Thread by @lzsthw

If you are contemplating joining a coding bootcamp in 2020 then let me give you a list of the top scams they use to steal your money (yes, even with an ISA, the #1 scam):

#1: The Income Share Agreement:

This is a legally binding document that will take a giant chunk of your pay, even if you don't make very much at your job, and sometimes even if the job is not programming.

Also, did you know they can *sell* your ISA to another company?

#2: Hiring back graduates who failed to get employed so they can inflate their job placement numbers.

Ever wondered why every class seems to have 50 "teaching assistants"? That's why. None of those people are qualified at all to TA, but that counts as a job.

#3: Guess what all of those TAs do when they get that fake Bootcamp TA job?

Put it on their resume like it was a real "tech job". Ooooooooh, you TA for "The Yale of Bootcamps"? We'll totally hire you now.

Hardest thing in tech is getting your first job, so scam your way in.

#4: These Fake Bootcamp TAs (FBTA) will claim any previous job that is within 20 miles of "tech" is a qualification to teach computer science. FBTAs have used:

Geology
System Administration
Accounting
Law
Civil Engineering

Directly to my face as proof they are qualified. Nope.

#5: Not being registered as a real school in their state and not following the laws regarding refunds. Flatiron did this for years and got sued for $350k then had to be rescued by crazy Adam Nuemann and WeWork. Lambda Schools is also operating illegally in CA.

#6: Gotta keep that 95%-100% job placement rate up, but did you know that it's 95% of "graduates" get placed in jobs?

Well, if you can't increase placement, then decrease the number of "graduates".

Best one is the school that calls you a graduate once you get a job.

100% baby!

#7: But Zed, you say to me, how can a school decrease the number of graduates?

Require 12 hour study days, terrible teachers, shoddy or no curriculum, abusive teachers, vague final projects, or extend the real curriculum past the 3 months.

That'll flush out the "weak" for sure

#8: You know that totally awesome curriculum they have on the bootcamp's website that takes you from zero programming experience to working with JavaScript and Python doing a $500k/year Data Science job?

Yeah, that's not possible. They simply won't cover it.

#9: Remember the FBTAs? Did you know that some schools let those idiots punish other students? I've read reports of hazing, students being yelled at, forced to do pushups, and with zero oversight or training of the FBTAs.

It's like the Stanford Prison Experiment...but for real

#10: And finally, the biggest scam of all...their NETWORK! They'll promise you that through them you get contact with all the FAANGs, and they throw this huge party, and like 2 dudes from a crap startup down the street come look at your trash barely working app.

It's BS.

As you read through this, and you're struggling with all those hype particles built up in your blood blocking your vision, I want you to research what Survivorship Bias is:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivors…

Then go find people who *failed* out of a bootcamp, not success stories.

Don't ruin 2020 by believing anything a bootcamp tells you about anything they promise. Do your research. If you see 40 TAs, a massive curriculum, and an ISA then run for you life.

Happy New Year!