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Comment by louisswiss | Hacker News Reader

Lambda School and the team behind it are awesome.

I've thought about applying quite a few times (I'm technical but self taught, so I've always felt like I'd benefit from a quick bootcamp to soften my jagged edges).

If the schedule were more friendly to European timezones I'd have signed up already. Hopefully that's coming soon?

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Genuinely curious why you'd look at Lambda School instead of a local university which if you're in Switzerland (going by your user name) would cost you almost nothing. I always saw Lambda School and equivalents as a necessary alternative to the broken US university system, not as something that was needed in Europe.

Switzerland has some of the world's best universities, sure.

But I don't want to do another degree (the only comparable option would be a 3 year, full time BSc in Computer Science).

Sure, the tuition costs would be lower, but the opportunity costs (plus 3 years of not really working while I study) are easily 10x higher than doing Lambda School.

Plus, a local university won't teach me the skills I need to become a better 'practical' web/mobile developer. It's a lot of (admittedly very interesting) theory, not the kind of vocational training I need.

With Lambda School I could strengthen my weak areas in 3-6months and don't need to travel to do so. A bargain for the price!

We’re launching in the UK in 2019, so I believe that will resolve the time zone issue.

That's great news!

I don't know about Switzerland (nor that much about Lambda School), but even the most flexible schools in Europe tends to be quite rigid. Apply months in advance, study for years, deal with grades, admissions and administration etc. What most people need isn't "academia" but "training". That said I think most MOOCs are doing it wrong as well.

In the UK quite a lot of Universities offer MSc "conversion courses" which are basically 1 year training as a programmer. Cost is usually reasonable. I know people who've done this and gone on to successful careers, including research. Here's an example: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/taught/com...

Not that I think conversion courses are without issues, but the selling point of Lambda School seems fairly weak to me in the light of these.

You should see our waiting list of folks waiting to attend in the UK. I can’t speak to what their decision making process is, but the demand is clear.

I don't doubt demand exists. I'm just curious as to why.

I’d guess they don’t believe a one-year conversion course from a university is a superior education to Lambda School (I don’t know about the quality of those in the UK other than that a few universities have already reached out asking us to replace theirs), with a hint of opportunity cost of the extra time. The fact that it can be done from home May also play a role, or maybe they don’t have a degree in the first place.

They’re expanding to the U.K. in 2019. I believe other countries as well. Would you not consider the GA Tech M.Sc. Computer Science if you already have extensive work experience?

https://www.omscs.gatech.edu/ https://www.reddit.com/r/OMSCS/comments/9ly1z2/thank_you_all...

It used to be ~$7K, not sure what it is now. Lambda school is $20K if you pay upfront, $30K if you do an income share where you only pay afterwards.

Thanks, I'll look into that. I'm looking for something highly vocational/practical which can be completed remotely and ideally in 3-6months.

GA Tech OMSCS is still about 6-7k. $1300/2 course semester is what I'm paying right now.

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