It is not at all the case that 5k doesn't do much. If you live somewhere relatively inexpensive in Brooklyn (or even Queens) & live reasonably you can cover most of your expenses for 3 months with 5k. If you are good at being frugal you could easily cover all your living expenses with 5k.

I've never lived in NYC so it's very possible I'm overestimating the COL based on being in Manhattan now and then.

For what it's worth, I (Hacker School founder) live off of about that much, though admittedly I live quite frugally.

($5k isn't enough to support a family, but it has been enough to make a difference for past alumni with families.)

The point (Etsy's point) was to balance the male-female that was lacking in the early hacker school batches (which, AFAIK, was lacking).