[busterarm]

Putting the classes to task working on small details of the site wouldn't benefit them in any way. It's a very tight, fast curriculum that has to benefit a lot of students at once.

I know your situation sucks and it's easy to be derisive to them. I was barely able to come up with the $5k deposit myself and if it weren't for the financing situation of this specific program (I am degree-less but over 30 and have tech experience) I would not have been able to do it. If I were in your situation, there is _no way_ that I would have been able to do it, period. Still, their financing policies make sense to me having gone through the program and also seeing other bootcamp grads and what the market is like.

There are some other decent programs out there that may work out better for you. You might want to check Flatiron School's Fellowship program. Had I not already started AppAcademy, I would have done that instead -- it's exactly for your situation.

If you're in SF and are worried about finding housing in NY if you got in, we can discuss it as I may be (a) either able to work out an arrangement so you can stay in Manhattan or (b) know somewhere/someone that can hook you up with affordable housing.

AppAcademy was a life-changing experience for me, even pre-employment, and I do not regret doing it at all. If you can find some way to do it or something like it (a very short list of programs, imo), you definitely should do it.

[SiVal]

+1 to you for being such a good, decent person, but I think you're mistaking me for a different poster. I'm well-established in the industry, fortunately, but I'm annoyed at those who take advantage of people less fortunate than I am. It's very unlikely to be an accident that they don't inform people who need to find a way to make a living of the full cost until the applicants have spent a lot of time and effort trying to get accepted. Shady salespeople have been using that technique to soften up potential customers for millennia. I can't know for sure, but it sounds like shady businesspeople selling good-quality training.

[busterarm]

Sorry, mistook you for the OP. It was late :)

I definitely think that there's a good conversation to be had about the business ethics of the vast majority of startups and internet brands. That said, having 10 years+ work experience outside of this world, there's a good conversation to be had about the business ethics of everybody.