General Assembly Boston

I would like to highly recommend General Assembly on behalf of IGBoston, a Boston-​based Instagram hub. They were incredibly gracious and accommodating in allowing us to host a pop-​up gallery event in August using their space. The entire team pitched in to help make our event a huge success and the space was a great fit; we used one classroom for the gallery itself and the kitchen/​lounge room for our DJ, food and beverage, and as a place for people to mingle. We couldn’t have pulled it off without GA’s help and would gladly host another event there in the future. They really went above and beyond for us in terms of marketing our event and hosting it.

After a decade of working in a series of roles, from museum exhibition development to sales engineering, I decided — at age 33 — to attend GA’s User Experience Design Immersive (Spring 2015). It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
For 10 weeks, I had education and training blasted into my brain by a wonderful teacher and staff. It was one of the most exhausting experiences I’ve participated in (that includes grad school). But GA found a class full of people for this cohort who were as committed and interested as I was, which created an energetic and warm environment. The end result was not only successful, but truly fulfilling.
I found work as a full time UX within a month of finishing the program. I will forever be appreciative of the opportunities GA opened for me, and I recommend their classes highly.

I found General Assembly at just the right time in my life. I was stuck in a dead-​end job with no advancement opportunities and below market-​value salary. I had enough, and needed a change.
On the same day I was accepted in GA’s Web Development Immersive (WDI) I was also offered a lucrative job for more money than I’ve ever seen. I turned it down to attend GA’s WDI program and have never looked back. Being surrounded with like-​minded individuals was energizing, and the staff at GA are passionate about learning and education, not to mention a blast to be around. Nothing worth having comes easy though, so be warned: GA’s classes are no joke. They’re demanding and require a boat load of work, but on the other side you are very well-​equipped to take on a career in web development/​UX design/​whatever.
I enjoyed it so much I signed on to teach the next cohort. Now I’m working a dream job, I’m a software engineer and it’s all because GA provided the opportunity to crush it.
If you’re looking to level up with all things creative/​web, you won’t go wrong with GA.

I have been both on the learning and teaching side of General Assembly Boston — and have had very positive experiences with both. I took the Front End Web Development course to learn the basics, and found myself loving it and considering a career change. One of the producers told me I should look into the UX Design Immersive program. I was hesitate at first since I was working full time in another industry, and GA was not as well known so was nervous about its credentials. I have not regretted it for one minute. I loved the UXDi class, and it has launched me into a new career as a full-​time UX Designer in one of Boston’s most talented group of designers. I loved the environment at GA, and I found the staff to be very attentive and considerate with everything we needed as students, and again later what I needed as a TA. This is a growing program, and would recommend it to anyone who is looking to learn more about the tech industry.

I wanted to fill in the gaps in my HTML/​CSS/​Javascript knowledge, so I attended General Assembly’s Front End Web Development night class. It was wonderful, and I discovered that I loved programming in Javascript so much that I decided to take their full-​time Web Development Immersive program later that year.
I think the #1 thing that I got out of both programs was that I learned how to learn. You know when you’re trying to learn a new language, and you can’t really participate in conversations or meetups because you’re lacking the fundamentals? Same idea. The coding curricula provide a framework for you to learn the concepts of programming, and you can apply those concepts to most anything you want to learn, *even after the class is over*.
After both courses ended, I had learned a ton, and the projects I worked so hard on became my shiny new portfolio pieces. After the nighttime course ended, the instructors were responsive and happy to stay in contact and help with any questions I had. After the full-​time course, there was a ton of job-​finding and resume-​building guidance, and I found a job as a web developer utilizing my new skills.
Months later, I’m still participating in the GA community because it’s so inclusive and welcoming. They really make an effort to help their alumni continue learning and meeting new people. They even had Marty Walsh come by one night for a fireside chat! That was pretty neat. And they’re always running panels and events and workshops
Pros:
They modify their curriculum as market requirements change so you’re never learning stuff that isn’t applicable anymore
They teach you how to learn, so you can learn more stuff even after you leave
You can be as involved as you want– if you’re super hardcore and want to do advanced stuff, they’ll roll with you on it
Community is aces
Instructors are talented and insightful, and they stay involved after courses end
Free coffee in the lounge is pretty tasty
Dog friendly: D
Cons:
There are only two bathrooms and it can get a little crowded
Saturday classes = there’s only like 1 place to get lunch in the area on weekends

Data Analytics —
I signed up for this class to learn Tableau which I had never seen before, further my Excel skills and concrete my SQL knowledge. I started performing more data analysis in my career before my company had its second layoff this year and my team was dissolved. I had started down a career path in data analysis and this class filled in the gaps. While I was interviewing with companies around Boston I had received a lot of positive energy as the companies loved that I was further my education with General Assembly.
During one interview I was tested on my knowledge of Excel functions and interpreting graphs and developing hypotheses based on limited data provided. I aced the interview due to the skills I gained in the Data Analytics class and was offered the job 45 minutes after leaving the office.
This class not only helped me put new tools in my toolbox but helped me land a dream job on an enriching career path. (a huge pay increase over my last job was a nice bonus too!)

GA is an amazing organization. I was fortunate to experience it as an instructor/​mentor and as a student. The Web Developer Immersive program is exceptional, particularly because of the constant effort to keep the curriculum up to day with the latest and greatest technologies in the industry. Also the part time courses as well as the seminars/​workshops are a great way to enrich your skill set. Finally, the community is fantastic — you have a chance to meet a lot of amazing people, make friendships, and network.