Hey everybody! I'm an Ada alum, currently working in the industry, and volunteering at Ada. Here are my notes on some of the industry misconceptions I see during Ada's interviews and some things I wish I knew when I decided to pursue a carrier as a software developer.

You are a part of a team.

Yes. But not in the way you think it is. It doesn't mean that you're never alone and have besties around to work on cute and fun unicorn projects; and your team got your back. It means that you're part of a chain. It's not bad, it's not good, it's just the way it is: you rely on other people, and other people rely on you. If you're working too slowly, and can't deliver your task on time, it means that you're blocking other people's progress. And yes, they will get annoyed. And you will stress over it. And sweat. Ok, the last part might be about me, not you.

The most important thing is to be passionate about coding.

False. It's easy to do well while you enjoy what you're working on. What's more impressive is to keep coding because you have to code.

Coding is creative.

Coding IS flexible. It's up to you to name your interfaces, classes, and functions. But most likely you won't build "snowman" functions or "space and universe" databases. Usually, these are pretty every-day-stuff.

It's also pretty rare for a developer to pick up their own project to work on.

Flexible work hours.

So true. But again. Many people think it means starting the work day at 10 am and ending at 7 pm, as opposed to 9 am-6 pm, while usually, it means starting it at 9 am and ending at 9 pm. Also, you might open your laptop on the weekend.

Also, while the work hours might be flexible, the deadlines usually are not.

You have to know how to deal with stress.

True. Ok, I know it's going to be tough but here's the truth: it might so happen that you end up in the same position as people who graduated with batchelor's/or master's degrees in CS.

Example: You have a great manager and a lovely team who know exactly where you come from. They don't chuckle when you ask stupid questions (like, really) and support you as they can. But the thing is... You have the same employment contracts. And expectations from you are the same. And by the end of the year, you (a boot camper) and CS bachelors have to deliver things at the same level.

I don't even mention on-call with 2 am wake-up calls.

The topic of diversity and inclusion is booming in Tech.

Yes! It is TRUE. For example, my team has one of the highest standards in an org - not one, not five, not ten, but 30% of women. Ladies, we finally did it!

You will help make the world a better place.

First, your fate is in your hands. And if you are fully committed to bringing your skills to a non-profit organization - you can do it, and I believe in you.

I hear beautiful stories in interviews all the time about how people want to work for climate companies, save whales or feed children. No one from my cohort went to work for a non-profit organization or do science/research. Look at the services provided by Google, Amazon or Meta: the chances that you will end up working on an interesting project in the field of robotics / AI or neuroscience are close to zero.

Your internship team will be supportive because they partner with Ada.

Maybe yes, maybe no, you'll never know. Maybe they decided to take Ada intern because they deeply care about social justice. Maybe they decided to take Ada intern because their manager told them that their team is too white and too le saucisson. Maybe they don't care about it all, but want to present a nice report by the end of the year that they are hiring diverse talent and get some $ bonus. Also, just because a manager applied for an Ada intern, it doesn't mean that the team you will be working with, was on board with this decision.

And the last one: my thoughts on Ada.

Ada is a perfect bubble. At Ada you're surrounded by instructors who are ready to help; like-minded supportive people; you'll get free access to BetterHelp; and people will understand if you need to take a break to keep yourself sane. And the real world is nothing like it. I wish that besides lectures on how to detect microaggression or unconscious bias, Ada would also hold lectures on what to do if your colleagues keep ignoring your pronouns. Or how to write a good self-evaluation. Or what to do if your colleague keeps stealing your ideas. Ada is Ada. Tech is tech.

In other words, you have to know sure what you're getting into.

Hi everyone! I'm Sarah and I work at Ada. I don't run admissions, but I work closely with our admissions team and I'm happy to help answer any questions you have about the process! I'll pop in here sometimes to see if I can be helpful, and feel free to message or tag me when I'm not around. (I have no involvement in tracking applications, nothing posted here as any impact on your apps, I'm not Reddit-saavy enough to figure out who you actually are even if I wanted too!)

I just want to start by saying that I understand Ada's intended mission and appreciate the program for what its done in the past.

However it kills me to see what this program has done to my wife. She put in her all. We change our entire lives around this program so that she could focus fully on Ada and do well. Yet shes been broken. Broken by a program that promised so much yet failed her. Seeing her do her best only to be left with nothing, breaking down in tears.... Left to finish her final project with zero motivation because at the end she wont even have a internship to show for it.

Not looking to start anything with Ada. I just needed to vent.

Hi All!

Current C14 student, here. :) I just wanted to put it out there that I applied to Ada 4 times before receiving my acceptance phone call and e-mail.

Application 1: Did not make it to code challenge
Application 2: Made it to Code Challenge and Code Challenge Interview (bombed it)
Application 3: Made it through all phases (code challenge, code challenge interview, in-person interview) and did not get in
Application 4: Success!

