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As an avid reader of fictional novels and a writer of my own, I've found something rather interesting. A great story follows the growth of the character; we laugh as they do, weep when they fall to the ground, then cheer when they get back up and push... Read More ahead - clearing all the obstacles in their path as they achieve monumental success. I never would have thought that this fictional arc would come to pass in my own life as well.

I came to Lambda School with nothing to offer. I was living with relatives working a 9-5 minimum wage job, with absolutely no programming experience to speak of. I took the assessment, got accepted, and started classwork on February 4th of 2018. I showed up to class that morning with a burning passion to learn, a massive sense of impostor syndrome, and a hot cup of coffee.

The first few weeks were hard, I hit the ground running and fell flat on my face. What was I thinking? I didn't have any programming experience, there was no way I was going to keep up with the rest of the class. I voiced this to my Teaching Assistant; he helped me up, brushed the dirt off my shirt, put my head on straight again and pushed my right back into the gauntlet. I hit the ground a few more times, but he was always there to catch me and throw me back in. After the first couple of weeks, I was keeping pace without breaking a sweat. The curriculum was getting harder, but I was getting faster and things were beginning to click for me.

Fast forwards 26 weeks, I graduated in August as part of CS8 - that passion I started with burning bright as ever after being used to construct the foundation on which I now stand. I walked through the hypothetical doors of success with my head held high, my confidence soaring, and a bright smile on my face as I plowed directly into a solid brick wall - aka the job market.

This is where things really shined for me, and it's part of the reason I am so passionate about Lambda School. They tell you about this monster when you're in school, the instructors give whole Q&A sessions where they talk about their first jobs - they were not joking when they said it was hard.

We were given access to an incredible resource in the form of Career Coaches - passionate and very experienced people with the soul purpose of helping you find a job with your new skill set. A mock interview and a quick resume building session later, I was eager and ready to go.

Now, as you'd expect from the average boot camp, I was allowed to jump in head first even after being warned how cold the water is. Trust me, it's very cold. As I pulled myself from those frigid depths, I was greeted by none other than my Career Coach - towel and a warm cup of "Let's get you back out there" in hand.

The next month was trying; I felt my confidence fading, impostor syndrome setting in, but I never once felt helpless or alone. If I had a question, I could reach out to anyone in the school - instructors, career coaches, even Austen (the CEO). They answered any questions I had without hesitation, offered comforting words of support, and with the instructors - they answered my questions as if I was still one of their students. Try going back to your University and asking your instructor about a problem you're having in a personal project.. On their day off no less!

Fast forwards again to the current time, December of 2018. It's been exactly 1 year since I found out about Lambda, 10 months since I started my life as a programmer, and 4 months since I graduated. I haven't paid Lambda a dime of my money, and yet they have been unwavering in their passion to help me succeed.

I accepted an offer this week making more than I've ever made in my entire life, working as a Software Engineer for a company that I would otherwise not have known about, doing meaningful work that will be enjoyed by millions of people around the world for years to come.

Looking back on everything that I've been through in the past 12 months, I just smile. For the first time in my entire life, I have a niche, I have a very valuable skill set, and I get to wake up every morning excited because I get paid to be a programmer.

If you're on the fence, take my story and put yourself in my shoes. Everyone learns differently, and this might just be what you need to succeed. Don't think about what you have to lose, think of all that you have to gain and success will find you.

With humble beginnings come the greatest endings. This is my story.

I started Lambda School in April of 2018 after much deliberation about whether an online school provided the same quality education as one in person. On the surface, it seemed like Lambda School was too good to be true: free until you get a job, world... Read More class instructors, ability to get in touch with your instructors at any time. I just graduated a few days ago, and Lambda has delivered on every part of what I signed up with. The instructors were amazing; if I ever had a question about something they were very eager to help (I once had a problem and an instructor spent 2 hours with me to troubleshoot), everyone is extremely nice here and everything is very transparent. I’m so thankful that I chose Lambda when I started. One of the things that I didn’t think about was how important a career coach is after you’re done with instructions. My career coach was able to help me every step of the way and was easily one of the biggest highlights of my Lambda experience.

Lambda School is perfect for a specific kind of person:

You cannot afford to pay a bootcamp up front but..

You can afford to not work for 6-7 months plus job search time (or at least work outside of lambda’s 40 hours a week)).

You can’t reasonably teach... Read More yourself.

On the topic of the ISA...

