[busterarm]

Lambda isn't even the most well known bootcamp[1], just the most well-known failure.

Nearly everyone in my AppAcademy cohort was already a STEM grad and some from top schools. Also that didn't correlate with performance as the person with the most advanced degree was unhirable and the degreeless folks are among the most successful. More than half a decade on, we're still at like 98% of our cohort with long and successful careers. The few cohorts ahead of and behind me have similar results. More than half of my cohort are senior ICs at this point as well (staff engineers, architects, startup CTOs, etc).

Most of us didn't even need the bootcamp, per-se, but were there for the helpful aspects of building a portfolio in a short time and the psychological benefits of being coached through the interview process.

_YOU_ may not have seen successful bootcamp grads, but you also might not be in any of the places where they're looking for work. Or you have a very strong bias.

[1]: Dev Bootcamp, GA, AppAcademy and Flatiron School are/were easily more well-known than Lambda School ever was.

[908B64B197]

> Nearly everyone in my AppAcademy cohort was already a STEM grad and some from top schools.

> Most of us didn't even need the bootcamp, per-se

I think you hit the nail on this one. Today kids take https://missing.csail.mit.edu/ instead of doing a bootcamp. "Intro to CS" classes are also more prevalent (and sometimes mandatory) for everyone in STEM nowadays.

[petey283]

My bootcamp experience built my confidence which helped during interviews.

[busterarm]

This is such an underrated part of the experience.

I think we all felt that way. Is that worth the high cost of tuition? Debatable. We're just about all working though.

I was changing careers after a decade plus of low-level grunt IT jobs when I was capable of doing so much more. It took probably 3-5 years just to build my confidence enough to do the bootcamp -- I had developer friends who were telling me for years I was more than qualified and capable but I'd found it so hard just to start.

A huge part of the lack of confidence has to do with growing up always being poor. The idea of a stable, high-paying job that's rewarding is almost unimaginable from that position.