What is the Selection Sprint?
Well, in short 3 weeks of intense coding in Golang! But let’s go more in depth and get you ready for the 3-week period.
Intense but fun 3 weeks
The Selection Sprint – a 3-week coding bootcamp (2 weeks on-site, 1 week remotely) with daily tasks, exams and teamwork. We test the students and their determination to succeed. The best will reach the finish line and hopefully grab a spot in the school!
This is a double sided test – for the students it’s a way to try out the self-learning methodology, to see if they like programming and their peers. For the school it’s a way to filter out the most potential future students.
The school puts the candidates through a proper challenge to make sure that the people who can study without teachers are the ones who are accepted to the school. This is definitely not a methodology suitable for everyone, but what we see at kood/Jõhvi is that from our first class, a lot of the students are saying that they have found the perfect methodology for them.
The 3 week Sprint is intense as the pace is fast and there are a lot of tasks they need to get through. Some participants even commented that they got as much practical programming knowledge from the Sprint as during their previous studies in a year in a university.
In the Selection Sprint in 2021, about 15% of the candidates left the process during the 3 weeks and this is actually expected. The Sprint is aimed to require a maximum effort from the candidates and put them under pressure, so they know what they’re getting themselves into. This also decreases the dropout rate later in the program as the most motivated candidates make it through.
Okay, it’s hard, intense but something else?
Yes! Next to studying and learning new skills, you’re surrounded by like-minded people who want to reach the finish line. You need to learn to co-operate in order to succeed and help each other out of tricky situations. To make sure that communication between all sides works well, the kood/Jõhvi team organises events but this does not mean that you can’t take measures into your own hand as well. Last year we had board game nights, morning runners, different and a lot more – why not also start a tradition! (E.g. football competitions, running groups every morning and a lot more. We also provided prizes!)
During the Selection Sprint period you’ll also have kood/Talk’s – specialists from their own field come to talk about certain subjects and answer questions. Sometimes they are more practical, other times they try to teach some insight into a subject! Also you can expect some visits from partner companies or founders who want to see how’s everything going. Usually this ends up being a conversation in free form, where both sides can express their emotions, ideas and have a nice chat!
Oh, and sports! Weekly training sessions are organised. We have our own equipment and you can make use of them and play different ball games or just have a little workout!
When reminiscing about the previous Selection Sprint session, then almost all the students agree that it was an amazing experience. And this is not us trying to make something better than it actually is. For a lot of the students, it actually was one of the best summers of their life. A lot of connections, friends, good times and even some actual relationships. Never know what’s going to happen.
A lot of talk but no clear facts… what’s actually happening?
Okay, yes, a lot of text and nothing clear. Well here you go, let’s get this out black and white.
3 weeks = 2 weeks on-site + 1 week remote. Why? We want you to experience the school program from a remote state. This way you have some expectations before making a decision to work and study together or stay on-site vs off-site for the school period.
Everyday quests. Series of 5-15 exercises around a particular notion, to be done over the course of a day during the Selection Sprint. All the tasks are in Golang or using the terminal.
Weekly exams on Friday. Closed book exams with usage of internet to see how you have developed during your Selection Sprint period. There are no mandatory exams during the actual school program.
Teamwork raids on weekends. A Group project during the weekend, where participants develop their problem solving skills and co-creativity around a common problem.
This year the Selection Sprints spots are filled in a first-come-first-served basis. Act fast or you might not get the chance to take part! Information about the application process is available from here.