If it weren’t for Lambda’s ISA, there’s no way I could have sold myself on this career change. I was already in debt from my bachelors and I couldn’t imagine taking out a private loan to pursue something that I may not have been able to do. That being said, 17-30k coming out of your salary over two years is a lot of money. Albeit this only occurs if you completely succeed and become employed in the field.
I completely understand feeling like this is too much to pay, and for some it’s not worth it. There is nothing lambda teaches that you can’t find elsewhere for free, but for me it came down to three things:

1) It would have taken so much more time to teach myself this stuff. I knew absolutely nothing about coding, it would have taken me so much time to organize myself, to learn, to figure out what to learn. Easily twice as long as Lambda, more likely 3x.

2) I simply don’t have the discipline to self teach. I need some organization, I need deadlines, I need to know someone will care/waggle their finger if I don’t get it done.

3) I already went 30k into debt for a degree that I expected to start making me around 40-50k if I got a job in the field, so why would I shrink back from paying that for something that can make me double (and later more). Because it's only 6 months instead of 4 years? That's not a reason to pay less, really, but it is a reason to be excited.

This is such a huge salary jump for me that missing some of my paycheck for two years is a small price to pay for a career I can stick with for the next few decades. And it’s not a loan that will climb in interest every minute you’re not employed. It starts and stops with your employment and it doesn’t change. Is this more than other bootcamps? For sure, but at least I only pay because it all worked out. That safety net is kind of priceless.

On the topic of structure...

My cohort in Lambda was around 60 people. We were separated into groups of around 8-10 with our own group TA. The schedule was something like this:
Every morning we would either do a code challenge and then meet with our group, or a peer review for about an hour

2 hour lecture with small breaks thrown in to keep us all from overheating

Lunch

4 hour block to work on the day's project. These were either a stand alone project for the day, or sometimes a 2-4 day project that built upon itself each day

Meet with our groups again, talk about the day, and call it good

This went by very quickly, it was very engaging, and surprisingly very social. I had only ever taken online courses in college and they were completely terrible. But lambda has really cracked the code on how to make remote learning engaging and social and fun. I have made closer friends in this program than I ever made in my four years of college. But of course this is a choice, you'll get out as much social engagement as you put in. But I think it's really worth it.

On the topic of curriculum...

Does Lambda teach enough to get you hired even if you know nothing beforehand?
Yes. But you will absolutely have to put in your own time to make this happen. Hopefully you’ll want to because the puzzles of programming will entertain you. Lambda gave me an incredible base and with it I was able to determine what I needed to hone and work on in order to land a job. And they stay with you through that as well. When you finish the curriculum they'll keep helping you find areas to strengthen.

I found nearly every project to be worth it and a huge source of learning. A few things here and there felt unnecessary to me, but that's going to be true of any program on earth. Can't perfectly please everyone.

On the topic of instructors...

For the full stack web portion the first instructor I had (Josh) is an actual gem and I can only hope that Lambda keeps him for as long as possible. He made the introduction to this world so smooth for me, and exciting. I feel like he truly understands important, fundamental, pedagogical concepts and he carries everyone through with ease.

My subsequent instructors were just okay. 4/5 kind of rating. Maybe 3/5 for 1 or 2 of them. Did I still learn from them? Absolutely. Will they only get better? Definitely. And while certain lectures may not have been ideal for me and my learning style, the projects were still great, the documentation on the topics was great, and I could of course do specific research and self teach in a highly organized way. This was totally acceptable to me and I don't feel like it's a weakness for the program.
Bootcamp teachers are notoriously so/so, a great programmer does not always make a great instructor. BUT, I think Lambda is doing great despite that common issue.

On the topic of getting a job...

I got wildly lucky and secured a job before graduation. It was kind of a right time/right place sort of deal. I definitely put forth what the company wanted, but I also think I got very lucky. I don't think this is the usual outcome, and I was expecting a much longer application process. I can't speak to the career readiness/job assistance process at Lambda because of this, but from what I've heard they are willing to work really hard with you if you put out effort. They have a lot (everything really) riding on you finding employment, so you can bet they'll be helping you with it.

The most important takeaway in my opinion:

Coding is not for everyone. I do think everyone can learn to do it, but I don't think everyone will enjoy it enough to make it through the learning curve. That requires a lot of effort and its easy to lose motivation if you aren't stimulated by this sort of thing. I think it's really important to keep that in mind and to be very honest with yourself about if it's at all enjoyable to you as you learn it.

I tried college, all I have to show for it is debt. College does not prepare you for working in the real world to solve real problems.

Lambda did prepare me for those problems. More than that, they've helped me every step of the way with searching for... Read More jobs. They provide interview training, resume building, they even go to speak on behalf of students to companies to champion for us.

Lambda's model can be simplified to: If the student succeeds, then the school can succeed.

Most importantly, I got hired as a developer. Don't make my same mistake if you want to get into the Web Dev field, skip the student loans.

I joined in January of 2018 with some light experience with programming, very basic familiarity with a few concepts. The following months were a unique immersive experience that I found very rewarding. From the interesting projects to the incredible speed... Read More at which feedback was considered it always felt like the students were the top priority. Lambda seems to pride itself on having created a special culture and I would agree, they've succeeded.

The Income Share Agreement system they employ is great for several reasons. It gives opportunities to people who don't (in my case didn't) have the money to pay for school upfront and aligns the interests of the school and students perfectly. The quality of their education directly affects the bottom line and it shows in everything they do. It's life-changing and empowering, truly a wonderful thing.

The curriculum is quite varied and designed to provide you experience with a few technologies and the tools to learn others as needed. Everything is strategically designed to help you become a real software engineer, not just a "React Developer". Every topic they cover is done rather quickly, and it feels brutal at times. In the end, it's very worth it and works very well, and most of the things I would have listed as negatives have already been fixed in the most recent iteration.

Job support is now fantastic as well, their Lambda Next program really provides a good balance between guidance, independence, and a solid support network. Everyone wants to help in any way they can and genuinely want to see you succeed.

They move fast, there can be some hiccups but ultimately I think that's their biggest strength. If you thrive semi-independent in a fast-paced environment I would strongly suggest looking into Lambda.

I started Lambda in January 2018. I would 100% recommend Lambda School. It’s very clear to me that they care about their students and they absolutely want you to succeed, hence the income share agreement: they only get paid when you’re successful.

My last... Read More job was washing dogs at a corporate grooming salon for $10.50/hr. Yesterday I received an offer for a Web Developer position making six figures, with no qualifications other than Lambda School. I cannot stress this enough: I could not have done this without Lambda and the staff there. I learned so much in my time in the program, and not just programming, I learned how to solve problems, how to talk to people, how to work on a team and how to learn. It’s an intense program, but if you put in the work and actually ask for help when you’re struggling, it’s so worth it.

The curriculum when I went through the program was great, despite being a little disjointed. However, I had the privilege of experiencing the web development curriculum again as a teaching assistant, and it has improved drastically since I went through it, especially the front-end portions. They are always accepting feedback and make improvements based on that feedback.

My personal experience with Lambda staff has only been positive. There are so many people there who have personally contributed to my success and personal growth. They really do want you to get a job, and they will do everything they can to make it happen as long as you’re willing to put in some effort as well.

If I would have stayed in school, I would still be multiple years away from getting a job, tens of thousands of dollars further in debt and I almost certainly wouldn’t have learned a lot of the practical skills I’ve learned through this program.

When I first found Lambda School, I thought it was too good to be true. You hear this a lot because really, it seems too good to be true. The financing through an Income Share Agreement (ISA) puts all the risk on the school and none on the student. The... Read More people at Lambda genuinely do care about your success. The school was founded with an altruistic heart, but the ISA ensures that this always remains the case. Lambda only succeeds if you succeed. And for me, they lived up to their promise.

The curriculum is tough, for sure, but it has to be. It's nothing people can't handle, but it does require a lot of time, consistent dedication, hard work, and a balanced lifestyle. Every week, when Lambda surveyed how my week went (because they really care about making improvements and becoming the best school possible), I always answered the last question the same: How likely are you to recommend Lambda School to a friend? 10/10.

When I finished Lambda School, the team there did everything in their power to help get me hired. They worked with hiring partners, they coached me on how to apply to jobs successfully, they encouraged me to stay active as a developer and keep learning, they warned me about the pitfalls, they provided opportunities for mock interviews, the list goes on. In just under two months, I was hired making six-figures at an amazing place. I couldn't ask for more. I'm deeply grateful to everyone there. All of the staff treated me with deep kindness, and I made meaningful friendships along the way.

