace (unless you live in the dorms). The curriculum is expansive and allows you to choose your own path between several different branches, including: Graphic Design, Algorithms, Object-Oriented Programming, Unix, Web-Development, and more! There is always something to do.

TL;DR: Free does not translate to easy

Tips for the Piscine: Spend as much time as you can in the lab. Talk to your peers and ask them for help if you need it! Use google if that fails!
Tips for the full-time program: Stay consistent. Motivation comes and goes.

Hi there, I can only comment on the "Piscine" intensive basic training program. It is indeed very intensive. It is also very social. I spent about 100 hrs a week in the lab and lived on campus (almost necessary to pass... don't go if you can't get into... Read More the dorms, even if you live in the area.)

The program is entirely self- and peer-taught. You are given assignments 7 days a week and expected to complete them using online resources and the people in the room.

I took to the experience really well, but I'd already had a solid foundation in programming Python. People without any programming experience might be overwhelmed. Overall, the most intense and rewarding programming experience I've ever had.

42's piscine is brutal, and it should be. It is a month where you learn how to program in C without using the standard library. Yes, I know this sounds weird, and senseless. What is the point of half-learning something? Well, the point of the 42 piscine... Read More is not creating "full stack engineers who are ready to hire and make professional WordPress websites in 4 weeks" because: A) there are plenty of those schools out there. B) It is nice in theory, but being a one trick pony is not beneficial to anyone in the long run. And C) Because this bootcamp is not just a coding bootcamp, it is a filter for students who want to get into the 3-5 year long program to see if they can do it, and if they actually like programming (how many times you go into college wanting to be a doctor and finish doing something completely different?).
On 42 you don't have teachers, you have the computer and your classmates to fill in those gaps. You will learn from them, and you will teach to them, there is no better way to learn and there is no other way to learn when you get to the real job market, is there? Even if you don't make it or if you decide not to come to 42, the piscine will teach you to be self sufficient as a CS learner, to work in team, to understand the basics of C, to examine your code thoroughly ,and to deal with frustration (you will have to come to understand this one).
I am not exaggerating when I tell you that the piscine is not for the weak. Many, MANY people drop out by day 1, and as time goes by more and more students drop out, sometimes even a third of the piscine is gone by the end. But 42 offers you an opportunity no other school out there gives you: Free education at no costs, no shenanigans, no "10% of your paycheck for the first 3 years". If you get a job on year one on the program and you don't want to come back. Fine by them. If you come back, you are welcome to. The catch is there is no catch.