I'm a co-founder at Flatiron School and everyone who's attended has interviewed with myself and a Flatiron School instructor. We take a ton of pride in our community and look for passionate people above all else.In a nutshell, the admissions process looks like this:1. Online Application - Fill out our application Donu2019t be afraid to be yourself. Doing something like this wonu2019t hurt either.2. Interview - Weu2019ll set up time for a quick Skype chat, so we can talk a bit more about your application and learn about who you are as a person. No need to prep for this one. We want to hear your story and why you want to join our community.3. Code Assignment - After the interview, weu2019ll ask you to make something. Once youu2019ve submitted your code, weu2019ll schedule a time for you to walk through it with one of our instructors.At this point Iu2019ve interviewed thousands of candidates, and have had to make a lot of really hard decisions about which people to select for our classes. Unfortunately,there are plenty of highly qualified applicants that donu2019t get admitted to FlatironSchool. Honestly, thereu2019s so much demand for programming skills that acceptance rates are low across the board at programming schools (ours is ~6% as of 10/2014).Here are a few of the big things you can do to help yourself stand out:Be PassionateOur students put a lot of faith in us to make a huge difference in their lives, and that's not a responsibility we take lightly. Our goal is nothing short of changing our students' lives - what they do professionally and who they are as people. The best way we know how to do that is by showing them how to fall in love with what they're doing. We want to know you are passionate about learning to code and don't just see it as a means to an endu2014as a way to get a cool job or start a tech startup. While those are perfectly good reasons for learning this, weu2019re looking for people who see code as a craft to which they want to devote their careers. This is actually one of the hardest things for us to assess in the admissions process. As I mentioned, we usually we look for people whou2019ve at least started learning to code on their own and know that they enjoy it. We also look for people whou2019ve demonstrated the ability to be passionate about somethingu2014anything, even. Do you love to cook? Do you blog prolifically or volunteer often? Are you a chess master or top rated Fiddle player? Cool- let us know. We've had students just like you :)Be DeterminedYour pet projects and successes in other careers are really important to us, no matter how unrelated to code they are. They show that youu2019ve got grit (passion and perseverance for long-term goals) u2024 a predictor of success that transcends both talent and the ability to learn faster than others. Today, itu2019s easier than ever to learn how to program, but it can still be an incredibly frustrating, arduous process, whether youu2019re in a program or teaching yourself. Itu2019s hard, and we want our students to be successful, not just early in their careers, but 20 years down the line. It takes a lot of determination to do that.Demonstrate SmartsOur courses are intense, so we want applicants that show the intellectual stamina theyu2019ll need to pick up material and get through it. Thereu2019s a misconception that programmers are employed to be quantitatively minded factory workers who churn out code, but we see it as more art than assembly line work. Like playing an instrument or writing music, we consider programming a mode of expression that requires people to think about problems in highly structured ways. And we keep an eye out for creative people who have already proved they can think like this. If youu2019re a great communicator, a musician, or an artist, you might have this kind of aptitude, and it is way more important to us than where you went to school or how good you are at coding when you apply.Be InterestingTell us what makes you you. Share whatever interesting perspective you can bring to the tableu2014how or where you grew up, what your values you are, why youu2019ve made certain decisions in your life, etc. We never admit a student into Flatiron School. We admit a class. We see programming as a creative endeavor and work really hard to bring people together that can boost the creativity of the entire group. So the big goal of the admissions process is to craft a class that represents a purposefully diverse student body. While this certainly means diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender, we go out of our way to seek diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We like to bring together amazing people who normally would not have found each other. These have included venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, professional athletes, chemists, musicians, pro-poker players, and literal rocket scientists. If you're incredible at one thing, we think that's because you're smart and worked hard at it, and it's likely, that being in a room full of highly motivated, smart people, from different backgrounds, you'll be incredible at this.This also means that someone that doesnu2019t get admitted into one class can get admitted later on. I've had to turn away some incredibly nice, smart, passionate people, because even though they fit all our criteria, they were McKinsey consultants and we already had 3 in the class- we'd rather give that next spot to a musician, or an artist.u00a0 That's what allows our students to be better together than they ever could separately.Build SomethingShow us you love programming. You donu2019t have to be an expert, but it really helps to have gone through some online coursework, or even some of the Flatiron School Prework. Even better, build an simple website or app and show it to us. Flatiron School is really big commitment. Itu2019s 70+ hours of work per week for three months. We are sure that anyone can learn to program, but learning in this intense of an environment can be really difficult. Itu2019s totally cool if they arenu2019t experts, yet. Part of why we give them code challenges is to make sure they have enough experience to know they are going to love learning to program. Actually taking initiative, learning on your own a bit, and making a simple app is the best way to show us you know what youu2019re getting into. Plus, if you hate it, itu2019s sure going to save you a lot of time :).Come Say HiFinally, weu2019re hanging out on campus in New York City every day. Our contact info is on our website, and we hold public Meetupsu00a0 almost every week. If youu2019re in the NYC, thereu2019s no reason not to stop by one and introduce yourself. Youu2019ll get a better sense of where youu2019d be learning and with whom youu2019d be working. Most importantly, you can decide whether or not you like us in person :).--To summarize: we have to make a lot of tough choices in our admissions process. Itu2019s competitive, and while we could grow super fast by opening up more spots, we try to focus on providing the absolute best experience to our students. If you want to standout, show us youu2019re smart, kind, totally excited about learning, and think really hard about how to best express this in your application. Hopefully weu2019ll see you soon!
