Telegraph Academy

This a review for the 12-week immersive program at Telegraph Academy(TGA). I'm now working at Salesforce in San Francisco as a Front-end Software Engineer. 

I participated in the 2nd cohort at TGA. Prior to TGA, I had been self-teaching myself seriously for about 8 months. I also participated in the prep program, which I feel prepared me to take the most out of my experience during the 12-week program. 

The immersive program is not a walk in the park & will challenge you everyday. This program, without a doubt, helped accelerate my learning of not only web technologies, but also core foundational computer science concepts. I came in with solid front end development skills particular HTML5, CSS(Sass & preprocessors) & that definitely helped me during my interviews. I was fortunate to have interviews with many great & amazing companies such as Google, Uber, Salesforce, Electronic Arts & Man Crates, among many other places.

Telegraph Academy & HackReactor Core network do have partner companies, however the majority of the job hunt it will be up to you to apply for jobs. The job hunt itself is another journey in & of itself. 

Tips:

• If you have time before the program, create websites from scratch without using CSS or javascript frameworks. Knowing Angular, React & (insert a framework here) will make you marketable, but knowing the core concepts will set you apart & frankly make you a better engineer. 
• Exercise as much as you can before the program to prepare your mind & body because you will hardly have time do anything but code.
• For companies like Google & Uber you have to have to know a lot of data structures & algorithms which aren't covered in the program. During my job hunt & studied new topics as well.
• Patience, persistence, showing passion & conviction in the work you do, the way you carry yourself and making sure your resume is on point is key.

Random Aside: 

• I commuted 45 minutes forward & back everyday. 
• Typical schedule for me wake up at 6am - come back at 9pm, some days way later.

I love Telegraph Academy's boot camp prep class.  There are many attributes to list but the first is the commitment the staff has toward your learning experience.  It is obvious from day one, getting you ready for the Full Stack Web Dev boot camp of your choice is their top priority.  

The student to teacher ratio is 3 to 1. Three teachers/assistants to every one student. 

Next there's the materials.  Every lecture is put into slide and video format so you can always go online and review any material you want to go over again.  That is priceless especially when you need more time to process a particular concept than is available at the time it is being taught.

Last and by no means least, the community.  Assistance is available 24/7 via the school's slack channel.  Not just teachers but students are able and willing to really help out and teach one another.  Often study groups outside of class are formed and I made some really awesome friends here.

This program is for the young budding software developer who wants to get their feet wet before deep diving into a full-blown dev school. The TGP+ team host a consortium of talented individuals, all knowledgeable and eager to provide professional guidance as you make your transition. This program will make you more confident in those fundamental topics you'll need for the rest of your computing career.

Before completing this program, I did what we've all done; hack *blindly in the dark attempting to connect disparate programming concepts. The TGP+ program is meant to alleviate that struggle and provide some light to your path. The TGP+ team really cares about your progress and encourages self-paced growth all while utilizing team building strategies and discussions. This program is definitely a solid choice. Happy hacking.
 

Telegraph Academy staff and students are some of the most dedicated and hard-working people I know. The staff dedicates so much of their time and energy to help cultivate each cohort of autonomous, resourceful software engineers. The students, in turn, work tirelessly for 12+ hours/day for at least 3 months building software and learning as much as they can.

For me, TGA was a great experience. I learned more in my time at TGA than I could have imagined, both technically and non-technically. It’s not for everyone though. I prefer to “learn by doing”, which means that I enjoy being thrown into challenges and then struggling to figure things out on my own, before someone tells me the answer. The learning style at TGA closely mirrors that. People who want the answers handed to them from the get-go will have a hard time adapting to the “learn by doing” style.

Instructors: In the beginning of the program, it is stated very clearly that the instructors are there to help guide students, not to give students the answers when they get stuck. I think they do this well, in addition to making TGA a fun, welcoming place to be.

Curriculum: The curriculum is roughly the same as the Hack Reactor curriculum. It is constantly evolving, though, as is the tech industry. The focus is on JavaScript, with more flexibility in the technologies you use when building your own projects.

