BrainStation

If you have any questions feel free to ask me at my email rodneyeperez@gmail.com.

Some background:

I came into this course with no previous experience in coding. I was a history major in college. I did not go to any pitch days and didn't know what I was getting into. I joined because I wanted a career and life change. Wyncode will require your full undivided attention.

Course:

You learn Ruby, HTML/CSS, then you move on to Rails, learn javascript, and learn concepts of test driven development. You also learn Agile and other Lean startup practices

Instructor:

My instructor was Auston Bunson. I'll say I wish all my college professors were as dedicated to making sure everyone learned as he was. He was open to feedback and worked hard to make sure you were a proficient coder. He is a brilliant guy and if you were a job you’d be very lucky to have him as a senior. I know a lot of people would say he goes too quickly or isn’t a good teach but I’ll go ahead and challenge them by saying that they were probably not very good students. Did they ask questions, did they do all the assignments, did Auston ever turn anyone away from asking their question? I think you will find that they tried to cut some corners.

Job Placement:

Getting a job isn't easy. In any field, it is hard. You have to interview you have to do coding challenges. Wyncode does try to make it easy as possible though. They host tech events for you to make people, introduce you to people hiring, give you practice interviews. They do as much as they can. I don't see any college going this far. Rita tries to prepare as much as possible. My own personal experience is that I wouldn’t have a job in this field without Wyncode introducing me to my future boss at pitch day.

My Thoughts:

Anyone that comes in with the mentality that this course is going to teach them everything or make it easy to do anything is not going to benifit in my opinion. You have to put in the work and really dedicate yourself to being a self learner and self starter. Wyncode gives you so much to get where you want to go a lot faster. If it came with no classes but just the Wyncode community it would be worth it. They are willing to answer any questions at any time of day help you with anything and are just great people. I would recommend this course over any amount of college. These people actually care if you succeed or not.

If you have any questions feel free to ask me at my email rodneyeperez@gmail.com.

I have been thinking about and preparing to post an honest and objective review for the past few days now.  Then I saw what someone kindly wrote 4/21/16 and I realized I couldn't have said it better myself.

Be thankfully for their detailed and lengthy review because it gives you a very good idea of how the program is in its entirety.  I am glad I did Wyncode overall, the miami beach location and people were great but do I think it is worth 10,000?  No.  The "wyncode fam" is warm and welcoming and I really enjoy some of the friendships I made there, but in the nicest way possible, I joined wyncode to learn to code.. not to make friends. They need to have proprietary corriculum to work off of in class.. not some external resources they "suggest"

But I will stop there because below it is stated perfectly.

I had heard a lot of great news about Wyncode before signing up, and I'm really glad I made the leap of faith! The tremendous amount of support provided is incredible. The instructors are very knowledgeable, helpful, and approachable. I always felt like I had a village supporting me. On top of that Wyncode introduced me to the fast growing Miami tech community. I've met CEO's, CTO's, entrepreneurs, developers, VC's, angel investors, Facebook executives, Google executives, the head of the eMerge America's conference, and the list goes on. I really feel like I'm a part of something bigger. Not only do I know several members of the community by name, but Wyncode also did a great job of putting me in front several great companies through their interview process. The director of hiring partnerships, Rita, is amazing! She really hustles! She helped me get several interviews as well as helped me negotiate my salary. Every step of the way you can tell Wyncode cares. 

I come from a traditional education backgroud and having graduated from one of the top universities in the country (with loads of debt)- the results from 9 weeks, compared to 4 years are astonishing. My first job after Wyncode gave me a higher salary than I could attain with my college degree. 

Now all that being said-Straight up-Wyncode is really hard, no one is going to put in the work for you. No one is going to spend the endless hours staying up late coding for you. No one is going to fill out dozens and dozens of applications for you. No one is going to make phone calls, or drag you out of bed to go to networking events. No one, not Wyncode, not Harvard, no one but YOU. That's the key difference between successful people and people who make excuses- If you expect a hand out, then reconsider Wyncode, in fact, reconsider your approach to success. 

