So, I slacked off a little last week and didn’t get a post in on Sunday so this is definitely late.
The main thing I wanted to talk about today was the enrollment process. Don’t worry, right after this post I will get into the nitty-gritty and go over my actual first week so you guys can get a taste!
DISCLAIMER: This is for the Full Stack Web Development Curriculum; If you are doing a different program this info may differ. Also, this is MY experience. I am not a LAMBDA employee, merely a student.. a new student at that. I want you to be able to read this and come to the conclusion on your own if this path is right for you. I am not endorsed or paid and I will give my 100% honest feedback no matter what.
ENROLLMENT
Step one: The Application
So first, as with all schools, you have to put in an application. You can easily find the application on their home site. Just asks for some necessary information nothing too fancy there.
Step Two: Intro Courses
This part is excellent for people new to coding. It goes over the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as well as giving you a peek into how the class is going to work.
Technically, this part is not required, given that you can pass the LAMBDA challenge (more on this later). Even though it is not required I highly recommend going through it just so you can get a feel of how everything is going to work and ensure you enjoy the structure and the flow of the courses.
Of course, the actual class is going to be different, but the intro courses definitely give you a little insight. Which, in my opinion, is impressive considering you’re going to be binding yourself to a 2 year ISA (income share agreement).
Step Three: LAMBDA Challenge
The end all be all of the entry to LAMBDA is your ability to pass the LAMBDA challenge.
Basically, the LAMBDA challenge is a series of JavaScript whiteboard questions. What they are wanting to see is that you can actually take what they taught you in the intro courses and apply your knowledge. This ensures that you can keep up with the pace of the course. Which is important because they take a considerable risk on each student and they really do invest a lot in each and every student.
Step Four: Phone Interview
After you pass the LAMBDA Challenge you will also have to do a phone interview. This will mainly be questions about how you came to the conclusion that Web Development was what you wanted to do. Why you think that you can succeed in this field. Your experience level. Your expectations. Basic questions like these and then you get a chance to ask some questions. Be sure and have them written down if you do have questions so you don’t forget them if you do though don’t worry the person you speak with will answer any questions you have after the fact.
If after the interview you get accepted they will invite you to a slack channel. I signed up relatively close to the start date, so I am unsure if this is an immediate thing or something that happens closer to the start time of the course. I feel like it was around 2 weeks before course start.
Step Five: The Wait
After you get accepted, depending on when you signed up to start, you may have a pretty good amount of free time before the course actually begins. If so, my recommendation: don’t get stagnant. You should be keeping the skills they taught you sharp, and adding to your knowledge.
There are thousands of resources out there to help you learn different things. One that I recommend is The Odin Project. The central portion of this that I love is the Intro to the CLI and Intro to Git and Github. Feel free to do the entire Web Development 101 portion if you have time. It will give you a leg up in class, so far though, I have found that the CLI and Git/Github have been most beneficial.
This would also be a great time to get used to whichever IDE you plan on using. My recommendation: Visual Studio Code. It’s easy to use, fast and has a fantastic array of helpful extensions you can use to make your everyday life more comfortable.
A few days (maybe a week?) before class starts they will give you access to the “ToolKit”. This is basically an extremely detailed syllabus and how they supplement the video lectures. You will be spending a substantial amount of time using the ToolKit so get as familiar with it as you can. My recommendation: before each lecture go to ToolKit and go through the entire ToolKit, including, the previous lecture videos. I tend to watch the video that my teacher did not teach. So if my teacher is Jimmy (made up name) I will go and watch Bob’s videos (again, made up name). This gives me two perspectives, two ways of hearing the same thing, by the time the actual lecture is over and it really makes the information stick.
In Conclusion:
I am in week two as of this moment. We start our first Sprint challenge in roughly 30 minutes. I feel like the instructors have really given me the tools I need to feel confident in going into the sprint challenge and pass.
This course is not for the faint of heart though. If you cannot commit to coming to 95% of these classes you will not move through the course. It is a lot of information in a concise period of time. I am sure you will see my confidence and optimism drop at some points in time as this gets more and more difficult.
But if we stick with it, if we can keep an eye on the light at the end of the tunnel, we will find a fantastic reward at the end! Keep your head up guys and let’s continue our journey!