Job Support: During the program, students have resume reviews, mock interviews, and practice whiteboard sessions. After the program ends, alumni have access to the job search resources at both TGA and HR. This includes additional mock interviews, resume reviews, etc., and access to the HR Core network of companies.

Overall, this was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done, and I would definitely do it again, given the chance.

This review is for TGA Prep +

This is by far the best prep class out there to get you ready to take on JavaScript and get you into the bootcamp of your dreams. 

The curriculum is amazing and has a clever way of teaching you higher functions in JavaScript before you even know it.  

The instructors are really on their game and are committed to your success. I know others took different prep classes and when we compared notes, I did not regret my decision!

Telegraph Academy(TGA) is Spearheaded by the talents of Albrey Brown and Bianca Gandolfo. faculty and staff at TGA is full of great positive energy and what at times seems like infinite knowledge in both technical and non-technical fields. The staff does a great job a creating a stressful environment while helping students maintain their sanity all to promote as much growth as possible.

Curriculum: What made the curriculum so great was that it did not just teach JavaScript(which we all know is great), but that it taught us how to be engineers, by the time our projects rolled around everyone from my cohort was working with technologies that were never introduced in lectures. That was amazing to me. All that being said this was one of the most mentally taxing endeavors that I have tackled and I came out with more war stories of dealing with bugs than I do fingers.

Instructors: It is easy to misconstrue the purpose of the instruction and HiR team. Lectures would be held by our instructor, introducing us to a concept and student would then be released to work on a coding challenge that would make use of our new found knowledge. Help is available for students that would get stuck for long periods of time, but no 'answer' would be provided until the time allowed to work on the challenge had expired. Instructors and hackers in residence were present to ask clariying questions and guide student down a logical path. This is invaluable because just having someone there to give one the answer would just rob them of the opportunity to learn. Also no one is going to be sitting next to you on the job telling you how to solve all of the problems you encounter. "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."  

Job Assistance: TGA has access to the Reactor Core network of hiring partners. Before getting to the job search however, you are required to work on your cover letter and resume, as well as online presence. All this is to get ensure that you can solely focus on applying and interviewing for position you are interested. As a graduate one would also has access to the outcomes and hiring team which is shared amound Reactor Core schools which will work with you until the end of time to ensure that you land at your dream company as well as help you with salary negotiations.

Overall Experience: Amazing, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It is not for everyone however, I feel like a lot of people underestimate how challenging programs such as this one on are. If you are up for the challenge then I highly recommend giving it a shot!   

I recently graduated from Telegraph Academy, and I can't believe how it all flew by. I had the opportunity to work with instructors and mentors who are both technically brilliant and also incredible as people. They equipped each and every student in my cohort with strong skills in javascript fundamentals, Node, Angular, Backbone, React, Redux, D3, as well as build tools like Grunt, Gulp, and Webpack. We also spent a lot of time learning to prepare for technical interviews and learn how to break down complex datastructures. Aside from awesome skills we learned, the Telegraph team also lead by example -- they always held themselves to professional standards of excellence at every level including doing everything possible to create and grow an inclusive, beautifully diverse community in the technology space. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend Telegraph Academy and to have met so many amazing people. 

Before joining Telegraph Academy, I was in Chicago and had no coding experience. It was laughable by my family that I was thinking about moving 2400 miles away to go some school that would teach me how to code and make 6 figures in 12 weeks. What was even more laughable was that I was going to quit my job with a decent salary, empty my savings, and sell my belongings to do so. But I did it, and I would make the same decision if given a change to redo it. 

Here's why: In order to be accepted, one must know the basics and pass a difficult entry exam administered by all of the Reactor Core schools (Hack Reactor, Makers Square, Telegraph Academy). I had no idea what I was doing, but after attending TGA's prep program, I was accepted into all of the Reactor Core schools. I decided to go with TGA because of its mission, student-to-instructor ratio, and its location (Berkeley is cheaper than SF).

Leaving everything back home was hard, but the minute I stepped into TGA, I felt ready to get to work. There is an atmosphere at TGA that I've never seen. Its full of people that are passionate about learning and instructors passionate about teaching. The cofounders are awesome and what they have created at TGA is something like a unicorn. 

The curriculum is very modern. We were coding in the most popular javascript libraries and frameworks and at the end, we have portfolio's to show for it. They teach you how to learn so you are able to pick up any language or library and build on your own. The instructors are awesome. They are there to answer any questions you have after they go over the material in a very detailed way. There were weekly guests that came to talk to us from different companies (Facebook, NPM, Solar City etc.) The career search material is the same as Hack Reactor, and leverages the same network. They give you the playbook, practice, and resources needed to find a job. My resumé coming from TGA looks outstanding, and I have yet to apply to a job and not get a next steps email in return. 

This program is not for someone looking for a quick jump in tax bracket. You have to live, love, and breath javascript for 12 weeks. This class moves at an extremely fast pace, so come ready to work. The course material is VERY VERY HARD. There are mentors there for tutoring if you get behind, however, this is rarely the case. Our class had roughly 15 students, so there was more than enough staff to accomodate students. 

All-in-all, it was a great experience for me and my classmates. We all had fun together and created some really cool applications. If you're considering TGA, strap your self in and get ready to change your life.

  Joining Telegraph Academy was the best decision I've ever made.  Reading the negative reviews on this site was surprising.  I had no idea that people felt this way it wasn't something that people brought up in any way during the bootcamp, during which, there are many oppertunities to give feedback.

  It seems to me that some of the reviewers on this site are not holding themselves accountable.  Javascript is difficult and frusterating to learn, I'm convinced that there is no way around that.  TGA has always been very upfront about the learning curve.  Constant check-ins, weekly assessments, group tap-outs, you will know where you stand at any point in time...  I personally worked really hard for 3 months just to pass the test to get in, then another month and a half on the pre-course work.  There was never a sudden, unexpected shift in the difficulty of the program.  If you are looking for an in-depth cs course, you shouldn't sign up for a boot-camp.  If you are looking to accelerate your learning, and are willing to put in the time, TGA is perfect for you.

As for the instruction team,  THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TEACHING.  You don't need 10 years of software engineering experience to explain what a hash table is.  Jamil, the lead instructor, hasn't worked for a start-up, true. But he has been TEACHING for a long time, and he knows how to code.

I strongly encourage any self-motivated and accountable go-getters to apply to TGA.  It's a bootcamp, it works, but it's REALLY hard...

PS.  Preston, Bianca and Albrey all taught at Hack-Reactor when they had less experience than they do now.

I chose to attend Telegraph Academy becuase I fully believe in the mission and wanted to learn how to code in an exclusive environment. I'm a minority, so I recognize the challenges I face entering a career in tech. I wanted to be part of the vibrant community of talented and strong engineers being built at Telegraph. I dont feel like I could have benefited from my educational experience the same way if I went to another school. I didnt want to be just another number being churned out by some of the other bootcamps, Telegraph's staff cares about each one of their students success and encourage student to reach their fullest potential.

That being said this is not a program for people who just want to be spoon fed answers, or give up easily when things become challenging. I feel as an engineer one of the only things that will stay constant through out my career will be my neccessity to learn and grow. This is my biggest take away from Telegraph. It has helped me feel comfortable in a perputaul growth mindset. I gained the tools neccesary to find my own solutions and with the support from the staff the confidence that with hardwork those solutions will come.

Every step of the way I felt the prensece of the staff checking in. At no point did I feel my view or opinions couldn't be heard. We were give the opportunity to provide feedback as we progressed through the course so that staff could evalute and improve upon the existing systems. I felt like this level of attention provided the sense that not only could I be contributing to my own learning process but hopefully contributing to the improvment of others down the line. I enjoyed feeling as though I was a part of building something special. 

Attending Telegraph Academy was one of the best decisions I've made. I was fortunate to have a cohort of like-minded indiviiduals who supported and challenged me to grow throughout my entire time as a student. I'm happy to say that I've become close with all of them and now have a network of talented engineers who I can share my experience with as we take on new endeavors out in the field. 

I highly recommend Telegraph to my friends on a regular basis. The only caveats I express to them before I go in about how awesome Telegraph is as a school and an experience is this. Are you willing to work? and do you love coding? Because with the work you will most certainly see the rewards and the work itself is rewarding if you love learning and love coding.