Honestly not worth it. Teaching yourself will save you money and emotional distress. the program is underdeveloped. There are great resources online you can use that are equivalent, if not better, to the wyncode program. Wyncode is very misleading in how they portray themselves. Job assistance is sitting around and talking about what you did that week. Basically a group therapy session about unemployment. The job search is daunting and the best advice we get is to HUSTLE. There are not many connections you can make through wyncode. The cohort i participated in had wynterviews with companies that are not even hiring... best advice is to go somewhere else or self teach. 

Did you ever watch The Truman Show? Well, that's Wyncode.  They will promise you everything and anything you want to hear, a starting salary of $60,000-$70,000, endless demand, ect ect.  They will promise you 93% employment rate after graduation, these are their numbers, good luck!  Btw, if you can't find a job they will hire you as a Teaching Assistant, for 4 hours a few times a week, and pay you a little more than minimum wage. But hey, you are employed and in the 93%!
Oh, and forget about the yoga, kayaking, jogging outings they promise.  These are plain and simple LIES.
The founders Juha and Johanna Mikkola will buy you with fist bumps, smiles, endless "your're awesome, you hustled, you're amazing" and a whole lot of one on one PR (and they're good at it!) and whoops, you coughed up $10,000, with if your lucky, 15% interest rate or more.  I wasn't so lucky.  One more thing, their online ratings are good because very often they raffle a free iWatch for whomever gives them good ratings.
Rita Rovira, the Director of Hiring Partnerships is also not innocent.  She will sweet talk the hell out of you.  She can certainly talk the talk, walking the walk? That's a different story... Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those bitter individuals who wants to take revenge.  I did have a good time, made great friends, and the teaching staff are awesome.  I just want you to make an educated decision and know what to expect because everything you learn there can be learned online for $30 or even free.

Like most people I spent a long time looking up reviews and trying to find out if going to a coding bootcamp was the right choice for me. After months of deliberating on where to go and if I could afford it, I decided to attend Wyncode. One of biggest factors in my decision was the positive reviews the school had. This was a great decision! Between instructors and TAs, I was able to be challenged while receiving the right balance of help and being pushed to struggle on my own. The atmosphere is fantastic and everyone is motivated and encouraging. Overall this was the right choice for me and allowing me to break into a field I enjoy every day.

Wyncode has been one of the best experiences of my life. I attended cohort 8 in Wynwood.

The classes are held in the Lab Miami. The place is outstanding. A lot of tech startups and businesses and also like minded people interested in tech, development and entrepreneurship. There are daily events in the lab, most of them which you can attend for free. Another thing I want to point out is free coffee/tea/energy drinks and kind bars 24/7. 

The Lead Instructor is Ed Toro. He is amazing. He is kind and friendly and as a developer ninja, he knows EVERYTHINg. His lessons are the best. He makes it easier to understand difficult topics and complex problems and he makes sure everyone gets what he is saying. I will be forever thankful for everything I learnt from him.

Ed is not the only instructor, we had two other instructors (The amazing Tim and Joe) that went above and beyond to help us understand topics and hard homework. We also had Bryce as a guest lecturer, he is another developer Ninja and his lectures were also fun and helpful. It didn't stop there. We had an average of two  T.A.s a day including Saturdays and Sundays. They were mostly Wyncode alums and several senior developers. The T.As were especially helpful with homework. They never give you the answer  but they guide you on the right direction and they give great advice on the Miami Tech ecosystem and what to expect after pitch day. 

Matt and Sean were also a great help for me. Matt is in charge of the campus and he is amazing at it. Everything is organized and ready for us. I reached out to Matt several times to ask him questions and he always had an answer or a solution. I don't know how he does it!

Sean A.K.A Superman was not as often at the Lab but he was a slack away, always giving suggestions and was always open to questions from us. 

The Curriculum is very good, roughly  two weeks of Ruby, one week on CSS & HTML , one of javascript,  three weeks on rails and two on the final project.

