

Apply to seventh batch of Hacker School - andrelaszlo
https://www.hackerschool.com/apply

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jerrya
I am flagging this.

I am flagging this precisely because I believe the Hacker School experience is
valuable and yet you offer a sexist and discriminatory grant to women.

Hacker School is valuable due to the experiences, the education, and the
networking opportunities.

 _Do you offer scholarships for living expenses? We offer a limited number of
$5,000 need-based grants for women to do Hacker School. You can apply for a
grant simply by checking the box that you need financial assistance on our
application form._

It is within your rights to offer this grant. But I see no reason why your
sexist bullshit should be advertised without complaint at Hacker News.

Would you feel comfortable offering such a sexist grant to men only?

Do you feel comfortable about traditional "old boys networks", the existence
of such were one valid reason that women's groups protested men's only clubs,
men's only dining rooms, etc.?

They why do you perpetuate sexism within the industry?

Either your students need financial aid or they don't.

I have a similar aged nephew and a niece that would benefit from Hacker
School, but you will only enable one of these people to attend. That's sexism,
and that's not the fault of patriarchy, nor the fault of male engineers,
that's Hacker School bullshit.

So I flagged this.

~~~
pg
That was an abuse of flagging. It's fine (though boring after a while) to
complain about links to sites whose policies you disagree with, but not to
flag them as offtopic.

~~~
jerrya
Well my apologies then, and thank you for the clarification on the flagging
policy. I do seem to note my ability to flag stories seems to have vanished if
only temporarily....

I don't understand why you think it's boring for participants to complain
about policies they dislike about the organizations that post here. Especially
when those policies relate to hackers, hackers and society, or even just our
roles as citizens in society.

I think this is one way how awareness is raised, and changed effected, and I
think it's especially valuable on forums like this one, that are widely read
and respected throughout the industry.

Personally, I would like to see Etsy offer grants to people in need,
regardless of sex or gender. I think that's every bit as much an issue for
Hackers as women's status in hackerdom, or whether Ubuntu has gone too far
this time.

What would be more boring is a policy of don't say anything out of fear of
being controversial on Hacker News.

~~~
aptwebapps
I don't think pg meant it was boring for people to complain about policies
they don't like. He seems to have meant it was boring for people to complain
about _linking_ to sites that they don't like. I don't think you actually did
that directly, but you did say you flagged it, which could be construed the
same way.

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saiko-chriskun
how many applicants does hacker school actually get?

~~~
nicholasjbs
(Hacker School founder here)

It's varied a good amount by batch, but for our past couple batches, we've
gotten a few hundred. That said, I don't think looking at raw numbers is
particularly useful, because many (most?) of the people we say no to fall into
one of these categories:

* the applicant says he/she wants something very different from what Hacker School is (e.g., a highly structured curriculum, some sort of "startup school", etc)

* the applicant has never programmed before (we don't require much programming experience, but you need to have coded enough to know if you actually enjoy it. See: <https://www.hackerschool.com/faq#faq-how-much-experience>)

* the applicant doesn't appear to actually like programming

* the applicant didn't take the application seriously, or provided little to no information in the application

If you have a clear idea of what Hacker School is and you're a smart and
friendly person who enjoys programming (whether you've been programming for
two months or ten years) and want to get dramatically better, your odds of
getting in are pretty high.

I hope this helps!

 _Edited to fix formatting_

~~~
saiko-chriskun
awesome thanks :). I really want to apply one of these days, just need the
money and time to get out to new york for three months hehe.

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jrajav
I would probably like participating in something like this, but it's not
really an option being on-site. Seems like it's geared towards students on
summer leave, and not those who may already have a job or other obligations.

~~~
lfranchi
I quit my software engineer job to attend Hacker School (Fall 2012).
Undoubtedly the best decision I have made in the last 3 + years.

I am now once again working as a software engineer, and would not trade those
3 months at HS for anything.

~~~
jrajav
Thanks for the anecdote! I may actually consider it.

~~~
lfranchi
Awesome! I'm happy to go on at (much) further length about why it's so awesome
and why you and any hacker absolutely should consider it.

Feel free to shoot me an email @gmail.com if you have any questions!

~~~
jrajav
Sent it off! Hopefully I guessed right.

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mel9
hey this hackerschool looks pretty cool. I see that their is a checkbox for "I
am a woman" though. I am a high school-er that goes to vocational school for
software engineering. I also happen to be a girl. I'm not so sure about
putting a checkbox of "I'm a woman". It might turn that group away and I don't
even like the idea of it too much. I'd rather have people see me more than
just a gender.

~~~
jacalata
Would it make you more comfortable to have it just be a radio button for M|F?*
Did you read through the FAQ or play with the checkbox enough to realise that
they ask this because they have scholarships that are only available to women?
Or are you uncomfortable with the concept of affirmative action in general?

(Possible fix: have a checkbox 'I am eligible for a scholarship and would like
to apply for one'. Automatically reject from the school anyone who turns out
to have checked this without being eligible.)

*ignoring any possible issues with presenting gender as binary there

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tempestn
I've been reading too much HN. For a good 4 second my brain interpreted Apply
as made up app-maker startup domain name type thing. App.ly!

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zozu
I laughed at the I'm a women checkbox.

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orangethirty
Those who want something like hacker school but can't attend it should shoot
me an email. I know of a program that is online only and is very similar.

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cglee
Like this? <http://www.gotealeaf.com> (disclaimer, I'm an instructor)

~~~
orangethirty
I can't comment on that particular option. But it does resemble the format.
Dunno in terms of cost because the link you provide does not mention it. If
you could share that information then it would allow others to compare.

~~~
cglee
It's in the FAQ section.

