Chegg Skills

Hello all,

I just graduated from the Full Stack Web Development Flex Program at Thinkful.  It was both a great experience and a serious challenge.  Although I had lots of feedback to offer the school about the program and ways that I believe the curriculum could be improved, I do walk away not regretting anything.  

The program is tough and just because you pay thousands, doesn't mean anything is going to be served on a silver platter.  It was not always fun and just like in real life, I got really frustrated at times with my code and the learning experience in general.  But again, learning something totally new (and something seriously complex) is almost never easy.  I speak for myself anyway.

It's worth noting that I came to the table with years of HTML and CSS experience under my belt however I'd never written one line of JavaScript.  And despite me having the HTML and CSS experience, I found the Node and React portions of the course to be seriously challenging.  

That's where your mentor comes in and makes this particular program what it is.  My mentor was an absolute jewl of a human being much less a jedi master with coding and he never grew tired of my stupid questions and/or helping me out of a bind. He coached, tutored, encouraged and at times coded along side me to make sure I did my best. That doesn't mean all mentors are like this.  In fact I requested to change to a new mentor after a few weeks because I didn't gel at all with my first one and thankfully the school catered to this which ended up making a huge difference in my learning experience.

Being in the "Flex" program also meant that I was studying, coding and solving problems remotely.  So if you go this route, you must learn to use the community!!  For the first part of the course I didn't see a need to do this because I'm self taught and I generally read up on something or hack it to death myself to figure it out so going to Q&A's or asking questions in the forum just wasn't my thing.  I later learned that that was a big mistake.  The forum is filled with mentors and even talented students who can answer questions, analyze code with you and help to solve issues.  When finally pressed into a corner with some Node.js code I began reaching out to the community and holy crap what a huge help.  I should've been doing it from day one so that I was familiar with the other mentors and got to know people.  People who "know you" online tend to be even more helpful I later learned.

Finally, I'll say that for those considering attending Thinkful, in my humble opinion it's worth it in the end.  Just like you, I came to this website before making the decision because I wanted to know if it would be a sound investment or total waste of time.  Now on the other side I can tell you that it's totallly worth it.  And like me, you may find some things overly easy and you may find other things overly challenging.  But if you work your butt off and really apply yourself, you can do it and you WILL benefit from it. 

It's also just the beginning of my journey as pro developer not the end.  I can't hang my hat on a Thinkful graduation and think it opens doors.  It simply doesn't.  It's knowledge and discipline.  I learned how to learn and that in and of itself is a major part of this.  I am personally light years beyond where I was when I started the program at Thinkful and I'm now applying for jobs that previously I had to skip because I couldn't even begin to measure up to the requirements.

So take it from a Thinkful graduate, it's worth the time, effort and money.

If you have any questions feel free to drop me a line.  I don't mind.

Sincerely,

Bryan
 

Thinkful has been a great course so far! I am about 2 months in, and have really gotten into the flow of the course. I chose Thinkful because I wanted a course that I could complete without actually having to show up to a physical classroom. The great thing is that you still get a massive amount of support. Between mentor meetings, classroom hours, and the community of students, I never feel overwhelmed or stuck. There is always somebody who can lend a hand and give insight to a problem. I tried learning all of this on my own before, but quickly got overwhelmed with the mass amount of technologies and information that is out there. Thinkful lays it all out for you, so that you can focus on learning the skills in an organized, efficient way.

I signed up for Thinkful's Fullstack Flex program after hearing my friend graduated from the same program and landed a full-time web developer position that paid upward of $80,000 a year. Having no prior knowledge of programming (and no full-time job), I decided to jump into the coding industry and see if I could make a career out of it.

Thinkful's cirriculum and course materials are rigorous, well-planned, and full of information for beginners. I was assigned mentors for each different unit, and they really do care about helping you succeed. There is no hand-holding though, so most of the time I'd have to either research, or use their free Q&A sessions to come up with solutions if I was stuck. Do note that the courses are not easy, and will definitely become a challenge once you get to the full-stack phase.

From my personal experience, 20-30 hours a week is definitely NOT how much time you have to invest, regardless of what Thinkful says. I ended up spending around 35-40 a week just to be more confident about what I learned. Also, having a good mentor is the key to success in this program. Some of the mentors are not as trained or knowledgable in teaching, so it could be detrimental to your learning experience. Definitely switch mentors if you feel like you're not understanding the material.

