Did You Catch Campfire #7: Ask a CEO Anything?

An open-house style Campfire episode where YOU were the featured guest

In episode 7 of Campfire, Nucamp hosted an open house to field live questions from you as the viewer.

There were a few who dialed in to chat live and many who wrote in their questions during the show.

We started off by answering a few common questions we hear at Nucamp and even went through the details of how Nucamp shares its graduation data.

Here are some of the first questions answered:

Which laptop do you recommend?

You want a laptop that is powerful enough to run the software in the more advanced bootcamps we offer.

Any medium-range computer that is 5 years old or less will work for the introductory course, but when you start learning on the server side of the courses and start to run Node.js, MongoDB, and React Native you will need a more powerful laptop.

The minimum technical requirements include an i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a SSD (solid state hard disk) for speed.

All current MacBooks (5 years old or less) are acceptable, but Chromebooks are not recommended.

Also, it is mandatory to have a working camera, microphone, and headphones.

What do you attribute the graduation rate to? Why do people not finish?

We are extremely transparent with our outcomes and we pride ourselves in producing a daily report on our graduation rate data at: https://www.nucamp.co/careerservices.

Every day Nucamp tracks who is completing bootcamps and also collects answers from alumni through our job surveys.

People don't finish mainly because of three things:

• The first reason is life got in the way. They have other priorities; as in they cannot afford to pay the tuition anymore and therefore they are dropping out.
  These types of students don't want to drop out, but they are forced to do it because of life events.
• The second reason someone drops out is that they are overwhelmed; not due to life events but because the pace goes too fast for them.
  These students felt like they were not understanding the material or possibly they don't understand coding.
  It could also be because coding just didn’t click, and overall they felt like they were not making the progress that they wanted to.
• Lastly, the third reason is a little bit similar to the second, but instead of the issue being their ability to learn, it's they're not happy with their Nucamp experience or how we do things at Nucamp.
  Everyone has different learning styles, so not everyone will like this particular method of teaching.
  Being autonomous during that week and having live workshops each Saturday with your instructor and classmates isn’t the right environment for everyone.

Can I learn HTML/ CSS/ Javascript basics from the Odin Project and then be ready for the Full Stack bootcamp?

Yes, it is a great idea to start learning coding through free resources such as the Oden Project or FreeCodeCamp.com.

Starting with free resources is a perfect way to know if coding is something you will enjoy.

But, learning from free resources is often not enough for most students because you do not have the support of an instructor or a strong community to help you along the way.

If you have some background with coding and are wondering if you are ready to jump straight into one of our advance bootcamps, we have a questionnaire to evaluate if you should first enroll in our foundational Web Development Fundamental Bootcamp, or if you are ready to join the Front End, Full Stack or Python bootcamp already.

You can take the questionnaire at https://url.nucamp.co/testyourself and if your score is 85% or higher then you are ready to enroll directly into the Front End, Back End, or Full Stack Bootcamps.

A lower score would indicate a gap in knowledge that the Web Development Fundamentals bootcamp can help fill before continuing on.

 

Make sure to watch the full episode to get all the questions and answers.

You never know, you may have been wondering the same question someone else asked during the show!

Watch the full Campfire episode: