

Peter Norvig and eight others are Hacker School residents - akaptur
https://www.hackerschool.com/blog/17-peter-norvig-and-eight-others-are-hacker-school-residents

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davidbalbert
Hi, I'm one of the founders of Hacker School. I'm happy to answer questions
that anyone might have.

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pnathan
Why in NYC and not Seattle/SF?

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rdl
Presumably because he's based there.

If he wanted help/sponsorship running SF or Seattle, I'm sure he could find
it, though.

I actually think Hawaii or Thailand would work -- you could get a few cheap
house rentals on the big island, with minimal distractions, and do it there.

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zackzackzack
Cost of ticket would offset cheap housing probably. Any small midwest town
would work and be much easier to reach.

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rdl
Yeah, but the real cost, IMO, is the cost of the "residents". I think one
could convince 1-10 great people to take a working vacation in Hawaii for a
while for $x. I'd expect 10x for St. Louis. (NYC, Seattle, or SF would have
local people, so it would be a different thing...more part-time, but they
could continue going to day job)

SF to Hawaii flights are $300 r/t. If it were in a place like Boulder or Utah,
you might be able to get local companies/VCs to sponsor it, though.

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ih
You can also take a free course online
(<https://www.udacity.com/course/cs212>) by Peter Norvig with Udacity
(<https://www.udacity.com/>) in case you can't make it to hacker school.

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ameen
Good job. But Hacker School shouldn't be the model for future disruptions in
education. If anything this can be an exclusive coders retreat (well, unless
we get to cloning Peter Norvig and other great computer scientists), and is
sort of a goal to achieve.

Each Hacker School attendee needs to be the best they can be and motivated to
learn more and teach others. The fact that there are no teachers and each
attendee is a teacher is a wonderful model, and as such they have to be
exclusive. Not everyone who could code up a FizzBuzz deserves an admit.

This is not where you go to learn common stuff, this is where you go when
you're already good at coding & looking to expand further and can contribute
positively to the class.

Disclaimer: I applied for the second or the third batch and got rejected
promptly. Only then did I realize that I never deserved an admit.

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revx
I've been describing it as a "writer's workshop for coders".

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rycho
i am a novice programmer (learn python the hard way, codecademy, coursera,
etc), but i'd do anything for a chance like this.

does anyone have any advice on what specific skills/areas to work on to maybe
have chance at admittance into this program next time around? i don't think i
have anything worth submitting for the may 2 deadline.

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Evbn
Norvig is a great scientist and teacher, but you don't need this. In Residence
concept is a throwback to the bad old days of exclusionary education. We have
the Internet and great books (Norvig wrote one) and MOOCs the future is
egalitarian.

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riggins
_In Residence concept is a throwback to the bad old days of exclusionary
education._

considering Hacker School is free, I find this claim pretty indefensible.

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Evbn
It may be free, but it isn't open to all. They have an admissions gate, aka
"picking winners".

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darkarmani
Nothing against Jessica because her personal page says it differently, but
this bio snippet on HS seems odd:

> "...runs the Boston Python Meetup,"

From <http://meetup.bostonpython.com/>

> "Organizers: Ned Batchelder, Deb Nicholson, Giles Hall, Jason Michalski,
> Jessica McKellar"

I don't know enough about the other organizers, but I know Ned does a
tremendous amount of work for the meetup group.

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euccastro
I think you only need to hear her talk to know you want her around when
learning:

<http://pyvideo.org/speaker/377/jessica-mckellar>

[Disclaimer: HS alumn, from a batch before she joined.]

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darkarmani
I wasn't saying anything against her. I don't know anything about her.

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edw519
Very cool. Nice job, Hacker School. I'd love to try it myself someday. Being
surrounded by all that positive energy has got to be a great experience.

With that in mind, please remember:

QualityTimeWithResident + HardWorkBuilding = HigherProbabiltyOfSuccess

QualityTimeWithResident + not(HardWorkBuilding) = LowerProbabilityOfSuccess

not(QualityTimeWithResident) + HardWorkBuilding = HigherProbabiltyOfSuccess

not(QualityTimeWithResident) + not(HardWorkBuilding) =
LowerProbabiltyOfSuccess

So while very nice, QualityTimeWithResident is neither necessary nor
sufficient, but HardWorkBuilding is definitely necessary.

Best wishes to those who get this opportunity. And best wishes to those who
don't.

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AlexanderDhoore
Man, I'd give an arm and leg just to be there! But I have no time, nor money
for it...

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majke
Martha tried really hard and I think got in:
[http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/becoming-a-better-
programm...](http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/becoming-a-better-programmer)

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hschool
I applied and I got a rejection email after the first interview. I was really
disappointed to hear. This just feels like rubbing salt on my wound :(.

Is there anything I can do to make it to Hacker School this summer?

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davidbalbert
Unfortunately admissions decisions are final for this batch. I'm sorry this
felt like rubbing salt in the wound :(. On the bright side, as long as you
continue to improve as a programmer, you can apply for the next batch,
hopefully with different results.

We have plans to better communicate what we're looking for in admissions and
our thoughts on becoming a better programmer, which will hopefully be helpful
when you apply again.

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hschool
Thanks Dave! This is a wonderful program and thanks for Hacker School! I will
definitely be applying to the next batch.

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carlsednaoui
This is amazing! So happy to be a part of the upcoming hacker school batch :)

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revx
Haha! Me too. See you in June :D

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charlieflowers
I hope Peter Norvig will be around for more than one batch. I can't make the
summer batch, but I'd rearrange a lot of stuff to be in the next batch he's
there for.

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rdouble
Is there a program or summer institute like Hacker School but more graphics
programming and interaction design oriented?

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intrazoo
maybe this? <http://www.gschool.it/experiencearchitect/>

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dillonforrest
So jealous!!

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charlescearl
Seems like it's in the category of things like going to Paris to learn
advanced culinary skills...the kind of thing that you typically only have the
resources to do if you're either extremely wealthy or have the Leo
Batuta/young-Steve-Jobs detachment to eschew comforts in search of a higher
goal. Perhaps that's who they're looking for?

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Evbn
Right, it is artificial social barriers set up to exclude the many for the
benefit of the few, like the "Ivy League" imprimatur or being in a "good
family".

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charlescearl
At least in the Ivy's you can in principle get a scholarship, part time work
to sustain you, or _gasp_ take out a lifetime loan, this requires a bit more
thought...maybe there's kickstarter funding...hey maybe Peter N. can subsidize
a deserving Hacker?

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lfranchi
Hacker School is 4 days a week (at least this batch and last batch). You can
definitely work part time during HS. I worked during the last batch of hacker
school, and as a commenter above says, it's possible to live (he's doing it!)
in NYC paying $650/mo in rent.

That doesn't look like an arbitrary social barrier designed to exclude the
many to me. MOOCs are still there, and still awesome.

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charlescearl
It does seem like there are probably lots of formal and informal ways of
getting someone there if they've got the potential and desire. That's really
good to know!

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pc86
EDIT: I forgot, I'm not allowed to express an opinion on HN.

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ritchiea
It is not at all the case that 5k doesn't do much. If you live somewhere
relatively inexpensive in Brooklyn (or even Queens) & live reasonably you can
cover most of your expenses for 3 months with 5k. If you are good at being
frugal you could easily cover all your living expenses with 5k.

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pc86
I've never lived in NYC so it's very possible I'm overestimating the COL based
on being in Manhattan now and then.

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nicholasjbs
For what it's worth, I (Hacker School founder) live off of about that much,
though admittedly I live quite frugally.

($5k isn't enough to support a family, but it has been enough to make a
difference for past alumni with families.)

