If I am a programmer who just finished a bootcamp and has some decent side projects (a book on clojure web dev, a new take on spreeder, and some other ones in the works) that are all open source, is hacker school far above my skill level for working with you guys? I've perused the website far too many times in the last several months but have held off from applying because I wasn't sure if i had the chops to work with you guys and it would be a dream of mine to take such a good chunk of time and dedicate it to open source work with other like minded hackers who seem to be a brilliant bunch.
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> I've perused the website far too many times in the last several months but have held off from applying because I wasn't sure if i had the chops to work with you guys
Sports analogy: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
People who get into HS fall all along the experience spectrum. Some have only been programming a few months, and some have been programming professionally for decades. Most are somewhere in between.
You might as well apply. If you get turned down, it's not the end of the world and you can try again for the next batch. I know of people who were turned down twice and got in on their third try.
I didn't know they had that attitude with repeat applicants. That is really great, actually. I'm currently barely in a financial boat to support it due to some exigent circumstances, but I will definitely be applying next batch in that case :) Thanks for the words of encouragement! I just encounter so many ridiculously intelligent folk in this realm it gets imposing to think about working with many of them or even considering myself on the same level. Maybe my confidence is more important than I thought and should worry about it alongside my code and not put it aside completely.
You'll be fine. If you like programming and it sounds like Hacker School would be fun, you should apply. The minimum experience you need to have a good time and learn a lot is very low, and if you're writing a book on Clojure web dev then I'd bet you're way past it.
Source: I'm a current Hacker School student
Disclaimer: the book is written under the pretense of "by a beginner, for a beginner", so it isn't exactly the best material ever, but I feel I'm getting good coverage on the main topics. I'm currently pushing hard for people to peer review the initial chapters before I continue into the next bulk of it so I can make sure the style its being done in is conducive to learning the material effectively. I don't want to plug it here because I'll seem like a shill, but if you are interested I can share the link privately.