Expectations

What to expect from the Precourse Accept Program

Agenda

1. Meet the Staff

2. Program Overview
3. Student Expectations
4. Program Expectations

Staff

Meet our wonderful staff!

Albrey Brown & Alex Hinton 
Co-Program Coordinators

Bosa Omoregie, Tech Mentor

Software Engineer with Orion Labs.

 
Fun fact: I do wedding and portrait photography

Chelsea Fan! Go Blues!

Jorge Carapia, Tech Mentor

I completed Telegraph Academy in September, followed by a 3 month period as an HIR. I'm looking forward to helping you all the best I can.

 

Fun Fact: I once held my breath for over 4 minutes.

 

Program Overview

Program Overview

• Schedule
• Day to Day Overview
• Deadline Dates
• Help Desk
• Readiness Assessment

Program Schedule

Start Date: Saturday, 3/04/2017

End Date: Sunday, 3/19/2017

 

  Monday - Thursday: 6pm - 9pm PST

  Saturday - Sunday: 10am - 7pm PST

 

Readiness Assessments: Thursday 3/16 & Friday 3/17

Day-to-Day Overview

Let's take a look at the syllabus

Project Deadline Dates

We do not check your pre-course work until you pass the readiness assessment. These dates are recommended if you want the best chance to pass the readiness assessment and finish the work on time.

 

Monday, March 6th, 6pm: Prerequisites

Wednesday, March 8th, 6pm: Underbar I

Monday, March 13th, 6pm: Underbar II

Saturday, March 18th, 10am: Twittler

Monday, March 20th, 9am: Recursion

Help Desk:

Help Desk is..

• A channel in slack: join #helpdesk now if you haven't.

• A place you will ask a specific questions about your current problem

  • good q: "I am working on _x_ and am confused about __yz___"
  • bad q: "I have a question, can someone jump in?"

• The place you go when you have no where to go.

  • You have checked the documentation.
  • You have checked google.
  • You have checked with your partner.

Town Halls

Town Halls are:

• run by a tech mentor

• focused on the confusing concepts you'll run into prior to starting to code.

• held after the reading section of these sprints.

  • Saturday, March 11th, 2017
  • Sunday, March 19th, 2017

Readiness Assessment

You must pass the readiness assessment to enroll in the immersive program.

When? Thursday March 16th & Friday March 17th

 

How long, and workflow? 30 minute interview, held remotely, with one of our tech mentors.

 

What's on it? Focuses on JavaScript (no HTML&CSS) and problem solving fundamentals - very similar to the interview you've already taken.

 

What happens if you don't pass?  If you do not pass the readiness assessment you will re-interview for the next cohort at a later time.

 

 

 

 

 

More on the RA:

How do I best prepare my tech skills for readiness assessment?

Do the work! The pre-course materials are a roadmap for being 100% ready for the course. Stick to the deadlines, and internalize the material and you will be fine.

 

How will the tech mentors help me progress?

If the pre-course materials are a roadmap, the tech mentors serve as travelers who will point you in the right direction when you get stuck. Use them when your ideas/resources have been exhausted, but make sure you're not relying on them to drag you to the finish line.

 

How do I track my own progress?

Use this rubric to measure your skills up to what we're looking for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Expectations

Your Ultimate Goal

How to become a better programmer through PCA and make it to your preferred cohort

1. Read the documentation very thoroughly.
2. Work on the sprints outside of class.
3. Hit the recommended deadlines.
4. Constantly refer to the rubric to evaluate your skills.
5. Pass the readiness assessment.
6. Finish all precourse work by Monday, 3/20, at 9am

 

Become a better programmer

 

You're all here because you are between 90 and 95% the level programmer you need to be to thrive at Hack Reactor.

 

The precourse work will give you the knowledge and reps you need to master JavaScript and work on your Software Engineering fundamentals.

 

It's up to you to focus on building your skills, and working on your technique ahead of the Readiness Assessment.

 

It's our job to keep you motivated, and to remove unhelpful roadblocks.

Student Expectations

Be on time: We value punctuality. If you show up less than 10 minutes before class, you're late. ​(5:50pm on Weekdays, 8:50am on weekends).

Be present: Our schedule is highly condensed. Spend every second coding, not distracted by the internet and such.

Be respectful and professional: It's important that we like each other and are taking this education seriously.

Have a good attitude: When you are frustrated, take a break. If you have feedback, give it constructively.

Student Expectations

Work on material outside of class hours.

Student Expectations

Attendance Policy:

 

Attendance is extremely important for your success.

 

You will need to attend every single class possible. However, we realize schedules are hard to change with such short notice - this is a new program.

 

If you can attend most of the classes and spend any extra needed time.

Student Expectations

Questions, concerns, comments?

PCA Expectations

What you can and can't expect from PCA in class, and outside of the class room.

Reasonable Expectations

Coding Assistance: From 6:00 - 9:00pm M-TH, and 10am to 7pm on Saturday and Sunday.


Kick-Off: A lecture and/or kick-off that will give you context around the sprint topic.

 

Town Halls: Informationals aimed answering your questions about the sprints.

 

Help Desk: HIR's instructors who will always be ready to help guide you toward the answer.

Unreasonable Expectations

Coding Help: Any time outside of the 6:00 to 9 M/Th, and 10am - 7pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Answers to Challenges: It's not our job to give you the answer, but to help you learn to find it on your own.

 

Admittance into your preferred cohort: We can't promise this. It is on you.