[nfbcs] Trade schools

[Tracy Carcione]

I guess I was thinking of the places I hear ads for, like the DeVrie 
Institute.  There are others, but that's the one that sticks in my mind.
I am finding this discussion instructive, albeit depressing.

I got my computer training through a certificate program that was being run 
by United Cerebral Palsy, after I already had my BA.  The program I chose 
specialized in training disabled people, and, at the time, had about 90% of 
graduates employed shortly after graduation.  I looked into other programs 
that were mainstream, but their placement rate was nowhere near as good. 
The training I got seemed rigorous, and it prepared me to work successfully 
from the first day on the job.  At first, the boss assigned a senior 
programmer to give me very clear specs that were almost pseudo-code.  It was 
too easy.  Didn't stay that way, once they saw I could do the job.
I really was lucky to find the right program at the right time.
Tracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu>
To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 1:16 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Trade schools


> By trade school do you mean for-profit tech schools  like the University 
> of Phoenix   or Upper Iowa University? I think state-sponsored technical 
> colleges are okay. But I have a story about the for-profit places.
>
> A few years ago, I talked the owner of the small consulting business I was 
> working for into contacting my state's Department of Vocational Rehab and 
> having them send over someone to fill a vacancy. They sent over a 
> middle-aged man who had lost his voice in a car accident and therefore had 
> lost his job as a salesman. This man had gone back to school at one of 
> these for-profit tech schools for a degree in computer programming. On his 
> first day, I gave him an assignment and came back a few hours later to see 
> how he was doing. He hadn't even gotten started. He didn't know how to get 
> started. So I figured it was my mistake and I'd given too difficult of an 
> assignment. So I gave him an easier one. When I came back a while later, 
> he hadn't gotten started on that either. So I asked him to write a program 
> counting from one to ten. Just display the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 
> 9, and 10.  He couldn't do that either. He was fired before the day was 
> done.
>
> It was heartbreaking. He already had to deal with the accident and it's 
> aftermat. Now he was going to have to come to grips with the knowledge 
> that the effort he'd put into putting his life back together  was wasted. 
> I have no idea what happened to him but I only hope he somehow managed to 
> pick himself up off the mat one more time and give it another try.
>
> There was no way I could excuse or even hide his lack of knowledge. It was 
> embarrassing for me but mostly I just felt bad for the guy. And it was bad 
> for Voc Rehab because there was no way my company was ever going to work 
> with them again.
>
> I talked to the guy toward the end of the day abouthow his lessons worked. 
> It sounded pretty much like a normal classroom situation. He sat through 
> lectures, got assignments, tests. It was unclear how he managed to pass 
> without learning anything. Honestly, I  wanted to tell him that he should 
> demand his money back.
>
> I always say that life is like a vending machine, you don't get anything 
> out of it unless you put something in. Maybe the school worked that way. I 
> know the guy didn't deliberately avoid learning anything. But maybe he 
> didn't try very hard either. But I do not think that is what happened. I 
> think he was ripped off. I think the school was just a scam to seperate 
> particularly vulnerable people from their money.
>
> On 03/26/2013 09:38 AM, Tracy Carcione wrote:
>> Pursuant to our discussion a few weeks ago about whether a 4-year CS
>> degree is required to find employment, I wonder about the results from
>> trade schools.  I hear ads for many places that say they will teach a
>> person programming.  Are any of them worthwhile?
>> I am trying to advise a young blind man who wants to get into 
>> programming.
>>   My first piece of advice was that he should join this list, where he 
>> will
>> get lots of different perspectives.  He's thinking he'll go to a 
>> community
>> college, then get a 4-year CS degree.  Sounds fine.  But, with the huge
>> cost of 4-year colleges these days, I was wondering if he might do 
>> equally
>> well, and be less in debt, if he went the trade school route. Or is that
>> all a huge scam?
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
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>
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