| I am a self-taught junior web developer after a career change at 37yo. I always have the impression that this perception that Lambda's model is not good always come from people in more comfortable positions that are not even close to the reality of who actually applies for Lambda. I am from Brazil and did the career change two years ago, so there wasn't actually the option to do Lambda School for me. But it would be a no-brainer for me at the time and I am pretty sure I would be much better in my career now if I had done it (in knowledge and earnings). 4 years of college? Not an option for me. USD15k upfront for a regular bootcamp? Not an option for me. Take a loan with the risk of having to pay with a big chance of not getting a good job soon enough? Too risky for me (and in Brazil the high interest rates make it a ridiculous thought, but even with US rates it is too risky). My path was self-taught through freeCodeCamp.org (awesome project!!!) and reading tutorials and documentation. I was able to get a frontend jr position, but I can tell that I was lacking a lot of knowledge/skills when I started (git, tests, agile process, design patterns, clean code, to name a few). Now I am moving to LA and I am failing every remote technical interview because I lack the specific skills needed for being hired in the US. Lambda School 9 no-upfront full-time months with close mentorship and teamwork, plus the alignment to help get me a job seems like a "too good to be true" option for me; not a "tricking naive laypeople who don't know better into paying their high price" that all "skeptical" commenters I have ever read in HN seems to think |
It is not simply about sticker price.
It is about _risk_. You as the individual burden all the risk if you take a loan (or not) and pay upfront.
Here, even if your analysis is correct that you pay more, you must adjust it for risk. In finance this is your risk-adjusted return, but the same concept applies here.