Horizons School of Technology - CLOSED

I attended Horizons during the summer, thinking it would be an extremely valuable experience. I was sadly mistaken.

While the curriculum is excellent. most of the instructors were ineffective. While all of the instructors, with the exception of Jonathan... Read More Zinger, were understanding and helpful, they were often difficult to approach. Only one or two instructors were active teachers, while the other instructors were rarely seen in the classroom. Students were left on their own in the afternoon, and were rarely guided. Most of my classmates were either far ahead and bored or far behind and frustrated. It was impossible for the program to accommodate everyone's pace. There were only two TA's, and students requiring help often waited hours before help arrived.

Horizons also promised entrepreneurship guidance and networking/job-seeking opportunities, which it failed to deliver. The single networking event that occurred had mostly former Horizons alumni as invitees, who were there to socialise with the instructors and each other, not the students. The actual students in the Horizons program received little benefit. Some of the talks, though, were insightful and interesting.

In short, I do not recommend attending Horizons, especially if money is an issue. The tuition is exorbitant and is definitely not worth the experience. Living expenses are steep where Horizons is located. While the curriculum is indeed well-structured, if you are truly dedicated to learning Javascript and web development, you will definitely be able to do so on your own with the vast amount of resources available online.

I did Horizons two summers ago after my Freshman year. I really had no idea what to expect when I started the program but I knew that I was considering computer science as a major and I wanted to solidify that decision before I realized I had gone down... Read More the wrong path. Horizons summer program was everything I wanted and more. While the program is definitely one of those experiences where you get out only what you put in, if you work hard it is truly a transformative course. I came into the program with an interest in programming and came out a confident web developer with multiple projects to show. I also ended the summer convinced I wanted to continue with CS at school. The summer gave me the confidence to transfer into engineering and pursue a career in development. Not only were the instructors extremely inspiring and invested in my technical education but they were also more than willing to give me resume and interview tips as well as help me network. This past summer I interned at Google as an Engineering Practicum intern and this summer I plan to intern at Palantir as a Forward Deployed Engineer. I am so excited to have these opportunities and it all started with Horizons.

I joined Horizons without a technical background and not really knowing what applying for technical jobs entailed. A couple months in Horizons changed all that and gave me a whole new perspective on what it was like to be in the industry.

Horizons starts... Read More off with the basics and ramps everyone up to a comparable skill level through detailed tailored courses. The TAs during the program were also an invaluable resource and guided students along masterfully during this period of time.

Being located in tech central also means that you are able to tap into Horizons' deep network in the area and be fully immersed in the tech culture and understand the inner workings of different firms. The founders are also incredibly helpful in looking at resumes and making sure every student knows how to present themselves in this increasingly competitive environment.

Most importantly, the post Horizons experience has been incredible as well, with many lifelong friends made during the program and an ability to connect with alumni as well. It has been an incredibly useful resource and an amazing social network.

Horizons accepted myself and about 20 others into their Horizons One program (in which they promised to house us and educate us in SF, to be funded off an ISA after the program), which many of us committed to up to a year in advance. A month before the... Read More program was set to begin, Horizons abruptly cancelled the program. They tried to compensate by getting us accepted into another program with an even more ridiculous income share agreement. Never got a chance to go through their program, but this was just terrible business on their part. They did offer to help assist us in job searching, but I have yet to see if that was just another empty promise.

Oh man, I could write a whole novel about how much I loved my experience.

Horizons has given me the tools to grow my skills and passion for technology and entrepreneurship in a way that I never anticipated.

The summer of learning cutting-edge web/mobile... Read More dev, networking with amazing companies and fellow Horizonites, and bonding in a community of amazing students with like-minded interests (who have also gone on to intern at the best tech companies because of Horizons) gave me a solid leg-up in my tech career.

Because of the amazing things you build (replicas of Facebook, Yelp, Trello, are just among a few of the projects you build each week) and the extremely talented and brilliant instructors, you'll come out of this school feeling like you learned more in 2 months than you've ever learned in college.

Seriously, once I started recruiting for a software engineering internship, I realized that because of Horizons, I not only was getting way more interest from companies than my peers, but also I was much more prepared for the technical interviews. It was in large part because of what I learned and built at Horizons that I have now gone on as a software engineering summer intern at a Fortune 500 company and have also transferred from my liberal arts college to Northwestern's engineering school for CS.

