The following is a guest post by James Vanneman and originally appeared on his blog. James is currently a student a The Flatiron School. You can learn more about him here, or follow him on twitter here.
5. Know where you want to go
Coding opens up a lot of doors. The Flatiron School is just as passionate about getting you a job as they are about teaching you to code. Having an idea of what type of company you want to work for shows that you’ve put thought into how you can apply the skills you’ll acquire.
4. Familiarize yourself with code
The Flatiron school is a big commitment. While there are no programming prerequisites for applying, you need to know that you’ll love it. Nobody here minds spending long hours at school because we all enjoy what we’re doing. Experience levels between students vary but one thing we all share is our love for learning code.
3. Have passions in your life
The Flatiron School wants people who get excited about what they do. Show that you’ve invested considerable time and effort in another area of your life. What you’re passionate about isn’t important. We spend a lot of long days at the school. Being around people who get heavily invested and excited about new things makes it a better environment for everyone.
2. Be a teacher
I’m not sure if I’ve learned more from the instructor or the other students. The Flatiron School has an amazing learning environment because everyone here is willing to share their knowledge and show you how to be a better programmer. Not only should you be passionate about learning to code, you should be passionate about teaching others to code as well.
1. Have a cool story
The Flatiron School’s first semester accepted less than 15% of applicants and it’s only going to get tougher. Wanting to learn how to code isn’t enough, you need to make yourself stand out from the pack. They’re interested in why you want to code and how you arrived at that decision. If you have a unique background or can tell a compelling story you’ll have a much better chance of getting in.