The lessons start at 10.a.m. We have a morning and an afternoon lesson. Sometimes we have hacking sessions or live coding. Two or three times a week we have guest speakers and on Fridays, we have a soft skill workshop with Rita Rovira. 

The job assistance is very good. Rita is on top of things and after a lot of interviews and Wynterviews  got hired two weeks after graduating. 

I came to Wyncode without knowing what a command line was. 9 weeks later I have all the skills that I need to start my journey as a developer. 

Thank you Jo and Juha, you are great and have an amazing thing going on. You are not only building the future of tech in South Florida, you are building the most supportive and amazing community that I have ever been 

Wyncode helped me change life paths and get back to following my passion of computers and development! The whole experience was great! From the TAs to our teacher (Damon, the man!) to the supporting staff to General Provision (our space) it really made my Wyncode experience unforgettable. I did have a background in tech but decided to take on Wyncode because I wanted a kick-start into the tech world (mainly just a job). We had "wyn"terviews throughout the cohort and that's where I met my current employer, Modernizing Medicine. I absolutely LOVE it here and I would have never had the chance without the valuable information and skills I learned at Wyncode. Thank you!

Wyncode was fundamental in my growth as a programmer. By commiting to the course and following through with that commitment, I was given the opportunity to build a programming foundation that has helped me land a job that I love.

Wyncode has grown and changed for the better through each cohort, mainly due to its ability to take students feedback through retrospectives each week. This allows students to feel like they are able to constructively criticize certain aspects in the course they don't feel are working and provide insight as to how Wyncode could improve. You get out of Wyncode what you put into it, and you are given the opportunity to get A LOT out of it. The instructors and TAs are there for you and are consistently willing to lend an ear to help if needed. I have made many lasting friendships as well as great connections through Wyncode.

If you are interested in learning to code, Wyncode is the perfect place to start your programming journey! 

First the obvious:

Wyncode is a wonderful team with great support. There was never a time (say, 3 am) when I couldn't jump into Slack, contact a TA or Instructor, and get my doubts resolved. The lectures were fantastic, the content broad and well thought out, and the team receptive. The program provides enough content to begin knowing next to nothing and finish with enough skills to launch a career in web development. But more importantly, they have well thought out pointers to go off-road and learn on your own. The content they provide in the space of nine weeks is astounding, but the program's greatest virtue is the number of resources they make available to students to learn to learn. Their career support after the nine weeks was a major part of me getting hired by a major SoFlo tech company one week after classes ended—a company that I came into contact with through the Wynterviews they set up for the students. Wyncode is a group of motivated, driven developers and developers-to-be—but more than that they are a fantastic network to be a part of. 

Which leads me to the less obvious part:

Wyncode was more than a transformation in my professional life; it was nine weeks of intense personal growth. Being surrounded by talented, intelligent, fun, and supportive people for 12 hours every day (including weekends) not only honed my skills as a developer but as a human being. Knowing RoR and JS is important, but knowing how to be part of a team, how to interact in the professional space, how to approach independent learning, and how to get involved and make a change in the local community is just as critical both for getting a job as for being a successful developer. The friends I made at Wyncode will stay with me for the rest of my career; I know we will grow as developers together. Furthermore, there are hundreds of wyncoders already working in SoFlo tech that I know I can reach out to for help and advice.

I graduated Wyncode and now I know to value my work, to recognize my intelligence and skill, to reach out to the WynFam, to try hard and to ask for help, to think through problems and implement solutions—software-wise and life-wise.

Wyncode is an amazing experience for those willing to take a plunge into a new career and trust their own capacity to learn and create.

10/10 would recommend ;)

Basically our cohort did not receive the same education Miami did. With the amount of time wasted in lectures to our learning space ( very small and dusty and the bathrooms are quite unsanitary) I feel that wyncode should give those at ft.lauderdale some of our money back. A lot of us are very angry about this but its hard to say this in our retro. I have talked to staff individually and expressed my concerns and still there was no change in the lectures. Our instructor Alvaro is a very intelligent and caring guy. He would however get thrown off during the session and then spend almost an hour trying to fix an error. Sometimes we would still have troubles in the second lecture of the day. This is definitely the #1 complaint from most of us.

I did make some great friendships and I enjoyed going out with my teammates and working in my group. It was a lot of hard work but All in all I do not recommend wyncode from my experience.

Wyncode is a terrific program for facilitating and accelerating a career transition into coding. You come out of the program with enough knowledge and ability to create static websites and web apps, and enough projects on your github to sit for job interviews with confidence. After leaving Wyncode, I felt like I had a foundation for learning how to code, and I was able to get a job offer coding within a few months of completing the program.

The career placement service after Wyncode is very useful as well. Wyncode's network in South Florida is vast, and their head of placement, Rita, does a magnificant job facilitating and assisting with your job hunt when you've completed your program.

I personally found the curriculum challenging to master while I was in the program and it was a very intense 9 weeks. I observed that the people who got the most out of the program 1) put the most into it, and 2) had come into the program with the most experience coding beforehand.

That being said, it is possible to begin Wyncode with very little knoweldge of coding before starting, and come out with the skills you need to get a job. So, don't let a lack of knowledge dissuade you, but do know that doing as much learning about code as you can before starting Wyncode will definitely be an asset once you start.

Finally, the people who work at Wyncode are very much so invested in your success. Everyone who works there is upbeat, positive, and dedicated to helping facilitate your transformation into a successful programmer.

I couldn't recommend Wyncode more.

I am a graduate from the last Wyncode Cohort. I am not an employee of Wyncode and I am not a TA.

I had struggle though the course like all of the students.  I have also questioned the value of the $10,000 investment like everyone else.

But I can honestly say that it was the best investment I have made for myself. There is just Nooooo way for me to acquire that much of updated and market relevant knowledge in that short period of time and in that kind of supportive environment.

How do you justify the value when beside the basic lettures, you have..

 Top quality instructors, the supportive staff, the guided curriculum, the space, the guest speakers, the soft skill, lean management, agile approach, etc. plus 

 - All the extra information provided to you for tech meetups,  hackathons, (there'll be at least a few activities a week); the immersion to the tech scene of south Florida. The entire process of arranged hiring partners for interviews.  They arrange hiring managers, CTO's, CEO's looking to hire students straight out of the cohort, these hiring partners are already sold about who you are, you don't have to prove to them how hard working you are or how much of a fast learner you are, or the awkward fact that 9 weeks ago, you did not know anything about programming and now you want to be a develop. The school already helped you overcome that hurdle and that is a huge one.  That alone is worth massive amount of time for job applications, and self marketing and blind luck. 

And the most valuable part of all is the like minded, hard driven individuals just like you that you would meet and work together. They will be someone you can count on far into the future.

This course is designed to be intimidating, and overload your capacity. It is up to you to retain as much as you can by working as hard as you can. There is no way you can learn all the thing they have expose you to. It can get extremely frustrating at times and many of us find that we were not given enough hand holding. But it is knowledge that you can only gain by doing and coding.  No amount of lecture can make you a coder if you don't code or go through a few build from scratch processes.

My advise is, if you have 2-4 years of time, you can take the college computer science route, and pay at least $23K for Miami Dade College or a lot more in any other Florida University. You'd come out with more solid understand of computer language but still lack relevant skills, relevant knowledge like Ruby, Rails, Git, Heroku deployment, building api's, hackng fackbook Oauth, they just don't teach you those in class.  It takes months and years of exposure to the coding world to learn all these everyday tricks and tools.

 Or you can spend god knows how long in front of a computer taking online courses or watching youtube, but definitely not able to get a job because you are just an hobbist.

Or go to Wyncode, pour your heart and soul to learning as much as you can, where you can stand a good chance of getting a coding job. And in 2-4 years, you will a full fled senior developer and earning a very respectable income. 

Just remember, it is no a guarantee, but it is definitely not a pie -in-sky lie. The tech job future is very real and it is entirely up to you to achieve it

I would also advise not write a review here if you are current student, on your last day of rushing to finish your project. I am sure you are highly stressed and lack of sleep.  You did a great job tonight showing the app that you have built, be proud of how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go. But don't forget to enjoy the journey.

I can spend twice the time and money and still wouldn't be able to be where I am today.

I am now working as a full time developer now and there is just no way I am get this job without Wyncode.

At the time I made the leap into Wyncode I had been a stay-at-home-mom for 4 years. Before that, I had minimal work experience as a social worker. I knew that at some point I would have to level-up my education to make myself relevant and employable again. 

I had dabbled in html and css while blogging about motherhood, and had started trying to learn javascript through sites like Team Treehouse and CodeSchool. I kept losing motivation and getting stuck. 

I tried an in-person Intro to Development class at the LAB where Wyncode is located. The teacher of that class, Walter, was also one of the instructors of Wyncode at the time. He would tell us about the Wyncode experience and I saw many of the students working hard at all hours. The culmination of our Intro class coincided with the culmination of Wyncode’s 4th cohort. 

Walter invited me to pitch day and told me I should consider enrolling in the course. I wasn’t biting. $10k and 9 weeks away from my babies? No way!

At pitch day, I could not ignore the energy of Wyncode’s founders, Jo and Juha. The event was buzzing with interesting ideas. It had been years since I had been in a professional setting with so many other adults, and I had never been part of something that people were so excited about. After the pitches, I had a chance to meet some of the women from the 4th cohort. I talked to a couple of the teaching assistants, and Diego- the campus director at the time. Everyone was so welcoming and enthusiastic. When I left the event, I knew I wanted to join Wyncode.

I struggled with the decision for a couple of days, but after talking to Diego, who convinced me that the people who put the most on the line tend to excel, I decided to make the leap. 

By the time I enrolled, the start of the 5th cohort was just days away. I was so nervous and emotional about leaving my kids, but I knew tech was where I wanted to be. Development has a good job outlook, often flexible schedules, and location-independent- all those things fit well with my lifestyle.

My time at Wyncode was intense (as it should be). I was constantly learning and building. I was surprised by how much emphasis there was on business and teamwork. I spent long days at the LAB fixing bugs, and asking for help from the Wyncode staff. When I wasn’t coding, I was attending various Miami Tech events. There is something almost every night. I pushed myself really hard, and I still had to go home each day and be a mom.

Upon graduating, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take a full-time job right away, but I met a company at Pitch Day and decided to interview. They offered me a full-time, work from home position and would send me to Jacksonville to train with their team of consultants at Hashrocket! I happily accepted!

I have since left that job to start a non-profit with some of my Wyncode classmates. I also do freelance development and am a part-time teaching assistant at Wyncode. I have not stopped learning and just got back from a React.js conference hosted by Facebook in San Francisco. I get offers to come in to interview for companies all the time and I’m lucky to be in a position where I can be choosy about what I take. It’s a great schedule with my two small kids.

Besides feeling professionally relevant again, the number one thing Wyncode has provided is an AMAZING network of people. Between the alumni, the hiring partners, and the Wyncode team, I have built so many relationships that wouldn’t have been possible without Wyncode. It truly is my second family. 

I am so glad I decided to join Wyncode. It has been life-changing. It feels like the sky is the limit!

I have experienced Wyncode Academy from the inside and the outside, I have seen every part of the organization, as an employee and a student. Someone might see this as a kind of bias for this review. But as I sit here on my desk at a billion dollar Silicon Valley startup, thinking of how I got here I can confidently say, without the worry of bias, that being a part Wyncode Academy is the best decision I have ever made. 

My experience with Wyncode is a bit unique. My journey began as an intern for Wyncode in the summer of 2014. I was a middle school science teacher before my internship, I arrived two days before the end of the first cohort. I met Jo and Juha, the founders as well as Ed, the instructor and the students. What struck me within the first day was a couple of things, how hard the staff was working to ensure the students were succeeding and how brave the students were to take this course, untested and brand new.

