We Changed Our Admissions Process

We Changed Our Admissions Process

Starting last month, we changed the application process for our Immersive Bootcamp. Previously, there was a coding challenge that applicants had to pass followed by a series of technical interviews.

But what we have called a technical interview isn’t really an interview and has never been — it has always been a coaching process. The changes in our admissions process is to make the ‘coaching’ aspect clearer for applicants and take away some of the mystique of applying to our program.

It has always been a coaching process.

We believe anyone who shows potential should have a fair chance to build the minimum required set of skills to be successful in the Immersive Bootcamp. This is why we re-interview applicants multiple times, giving guidance and coaching on what to study and how to get up to the level needed to begin work on our Precourse. We do this because learning on your own can be a little scary and, without at least a little guidance, unproductive if you aren’t sure what comes next.

Here are the list of changes that have been implemented:

• The Coding Challenge is no more! Instead, we will give you the chance to fill in some information about yourself in the application. Have you coded before? What are your goals? Let us know. We want to hear from you.
• Even though the interview process has always been called an “interview”, you can think of it as a periodic check-in. For many candidates, it is more than a little intimidating to feel like you’re about to be thrown into a corporate-style technical interview such a short time after setting out on your coding journey. So we want to be transparent about this process for what it really is: a periodic check-in with a bit of guidance on how to get closer to reaching enough code fluency for a successful Immersive experience.
• The first check-in will be an admissions consultation (with some coding if you want!). We want to hear from you and help you get on the right track fast. We’d like to know what your goals are and what you plan on getting out of Code Chrysalis. Our program selection is wider than it was a few years ago, and so we are interested in finding the best fit for you. With a consultation we can point you in the right direction earlier (or schedule your next technical check-in if the Immersive Bootcamp seems like the right fit).

This does not change the bar for admission into the Immersive; our standards are the same and you can read about them here.

An application doesn’t mean an automatic admission to the process, but it gives you immediate access to an admissions specialist at Code Chrysalis who can help you meet our technical standards. Further check-ins will help you focus your studying.

We select students for the Immersive who display:

• problem solving
• persistence
• communicativeness
• the ability to handle frustration
• knowledge of JavaScript fundamentals
• knowledge of intermediate concepts like higher-order functions and closures

If you already know these things, you may only need one interview. But if you don’t feel confident with these things yet, that’s okay!

We want to help you get there.

Written by Jill Hackney, Admissions Specialist & Educational Software Engineer, and Yan Fan, co-founder and CTO.

To see a breakdown of our admissions process, you can read our post “How to Get Into Code Chrysalis” here.

Interested in applying? You can get started here.

See what our students can do by checking out the most recent graduation presentations here.

‍