notajuggalo

So what? The monthly payment is only a small piece of the puzzle

>Naturally, as with all things HN, there is an insinuation that anyone who is incapable of doing things the way an intellectually-advanced-but-socially-deficient 17 y/o boy would, must not be intelligent.

No, that's not true at all. The resources are out there and he's already said she's got a passion and talent for programming. You can take an iOS class from Stanford for free on iTunes U from a brilliant teacher who used to be a VP at NextStep for gods sake. Or you can pay $12k to some "hacker school" bros.

It's actually closer to a full-time job, except instead of them paying you you pay them $12,000. Makes no sense. Is that what they tell you to get your money? Wait, this really doesn't add up, she's a programmer but she's working 2 jobs to make ends meet?

I laid out a self-study plan above that worked great for me, it's all common sense and its mostly free. Now if she's not skilled enough to put the pieces together with the resources I mentioned then I'm very skeptical that working super duper hard for a few months (even with great mentors) would get her up to speed. That's not how learning software development works. Your brain is not built that way. LOL "hacker schools"

If you're a programmer and you have 3 months of time to work at this full-time you can accelerate your learning process without paying $12k. I laid out a free plan in a post above. I know it works because that's what I did.

Easier access to education? $12k for 3 months is not easier access to education. That's just silly.

Start with Paul Hegarty's iOS class on iTunes U, it's free and it's terrific. Do all the assignments (if you get stuck you can find other people who have done them and see what they did but I really recommend doing it yourself.) Sign up for NSScreencast.com and watch 1 or 2 a day, taking notes. Go read as much Ray Wenderlich stuff as you can that's not dated (some of the stuff on his site's kinda old, but no matter.) Then build an app and put it in the app store, it can be lame but you have built so many practice ones it's good to actually get something in the App Store. Go read some stuff at objc.io, some stack overflow, whatever.

You are now an entry-level iOS developer. I just saved you $12,000 and you don't have to beg strangers on the internet for donations. Seriously, $12,000? I guess it's true: the best way to get rich in a gold rush/bubble is selling pickaxes. There are enough great resources out there that you are silly if you do this.

If it's a good investment in her career she should just go get a loan. Alternatively, if she has a passion for programming and the skills you say she does she can take 12 weeks of her own time and learn to be an entry-level iOS developer for a lot less than $12k.

Begging is unseemly, and the whole "you can be a programmer in 3 months just give me $12k" thing is also kind of uncool.