Hack Reactor + MakerSquare Rebrand: Everything You Need to Know

Table of Contents

• FAQ

Have you heard the news? MakerSquare and Telegraph Academy’s network of schools are rebranded as Hack Reactor Austin, Hack Reactor Los Angeles, Hack Reactor San Francisco and Hack Reactor New York City. But what exactly does this mean for MakerSquare and Telegraph Academy alumni, current students, staff, and future students? We asked the Hack Reactor team to answer our questions about how this merger will affect tuition, admissions, curriculum, culture, and reviews.

FAQ

What does this merger mean for students? On November 1st, do MakerSquare & Telegraph Academy no longer exist?

For students this merger means they will become students of Hack Reactor. The other campuses will still exist and classes will continue but under the Hack Reactor name. Students who attend Hack Reactor through our Telegraph Track will graduate as Hack Reactor students but will have an additional community they can garner support from.

Will Telegraph Academy & MakerSquare students be included in the Hack Reactor Outcomes Report? When can we expect to see that?

We are proud to be transparent not only in our outcomes but in the methodology we use to calculate them. We will continue to follow this rigorous standard and will be publishing our outcomes reports by campus so that students can continue to have a clear understanding of our student outcome statistics allowing future students to make better comparisons between all programs.

Will alumni networks merge as well going forward?

Yes. Going forward our alumni networks will merge and we will have an alumni community across the globe.

What should a MakerSquare or Telegraph grad put on their resumes? Should they say they graduated from Hack Reactor?

All of our incoming students are Hack Reactor Students and should update their resumes, LinkedIn profiles and so on with their education here. Past students may, if they would like, also call themselves Hack Reactor graduates.

For students who were currently enrolled in MakerSquare or Telegraph Academy when the merger was announced, will they graduate from Hack Reactor, or the program they started in? And where should they leave reviews after graduation?

For our current students enrolled in MakerSquare and Telegraph Academy, they will graduate as Hack Reactor Alumni and should leave reviews about their Hack Reactor experience.

How should Course Report readers evaluate existing reviews of Telegraph Academy and MakerSquare?

Future bootcampers should approach those reviews as somewhat outdated. We’ve been working diligently to bring all of our campuses up to the same high standard that Hack Reactor has and now future bootcampers can expect the same experience whether they are taking our course on the West Coast, East Coast, or remotely.

How are MakerSquare instructors being re-trained and supported as they transition into Hack Reactor instructors? What specifically will be different about the experience at Hack Reactor NY or Austin (formerly MakerSquare), for example?

Each campus has undergone a thorough and complete instruction and admissions standardization process to ensure the same high quality education that Hack Reactor is known for. As a part of this brand unification we have released our new Learning Management System or LMS, across all of our campuses. Additionally, we’ve centralized our admissions process so that each campus has the same standards.

Does this merger have any impact on the curriculum?

We are always iterating on our curriculum to ensure that it is up to date with the needs of the industry. The curriculum is standardized across all of our campuses. Students tackle the same subject matter no matter where they are located.

How will you maintain similar standards of teaching/culture/outcomes across all the Hack Reactor campuses?

We’ve invested in systematizing the majority of our processes to ensure consistency and quality throughout our network. This investment has resulted in the ability to scale quickly while maintaining the best outcomes in the industry.

Telegraph Academy was founded to fuel underrepresented groups in tech; how will Hack Reactor carry forward this commitment? Is “The Telegraph Track” a pre-Hack Reactor prep course? Or is it offered while students are enrolled in Hack Reactor?

The Telegraph Track is a program that runs simultaneously through the Hack Reactor Curriculum. It is similar to a university fellowship program where we foster community, and provide additional support to students who may not have access to the same network. In order to more effectively tackle the problem of diversity in tech we needed to create a more scalable solution.

Telegraph Prep (a different program than the Telegraph Track) is another important part of Telegraph's commitment to diversity. It is still being run as-is. Long-term we're looking at ways to merge it in with our other prep programs while maintaining the original goals of the program

Why is this additional mentorship and support important or necessary for less represented groups at Hack Reactor? What have you noticed over the last few years?

Like some leading-edge universities, Hack Reactor / Telegraph Academy have built programming for underrepresented and underserved communities focused on improving completion and placement rates. This programming can include connections to mentors, workshops on common experiences, and skills training on certain soft-skills topics.

Will tuition stay the same?

As a part of this brand consolidation we’ve also unified our pricing structure. Tuition at all of our campuses will be $17,780.

How will this impact Prep programs? There are currently ~5 different prep programs in the ReactorCore network; will these consolidate?

As a part of this merger our prep programs are also being consolidated. You can now take Hack Reactor Prep at any of our campuses including the live and online Hack Reactor Remote Prep and Telegraph Prep.

Are the teams behind Telegraph Academy and MakerSquare joining the ReactorCore team?

All of our teams are being consolidated under the Hack Reactor name.

Have other questions? Let us know in the comments!