In December of last year I applied to Lambda School, upon being accepted I began studies towards becoming a Software Engineer with no prior programming experience. This did not come easily for me, I put in overtime effort, and sometimes it was really... Read More difficult, but all of that hard work eventually paid off.

The staff was incredibly helpful during the entire process and several of them will surely be lifelong friends now. I was able to gain valuable experience as a Teachers Assitant after I finished the program, but before I entered Lambda Labs (the in-house internship), which helped me to solidify my understanding on some things, and gain more in other areas.

After completing the Labs portion, the staff was hard at work sourcing job opportunities and helping me to find a suitable position. This experience has changed my life. Prior to Lambda my income placed me well below the poverty line, and after Lambda, well, I can for the first time in my life say that finances aren't a problem.

In case if you would like to read a short summary of my experience at Lambda School just jump into the Summary section.

A little bit about me(so you know how I was before LS):

I immigrated to the United States in 2013 without speaking American English.... Read More I mean I was able to read and write a little bit, but on the airplane, on the way to the US, I was not able to ask for a cup of water because I had no clue how to pronounce it right and nobody understood what I am saying or asking, neither I understood others.

My first job was a warehouse job where I stayed for 3.5 years. After I figured out the big question of “what to do with myself with a poker player background without any profession or useful knowledge for the society” I started to learn to code because I liked it and it turned out to be a high demand job(bingo).

Before Lambda School:

I enrolled in a university where I took business classes, supply chain management and so on until I took a course in Web Development and I fell in love with it. The bad news was, I could not change my major at this point because the student loan would not cover the entire school.

So, I started to learn to code in my spare time, because I did not want to retire from a warehouse and I felt I have way more in me than just moving boxes from point A to point B. During this time, I was constantly looking for learning resources and courses/boot camps that I could afford. Unfortunately, there was not any school available for me for a good while and I felt like I am chasing dreams. It was either because most of them required money upfront or required me to go to San Francisco and live there for 3 months on my own expense somehow, which I could not either afford from my warehouse salary.

Then in a Facebook group a free mini boot-camp popped up, so I took that course and started to follow them on YouTube (it was Lambda School before they even started). A couple of months later I saw an ad of Facebook which says “free online computer science academy until you get a job” or something very similar. I remember reading it 3-4 times to be sure if I am reading it right. Since I had no other options and I was told that a boot camp is important by a tech lead in Hungary I decided to apply. Austen Allred(The CEO of the school) called me and we had a conversation about the school and about me. 2-3 days later I got accepted.

They sent me the ISA (income share agreement). I was hesitating for a long time to sign it because the school was new, and I did not know what to really expect. I showed the contract to my manager at the warehouse and he said it looks ok. So, I decided to pay a couple of bucks to a lawyer that I found on nolo and the lawyer also said the ISA looks ok. I showed the curriculum to my tech lead friend in Hungary and he said, “It is professional and should go for it”.

Finally, I signed the contract - which was scary at first -, went to part-time at the warehouse and used all my tax return money plus $1500 that I borrowed from my mom, so I could stay at home and do the school online Monday through Friday for 6 months. I still had to work on the weekends 20 hours and work on the university - otherwise, I would have to start to pay back the student loans that I had -.(I don't recommend doing this only if you have no other choice)

During Lambda School:

The school was nothing that I used to before. It is a very different experience than the University where I attended. We learned more in 2 weeks than in a year at the University. There were coding challenges in the morning and then a 2 hours lecture. Later the day we built something with the knowledge from the lecture.

To be honest it was brutal, and I thought I won’t be able to do it. I felt being behind all the time, but I remembered what Austen said during enrollment. “If you can keep your head above the water you will be good”. So, I kept my head above water. There were many guys there with some experience in programming, some just simply with more time to learn and I felt being dumb compared to them. Someone then explained to me not to compare myself to others, and he was right. Let’s never compare yourself to others because it will hurt and it is pointless.

Teachers:

Down to earth guys with high emotional intelligence and endless patience. Every single one of them was highly knowledgeable with actual industry experience. Once an update comes out for any library that we used, for sure they knew about it and updated the material.

Being a PM:

After I finished the Web Development portion of LS and some of the Computer Science portion LS were looking for Project Managers (PM) to assist with students. At first, I did not even bother to apply because I felt I don’t know anything, and I could not do the job. Somehow, I ended up asking one of my classmate who become a section lead for PMs and he said “I should be good and should apply” So I did and as a big surprise I got the job.