I was entranced by the positivity and relentless attitude of everyone around me, something hard to find in a traditional institution and near impossible to find in the public school system. So great was this internship experience that I decided to leave my job as a teacher and work for Wyncode as the first campus director. For a year and a half I worked as campus director and as admissions director. Over the course of this time I was able to see first-hand, the lives of over 100 students change radically. As admissions director I would speak with people every day, disillusioned with their previous jobs, in need of a change. Nine weeks later, a developer, with passion for technology and a great paying job.

I cannot say I wasn't a skeptic of the value or the efficacy of this program at first. You see for me, as a Wyncode employee, it was not about money or the growing popularity of the Miami tech scene. The sole reason I arrived in Miami (I am a California native, raised in Mexico) was to teach, to change the lives of people in tough situations. That is what my job as a teacher in a public school could not do. That is what Wyncode Academy could do. The Saturday after the end of every nine week course I would find myself staring out, thinking of the graduates and how their lives were transformed, all with the sincere satisfaction for the work I did to help. I was doing what I had set out to do. This continued throughout my development at Wyncode.

Wyncode secured a partnership with The Knight Foundation to create a scholarship for low income residents of Miami. I had the honor of leading the charge in developing this scholarship from start to finish and all the while in awe of the true impact that Wyncode has on the Miami community. I had a job where people’s lives were changing, there was no doubt of the value any longer. As I helped in the expansion of the Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach locations I began to realize why I had ended up at Wyncode, it was because of my passion for education and technology. 

I have always been around computers and technology, an early adopter, but I did not code until I got to college. I studied Cognitive Science at UC Berkeley and took two computer science courses there. I loved them and hoped I had done more. When I was a teacher, I taught myself a tiny bit of JavaScript to motivate my students to learn to code. I had arrived at Wyncode because I wanted to be closer to technology and continue my duty to education.

When I had this realization I decided that my next step was to take the Wyncode course myself, and begin to make my way back to California, to be closer to my family. I was a student of the third Fort Lauderdale cohort. I learned more in those 9 weeks than in two semesters of computer science courses at Berkeley. I made incredible friends and was supported along the way by the teaching and operations staff. My goal after was to find a job in Silicon Valley. 

A student and friend from the first cohort, Walter, who was recruited by Udacity after he graduated and who I had met on my first day as an intern heard about this and connected me to the right people and encouraged me to apply there as a content developer, where I would be writing Ruby on Rails curriculum for thousands of students worldwide. It was the perfect combination of education and technology, the right job for me. Wyncode helped me throughout the entire process, from professional development, education, application, salary negotiations all the way to the day I signed my offer letter.

Wyncode has now changed the lives of over 150 people, myself included. The program is intense on purpose. Challenging consistently, and ever-evolving. The staff relentless in their purpose to change lives. The leadership insanely hard-working. The students motivated, dynamic and diverse. If you choose to take this course, know that it will be difficult and motivating, exhausting and inspiring. It will open opportunities at a speed you could only imagine. I have seen it and experienced it first-hand. Wyncode is the real future of education.

Wyncode has truly been one of the greatest experiences of my life. Full disclosure, I came here as a student in September and after the course I was hired by Wyncode to be an Instructor at the Wynwood campus. Before coming to Wyncode I was a high school math teacher. I loved my job and loved the students, but felt my impact could be greater through technology. Wyncode has given me the opportunity to do this, and for that am forever grateful. I spent a lot of time trying to learn on my own through online resourcse with little success, and with in the first week of Wyncode I felt I learned more than a years worth of online resources. Ed Toro is not only a gifted programmer, but also an incredible teacher(As a former teacher I am super critical). The best part of the Wyncode experience though is the culture. I made life long friends, high level connections in Miami, and attained a network of developers that are some of the best in the industry( an invaluable resource). For anybody considering a bootcamp, I highly recommend the Wyncode experience. It's the type of life changing decision you will wish you made sooner.