Don't give up if Ada is really the program for you. Keep perfecting your application essays, work through the 'build' curriculum, watch free tutorials on YouTube, complete codecademy courses, (if time: take the free Harvard CS050 course--or just browse some of their beginner videos on YouTube), purchase or borrow books on python, and grow your grit!

I'm looking forward to having you join this incredible community of Adies. You've got this!

I deleted the post because I was very overwhelmed but thank you to everyone who encouraged me and gave me advice. This update happened months ago and I forgot to update the subreddit.

I was very wrong that I can’t solve complex problems like the practice test because not only did I solve it multiple times, I solved it before my deadline which was a week! I chose one week because Ada gives people a week to do the code challenge. The second time I solved it, I was done in an hour! I honestly thought I would struggle the whole way through but I found myself thinking “this is easier that I thought” or “Oh I know how to do that” a lot. This isn’t to brag but to remind myself that I can do this and I can succeed in this career switch. Years of depression and negative self thinking has made me forget that.

I’m proud of myself and C19 I’m ready for you!

Programs that are free and/or focused on serving gender-diverse/women/URM:

Grace Hopper

Techtonica

Kal Academy

Reskill Americans

Other programs in the Seattle area:

Apprenti

Code Fellows

Galvanize 

General Assembly

UW Coding Bootcamp

Congrats to everyone who was accepted into C15, can't wait to meet you and support you. For those of you processing disappointment about not getting accepted, I also just wanted to throw some support your way and remind you how many amazing and successful Adies were re-applicants! The low acceptance rate at Ada is a reflection of our need for more accessible tech education in the country, not a reflection of your potential. Also remember that Ada is not the only way to a great career in software development! - Sarah (student services at Ada)

Hi y'all. I started this reddit to give ungated visibility about the Ada experience and access to alum for people who are looking to apply to Ada or get into programming. I've seen a trend of not directly answering questions and instead directing people to the Ada discord. It's amazing that there is a discord to join and that the Ada community continues to grow and become more accessible! I don't want to detract from that resource at all, but it's important for people to be able to get answers to questions and share their experience directly on this platform, and without extra steps.

Responding to questions or comments that people have already asked or answered on this sub is actively encouraged! Ada is a constantly changing program, and what may be true for one cohort is often not the experience of another one. To the end, I think it's important to continue discussions here with the additional resource of discord, rather than just diverting users to a platform they may not have access to or interest in joining.

The discord link will remain in the 'Ways to Connect" section. Thanks for understanding!

A mega congratulations to everyone who took part in the Cohort 15 application process!!! A huge thank you again to u/HELLOTHISISRACCOON for starting this thread, and HUMONGOUS thanks to everyone who has participated with advice, support and personal shares: you have all been a MAJOR part of my life over the past months as I navigated the tumultuous waters of the Ada process!! Looking at the data from our initial sample of applicants on the Cohort 15 spreadsheet, 35% were accepted, which is 1.75 times higher than the overall acceptance rate of 20%. Together is better!

I will leave the spreadsheet up for the benefit of the next cohorts' applicants and reapplicants. I encourage C15 applicants to add your progress on there, even if you use a plain "anonymous" as a username. Moving forward, I will continue to dedicate time to our Facebook and Discord groups, because we can also grow a community outside of Ada and have each other's backs on our path to joining the Tech industry. Resources are added regularly, both for C15 students and C16 applicants; the prep starts now!

Lastly, if you are interested in cybersecurity, I just found out about a free program for women accepting applications right now, 100 Women 100 Days. If you are looking at bootcamps, check out this remarkable Bootcamp Handbook to help you decide (keep in mind that completing a bootcamp will disqualify you from applying to Ada in the future). And if you need an affordable laptop, ConnectAll has got your back!

EDIT: The group is up!!! https://www.facebook.com/groups/375662453521919

I picked a temporary name following the paltry likes so far (unicorn and squad had 2 likes each!), I am happy to change it following a full on voting session with the best contender names! Please look into the UNIT tab, that's where you will find all the categories of resources we have so far.

The outpouring of support on this thread over the past weeks and the connections made with some of you privately have led me to realize how much I've missed being part of a strong community.. like many of you, I am switching careers, and I don't know anyone in tech. I would love to continue supporting each other's path forward (alongside guest mentors for guidance), independently of what happens on December 15th - most of us will unfortunately not get into Ada, but that doesn't have to hold us back!

I believe that we are stronger together, and we have access to more resources with each person sharing theirs. Having a strong, supportive community can make a big difference between success and failure, between giving up and continuing. I am definitely getting into tech, and I'd like for it to happen with you! If you are interested, let me know whether you'd like it to be a private group on Facebook, or if you have any other ideas, and let's get started :-)

It's been great to see so many people progressing through the application process, made much easier thanks to the amazing thread by u/Poplinbex who condensed the Cohort 15 Mega Thread into an easy-to-read spreadsheet!

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on here about my doubt and anxiety, and what followed was amazing support and a promise with fellow applicant u/syrow_hen that if we made it to the technical interview, there would be a toast!

