Codesmith (due to declining enrollment) shutting down NYC in-person, merging remaining full time remote cohorts into one. But also alludes to new Future Code program, co-working spaces and announces new changes! See my line by line commentary and personal opinions.

Codesmith (due to declining enrollment) shutting down NYC in-person, merging remaining full time remote cohorts into one. But also alludes to new Future Code program, co-working spaces and announces new changes! See my line by line commentary and personal opinions. SOURCE: [https://www.codesmith.io/blog/community-update-doubling-down-on-remote-learning-timeless-pedagogy-frontier-tech](https://www.codesmith.io/blog/community-update-doubling-down-on-remote-learning-timeless-pedagogy-frontier-tech) DISCLAIMER: The following is my top to bottom analysis and personal opinions. I always disclose this and hopefully it's not boring. These are my personal opinions. I've not new to the sub and I have been giving my opinions on bootcamps for almost two years now, daily, from the FAANG angle, and also having worked with hundreds of bootcamps grads. I'm the co-founder of an interview prep mentorship platform that works with people with 1+ years of SWE work experience, so I don't consider it a competitor to any bootcamps, but disclosing so you know a bit about who I am. ANALYSIS: (numbering to make it a bit easier to discuss) # 1. "mirror the experience of the communities for which they are creating" According to [this](https://www.codesmith.io/blog/2023-codesmith-year-in-review) 7% of 2023 roles were onsite and 36% were hybrid. So I think having a NYC onsite as one out of (previously) FIVE options, the other 4 being remote, makes a lot of sense. I would suspect that finances and having a $70K (note: unconfirmed number shared with me by someone claiming to work there, but makes sense based on evaluating similar leases in the area) a month lease in Manhattan has something to do with it... just costs too much when you can't fill a cohort :( That said, I LOVE the new co-working space ideas so that people can still meet in person less frequently but get some face time and in person collaboration. It's notable that they are abandoning Los Angeles - the OG home of Codesmith - for SF. I think it's a good move, but I'll note that they might find a lot of pushback from Silicon Valley engineers. I might go to some events myself because I live most of the time in SF, but I haven't talked to an engineer in person here that doesn't staunchly disagree with the way Codesmith grads present their projects as "mid level and senior" work and they might not find the same kind of support here that they have in less tech-focused cities. # 2. over 3000 of our residents have built careers solving problems at the leading edge of technology I'm curious if over 3000 got jobs or if over 3000 graduated? Just adding up their CIRR numbers that would mean like well over 1000 should have gotten jobs last year and Codesmith said [here](https://www.codesmith.io/blog/early-look-2023-outcomes-and-analysis) there have been in the 500s. The data they have shared in a past info session that contained the entire count of all students had a bit over 3000 students listed, but not PLACEMENTS. Minor detail but I want to make sure people get the right data. This job posting said [5000 grads](https://web.archive.org/web/20231203090054/https://codesmith.applytojob.com/apply/8cJdwgcb9g/Brand-Architect-And-Content-Lead). # 3. Serge Vartanov, Principal Software Engineer at Tinder (where they’ve hired “half a dozen” Codesmith grads and mostly in senior roles) says he’s not surprised that “Codesmith grads end up at Meta, Google, Amazon, and Netflix.” I'm not sure where this came from, but if he's talking about DOWN THE ROAD, maybe. In people's reported roles out of Codesmith, the data I've seen (which again, is illustrative and not verified but comes from Codesmith and seems legit) , show under 100 grads going to Meta, Google, Amazon and Netflix combined out of allegedly 3000 plus above. Which would be a small edge case and not the norm. Maybe Codesmith has more data that's different than this and maybe this data is lacking, but just calling this out as a personal opinion/interpretation on the various pieces I can gather. Similarly who are the people placed at Tinder directly from Codesmith and what were their roles. Serge himself was placed as a Senior there, but a couple others I found were not titled Senior and were titled lower... perhaps why "half a dozen" is in quotes. Makes more sense if people were hired there in their second and third roles as seniors, consistent with what I see in my day to day as well. # 4. The results have been submitted to CIRR for imminent release That's good, CIRR's President was replaced (it's not longer Rachel Martinez) and it seems a bit messy right now. If the standards changed in 2024 **CIRR: PLEASE PUBLISH THE 2024 STANDARD WELL BEFORE THE OUTCOMES COME OUT SO WE CAN EVALUATE THEM!** Surprise here's our new outcomes with these new standards attached comes across as sketchy to me, but that's just my opinion. # 5. Our core programs: which will be the Part-Time Remote and Full-Time Remote. Curious what the time zone will be to work for everyone. # 6. Adding coworking spaces in our main hubs in SF and NYC Love this change, curious to see how it goes and how they will manage them, who will use them, but it's a cool idea to try. Codesmith events have long been the way they do marketing - they don't do online ads at all, and I think in person events can be very effective. # 7. Timeless Pedagogy Curious more what "smaller groups" means. The cohorts were fairly small, but I love the idea of smaller groups than 36 people. Mentorship "don" - I'm surprised people don't have dedicated mentors, I thought every junior had a senior and vice versa. Perhaps this is a alumni or Codesmith staff. # 8. Future Code NYC program Still waiting to hear more about this but from what I've seen in the past this is a great program! The past versions were for people with NO PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE, so this is an interesting diversion for Codesmith. Their current curriculum obviously won't work and they won't be able to use the same job hunting techniques anymore. So I'm curious to see how this plays out. Given the fact that they are shrinking cohorts and financial constraints, it seems a bit risky to invest in a new program that I would expect to require more investment to get going and develop all the new curriculum and strategies, but **the mission is important** and it's great to see Codesmith supporting more diversity amongst residents. # 9. Frontier Tech Calling Next.js and Typescript "frontier tech" is a bit dated to me haha. But very nice to see AI and ML being integrated. Integrating into 12 weeks of curriculum is tough. These are deep topics that I think require 12+ weeks to develop a useful experience in, BUT getting some exposure early on is great. "New curriculum focused on System Design, Data Structures, and Algorithms alongside workshops to further job search strategies.": those are very important things! My mentorship platform focused exclusively on those and it takes most people who **start where Codesmith grads end** months to get really good at these topics, so I'm very curious to see where this comes into play. Maybe they can present new spins on things. I have a team of people who have built interviews at FAANG, taught interviewers at FAANG, and we have a ton of experience in these areas, so I'm going to be keeping a very close on eye on this area. # 11. Curated Community  "New alumni joining the faculty" - every single faculty except one person is an alumni of Codesmith already, so not sure what this means. Maybe just that they are committing to this approach? "Deepening connections with hiring partners and bringing alumni leaders back as mentors" - so the mentorship program I run has signed paperwork with 3 of the canonical FAANG companies to call them "partners" in various capacities, I would be curious who Codesmith's partners are. You can't call someone a partner because you have an alumni there, so I would push them a bit on that and push for more on what the partnerships are. ​ ​