Mainly, the network you build for both life and entrepreneurial ventures is invaluable. I have met lifelong friends and potential startup co-founders and out in the tech world at recruiting events, I have realized that Horizons alumni look out for one another and are proud of their shared experience at Horizons.

Also, the co-founders Abhi and Darwish are some of the kindest and most caring people I have ever met. Abhi has mentored me continuously (whenever I reach out to him, he always finds time to talk with me), and I have even asked him to my school to give a talk because he has so much to offer in terms of solid career advice. Abhi and Darwish are very good people who work very hard (they're always the last to leave the building because they're so dedicated to Horizons), and how they manage to maintain mentoring Horizonites while simulatenously keeping Horizons so efficient and productive is beyond me.

This has truly been a cornerstone experience of my life and education, and I can't recommend Horizons highly enough to anyone who is interested in entrepreneuship, learning web/mobile dev, or just want to stand out and get a leg up on technical internships/jobs.

Definitely apply - you seriously won't regret it.

As a young designer, I started my summer at Horizons with very little coding background. But I was able to quickly familiarize mysefl with and even master all the budding framework and technologies. I wouldn't be able to learn these as quickly and as... Read More efficiently at my college. Now at Uber, I realized its highly valuable to be able to understand and speak the same langague as the engineers while designing. Super grateful that Horizons made me a better designer!

If you have the slightest thought of enrolling in a coding bootcamp, do yourself a favor and go for it! The instructors were incredible, the material was engaging, and the opportunities which opened up to me were invaluable. I went from having nothing... Read More to show employers on my resume, to having three solid programming projects which I was able to talk about when approaching employers. Aside from the technical experience, there is a strong sense of community formed with your fellow classmates. We had BBQ's, went on trips, out to dinner, and Horizons scheduled class trips for us on weekends! (Bubble soccer!).

At the university, you can gain a lot of knowledge but not much practice.
As a student of computer science and neuroscience, I learn a lot of theory but don't gain any practical experience.

The summer at Horizons allowed me to get relevant experience,... Read More meet top students in the country and make a lot of enthusiastic friends. Horizons is much more than just learning how to code. It allows you to build the right connection for the entrepreneurship world.

I would highly recommend anyone interested in tech field or product management to take a summer at Horizons.

Before Horizons, I was a typical business student with an interest in tech. Horizons transformed me into a leader with a strong grasp on technology and a powerful network. There are 3 key advantages I gained from Horizons: Skills, Network and Mindset.... Read More

Skills:
At Horizons I developed a strong competency in web development with JavaScript, and walked away with the ability to code my ideas into reality. I went from never writing a line of code in my life to developing software solutions for start-ups and winning Asia’s biggest student led hackathon HackUST.

Network:
Beyond the valuable skills I learned, I developed an extraordinary network of friends and mentors. In addition to meeting peers who now work for the top companies in the world, I met lifelong friends who provide me with constant support and encouragement.

Mindset:
Horizons helped me unlock my true potential. Before the program, top tier jobs and internships didn’t seem to be in reach. Now, and in large part due to the support of Horizons colleagues, I am interning at McKinsey & Co, one of the most highly sought after internships in business. Being surrounded by the best students from around the world at Horizons helped me reach beyond what I thought possible.

Feel free to reach out to me at anytime if you have any questions about this amazing program:

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/maxwellnicholson

As a young CS undergraduate, I was eager to explore the innovative tech industry in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was aware of the various programming bootcamps that were popping up throughout the country, but Horizons was recommended to me by my advisor.... Read More Looking back, the program was quite intense at times as it covered many different concepts and technologies. Yet, it never felt too stressful to handle and the instructors made sure to only cover tools and frameworks relevant to the current job market. The skills I acquired at Horizons didn’t just create opportunities for my career path, but they also proved helpful in understanding the CS concepts that were taught in my undergraduate studies. Upon attending Horizons, the breadth and depth in knowledge of software engineering practices along with the ability to network and communicate with the bright minds of the Bay Area contribute to one’s inculcation of the developer’s mentality. This was a rather exciting process for me.