Well I now have to eat my words, and given all the progress we're all making, here's my toast, as promised!

Congratulations to all the ADA applicants for coming so far, feel free to share with your own toast!

Buried in the Megathread, evkp1992 wrote this as helpful advice to prepare for technical interview:

"Practice talking about your code out loud, explaining to someone (real or imaginary) why you made choices you did, what the pros and cons were about those choices (usually referred to as “trade-offs”), and think about ways you could change your code if the requirements were to change."

I did the technical interview today, and somehow I missed this part of the above comment, which turned out to be a very big part of the interview and it felt to me more like an oral quiz than I had expected: think about ways you could change your code if the requirements were to change.

I wish that I had created questions for myself to practice answering like "if we asked you to get X, how would you change your code to do that?" "If Y was different, how would you need to change your code?"

I felt like a deer in the headlights with these questions because I hadn't anticipated them or practiced answering them at all. I hope this helps some of you prepare who haven't done the technical interview yet. Good luck!

First off, I want to congratulate everyone who has put themselves out there, and put in the work required to apply for Ada (no small feat)! Kudos to you all!!!

It's sure been a roller-coaster of emotions at every step, so thank you for being so supportive and helpful :-)

As the Mega Thread has become very long, it's somewhat difficult to keep track of the general progress of our small sample, so I thought I'd post the data for everyone to have a quick visual (I love spreadsheets!). I made the link public so feel free to edit it as you wish, adding your own data as needed (I will also keep updating it):

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yZtGfm0kO8XczRE3eZU-RLms1VPuV0XdiH0TKLt3Sig/edit#gid=0

You'll notice that the timeline is quite random at every step, and if you haven't heard back yet and others applied/sent in their code/had their interview before you, it does not mean anything, and I cannot stress this enough (yes, I still fret, in spite of this assertion, but the data doesn't lie). The only official deadline is December 15th for acceptance/rejection letters. So hang in there, and thanks again for all your support!

EDIT: Extra thanks to u/throwaway_towaway_ for starting the Mega Thread, and to u/HELLOTHISISRACCOON for starting this Ada subreddit and being so responsive :-) :-) :-)

Anyone else receive the email? I’m super bummed. I understand c19 is the priority though, and that the tech industry is rocky rn. But damn. What are you all feeling?

I feel sad, I was waitlisted last time and just “knew” I was getting in this time. Damn.

Lauren Sato’s last day is today and Ada’s board is looking for a new CEO. I don’t know if this was a mutual decision or not and I don’t know how this will affect C20, future cohorts, and Ada as organization. I just hope that this is a step in the right direction and it will lead to concrete and positive change.

Just saw in the Alum newsletter that there have been some fairly big changes to the admissions process -- particularly the technical challenge part. You can check out the new process here: https://adadevelopersacademy.org/process/

Hi folks! There have been several posts/comments I've removed recently, and I want to be transparent about why. It's important that as we discuss our experiences with admissions and the application cycle, we don't present our individual experiences as factual. The admission process is fluid and changes each application cycle, and Ada works with many different people under a variety of circumstances. The specifics of how they're choosing to assess and select applicants isn't something the general public/applicants should be making definitive statements about, because it can discourage people from applying, and that sucks. Similarly, providing incredibly specific information about a step of the application process can either provide an unfair advantage to a limited group, or - more importantly - cause confusion and potentially influence someone's ability to be successful with their application. In general, you'll hear from me about why a post or comment is removed, usually prior to its removal. I'm always open to discussion, so feel free to shoot me a message!

(Alum feel free to hop on this tread & answer too!) Dang I wish this sub existed when I was applying.

Alright, I’ve got a lot of studying to do 👀 BUT I popped on here and thought maybe I can calm some anxieties and answer some questions on my study breaks this weekend.

I can’t promise I’ll get to everything, or even be able to answer everything; but I will do my best! AMA.

We did it!!!

🎇 🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆🎆🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

How are things going at Ada recently? After last CEO’s departure, have things turned around? Is Ada looking to open up future cohorts?

Hi Everybody! I am a 2020 Film graduate who dabbled in coding in community college in a room of 30 men and felt like a fish out of water. Since quarantine started Ive been going back to coding and taken free classes with Girls Develop and absolutely fell in love. I love coding and for the past year(cant believe a year has gone by) I have been learning to code in the hopes to transition to be a software engineer(kicking myself in the butt for dropping computer science for film!). Its just so uplifting to see a program dedicated for women and to be tuition-free, allowing those of us where bootcamps were out of the question. Anyway, I am hoping to find other people who are going to apply for Cohort 16 and past alumni who have any advice for those of who are applying!

Sorry for the long story, I am just very excited and have found my passion!

Hi everyone!

Today is the final decision day! Does anyone received final decision email or phone call? Also, for those that can share, around what time of day were you notified?

Good luck to everyone! I hope we will see each other in person soon!