I remember the first time when someone had a question about the material: I hesitated to respond because I was almost sure I won’t be able to help. But in the end, I was able to help easily which even surprised me. After a few weeks of being a PM, I realized that I am doing it and I can answer most of the questions. I knew way more than I thought (someone has impostor syndrome here).

What I gained from being a student there:

LS taught me how to learn, how to read documentations, and how to find information on my own which is part of being a software developer.

When I describe my experience for my tech lead friend in Hungary he just laughed and said it is normal. The more we talked about the school the more I realized how good it is, which was not my first impression since I had very different expectations for a school. Pretty much everything that I knew about learning was not right before Lambda School.

At the end of Lambda School, they simulated a real work environment for us where I gained working experience.
We had an actual project to work on with design files, we worked with an assigned Project Manager and used branch-based git-flow, and used Agile methodology just like the most company does.

After Lambda School:

Career support:

I got assigned to a career coach who went above and beyond. She took the time to get to know about my life and my circumstances, so she can provide personalized advices that really works.
She understood that I am standing on my feet all day and working a lot and at the end of the day I am very tired. The very next day after our first meeting - beyond all the insights and advice for my resume, portfolio site, linked in profile - she suggested me to wear compressed socks, so I won’t get tired that much , and many little techniques to be more efficient considering all the circumstances. All works well.

First in-person Job Interview :

I had to work in a group of 4 (all applicants) where we had to come up with a design for a software. 2 guys have no clue what to do there and the other guys were somewhat helpful. We come up with a working design in 20 minutes, the interviewer asked me a couple of questions which I was able to answer without thinking too much.

During the interview, I realized that we practiced the same thing for an entire year at Lambda School (6 months school + 6 months as a Project Manager) and I had the most relevant knowledge compared to university graduates. I came out glowing by happiness because I knew I did the right choice.

Two weeks after the interview I received an offer for a Software Engineer role.

Summary

To be short:
Input: Warehouse Worker
Output: Software Engineer with a job

Lambda School gave me great education and experience to enter to the job market. I received a tremendous amount of support before/after graduation. They took all feedbacks from us and did immediate actions to import whatever was necessary. And it was all different than I expected. I feel being lucky that I found this school, and it turned out to be the best decision of my life.

After 3 weeks on the job as a software engineer, I can say that my Lambda School experience has given me a rocket boost into a better life and career. My Lambda education prepared me to ship code my first week on the job with next to zero coding skills... Read More prior to my time in Lambda.

Curriculum: A+
The Lambda Curriculum is an exhaustive, but carefully curated, list of languages, frameworks, and concepts that equips an aspiring developer with the skills necessary to be a competent full-stack engineer. When I was accepted and looked at the syllabus, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the number of topics the course would cover and I worried that we would only delve into each subject area on a very superficial level. Boy was I wrong!!! Each topic was covered thoroughly and I felt prepared for our weekly sprint challenges. The instructors and student success team were also incredibly receptive to student suggestions about ways to improve the curriculum. Lambda takes great care to keep the curriculum relevant to the skills it's graduates will need to be successful in the job search and I can say that I was comfortable working with an unfamiliar codebase and shipping code on my current project thanks to the curriculum at Lambda.

Job Support: A++++
Everything Lambda does is focused on making sure that you get hired as a developer once you graduate. From ensuring have a substantive portfolio to show to potential employers, to having an assigned career coach who works tirelessly to help you land a job, Lambda is hellbent on making sure that their graduates land good jobs. If you are willing to trust the process and put in the work, Lambda will stop at nothing to make sure you are hired within six months of graduating from the program. On top of that, you don't pay anything back to the school until you land a job making at least $50k per year, so the school only succeeds if you do.

Overall: A
There were times that I grew frustrated with the pace of the curriculum and felt like there is no way I could ever become a competent engineer. But the Lambda staff made sure I had all the help I needed to succeed and finish the program. This program is NOT for people who want to just coast by and think they'll land a high paying tech job. If you aren't willing to make learning your full-time job for the duration of the program, then you WILL NOT succeed in the program. Thankfully there is always someone available to help students who feel overwhelmed or fall behind in the curriculum. Everyone at Lambda School wants to see you win, I can personally attest to this because I would have never finished the program had it been for the support of my fellow students, the instructors, and the Lambda staff.

Because of Lambda, I am a software engineer and I am so excited for what my future holds.