Part-Time Web Developer Bootcamp, C# And .NET

I was in the parttime bootcamp. The first half was good, and I got sound instruction on HTML, CSS, JS and Angular JS. The second half, dedicated to C#, was subpar at best. The instructor, whom I hear is no longer with the bootcamp, did not prepare well, rambled a lot, and gave us the same lectures over and over.

Having been out of the camp for a while, I do wish I could go back in time, save the debt, and do online course work to give me the foundations I recieved in the front end half of the course. If they offered front end web development for half price, I'd say it was a good deal. Though again, that instructor has been replaced, so perhaps the backend cirriculum is a great deal better now.

Great school. Awesome teachers. Cool staff. If you’re in Nashville and want to get into software development this school is the best way to go. 

Part time evening boot camp that includes solo and group projects over the course of a year.  The program is split into two sections: Frontend and Backend.  We spent 6  months on each area.  At the end of each section we did a capstone project to prove we had mastered the content.  These were required for graduation.

Nashville Software School has been a great decision for me in my career. It is definitely hard and 100% a place that you get out of it what you put in. 

I decided to go to NSS after spending some years in the music industry on the production side of things. I was taking a look at where my life would be in a few years and I saw myself doing the same things at the same places and didn't picture another way it could go in my current profession. 

Through some friends I heard about NSS and started thinking about it. After a few months of treehouse and codeacademy - I started to become pretty interested and decided it was something I wanted to pursue. Its been fantastic and I wish I would have had the decision sooner.

A few things to keep in mind -

-As with anything worth doing, you only get out what you put in. The staff there is incredible, but no one will give you your dream job if you dont work for it. They do their best to provide oppurtunities for employers to come by and for you to meet people, but it is up to you to actually make things happen. 

-My advice as you go through the course would be to make flash cards with new concepts. Whether it be at the end of each day or each week, make notes of what you leanred - what that weird CSS selector does, how to iterate over dictionaries in C#, how write an AJAX call, what OOP is and specifically how YOU HAVE USED IT, whatever - make notes and review them. This is not so you memorize all the little syntactical nuances that come with each language (though that will happen) but more so when you complete the program you have an overview of what all you covered that you can review. This way when going into interviews you can be confident in what you know as well as confident in what you dont know. You will be less likely to be like "oh yeah I remember doing something like that in an exercise 4 months ago but I cant remember specifically how to do it" because you've been drilling it every night when you get home from class. 

TALK TO PEOPLE - Find some companies you want to work for? Cool, find someone that work there on linkedin (this is much easier if there is a former NSS grad who works there, typically they're all about puttin some knowledge on those who are coming up) message them and buy them coffee. Ask them about their jobs, what they did, how they got there, what youre struggling with whatever. Make as many connections as you can. 

Put the work in and you'll do fine. Just know up front that it is a lot of work. 

This place changed my life. Plain and simple. It’s like Hogwarts for adults. I went from barely being able to change the background image on my desktop to creating full-stack web apps. They immerse you in programming from day one, support and encourage you throughout the process, and go way beyond what is expected. Nashville has this amazing and welcoming tech community and I believe that NSS is a huge part of that. The best part is that with every graduated cohort this place gets stronger and better at what they do.

I completed the evening cohort in January 2017 after 12 long months, and have recently been hired as a professional Web Developer, thanks to the career transition team at NSS. I graduated with a strong portfolio, a great grasp of industry best practices, a portfolio site and a killer resume. It was the most difficult and rewarding thing I have ever experienced. I often say it was the best decision I ever made.

I had zero experience in this stuff so I’m proof the system works but I recommend spending time with all the great resources online such as Team Treehouse, allotting time to complete the pre-work, or taking the Web Development Jumpstart program before taking the leap. Either way, they’ll take great care of you. The staff is absolutely amazing. They want you to succeed and are extremely passionate about what they do.

Obviously, I am a fan but if you compare it to a lot of the other options out there it’s pretty easy to see that NSS is an excellent option… if not the best. You’ll leave there with a huge lead on your new career and a huge group of awesome people backing you up. All you have to do is fully commit yourself and put everything in that you possibly can. Sounds like a lot but the more you put in the more you get out. Cliche but true.

I came across NSS by accident, when a friend of mine, that used to be a musician, told me he just finished a program where he learned to code and that he was now working as a Software Developer. So I researched NSS and finally decided to apply. That was one of the best decisions in my professional career. It literally changed my life and opened a lot of new doors to a world I knew existed and that I once thought it wasn't for me. Now, 2.5 years from when I first started NSS, I'm working as an App Developer doing what I love and I'm passionate about. Thank you John, Steve, Jurnell, and all the great people that make NSS possible.