I had experience in the tech industry as a marketing guy, and I decided I'd rather make things than tell people about them. 

I taught myself webdevelopement for about 3 months before deciding on a boot camp. I chose Thinkful's Full-Stack Flex program because it was remote, at my own pace, and the offered a refund if I didn't get a job in the industry within 6 months of graduating.

I really liked my mentor (who I did code review with twice a week), and I wound up finishing the program ahead of schedule. I credit, learning on my own before starting as a big part of that. I highly recomend doing some video courses before you start so you can hit the ground running.

Also, they started doing more in person stuff about half way through my program. They're actively seeking to improve. 

Just got a job as a software developer. Totally worth it.

I've been trying to learn how to code for some time now, as I have gone through some of FreeCodeCamp, Harvard's CS50, as well as a JavaScript course on Udemy. Although I learned a lot utilizing those free resources, it was frustrating when I would get stuck on a problem and couldn't find a way out. Frustration quickly led to demotivation, and I found myself questioning if a career in programming was really for me. I then realized that although I had gotten quite far on my own, I absolutely needed some sort of rigid structure for learning how to code, if I seriously wanted to change my career. So, I thought about the idea of attending a bootcamp. After doing extensive research on coding bootcamps, Thinkful seemed like the best option due to high reviews, a job guarantee, and the ability to still maintain my full-time job, as I'm enrolled in the Full Stack Flex program.

Upon enrolling, Thinkful pairs you up with both a Program Manager as well as a mentor. The PM is responsible for overseeing your graduation plan and makes sure you are on track. The mentor is (usually) a seasoned developer that you'll meet with twice a week via video chat. In addition to these resources, you'll have an entire community of mentors and students alike that you have access to via Slack. There are also Q&A sessions that you can attend where you can share your screen with a mentor and ask any questions or try to fix a program that you're working on. 

Whereas I would get stuck and demoralized when I was on my own, it's nearly impossible to get stuck and stay stuck with all of these resources at your disposal. Oh and by the way, if for some reason your mentor doesn't work out, Thinkful will pair you up with someone else. It didn't work out with my first mentor as he was often late and straight up no showed me one time. My second mentor, however, has been nothing short of stellar. 

The Full Stack program is broken up into a few parts:

• Web Development Fundamentals (Intro to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery)
• Asychronous client-side apps
• Server-side programming (Node.js)
• React
• Computer Science Fundamentals

After each section, you will be required to complete a capstone which is a program that reflects what you learned in that section. You'll also conduct a mock interview where one of the mentors (also via live chat) will ask you behavioral and technical questions in addition to asking you to do live coding exercises. You are required to pass both the capstone and mock interview in order to advance to the next phase.

The curriculum is very, very reading intensive. I wish that there were some videos to go alongside the material. But even so, I think the curriculum is great. Sometimes you're encouraged to go out and learn about topics outside of Thinkful, and I've done just that.

I still have a couple months left, but from my understanding upon completion you are then paired up with Career Services and their job is to assist you in finding a position as a Developer. As mentioned before, Thinkful offers a job guarantee, which you can read about on their website.  Overall, my experience has been wonderful and I think this is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I have learned an insane amount over the past few months and I am looking forward to continuing the program, graduating, and changing careers! 

Finally, I'd like to mention that Thinkful is completely transparent about what percentage of their students graduate, find jobs, etc. If you're serious about attending this bootcamp I'd recommend checking out the below link. 

https://cirr.org/

I have been enrolled in the course for about 2 months and have found the curriculum very valuable. It is definitely guided with the intention of having their grads not just graduate but get employed. The mock interviews are great because they are ensuring i'm ready for the last and final step of the application process. Q&a sessions are extremely helpful when looking for a quick fix to a problem I might have. Most importantly, the mentors are the most valuable asset to any students success in the bootcamp. I am definitely excited to continue the next unit, knowing that I'm not alone in the journey.

Overview:

I recently graduated from Thinkful's Full Stack Flex program and I'm currently applying for jobs (will update). The program was challenging but I've learned a lot and I feel fairly well-prepared for an entry-level web developer position. I had the luxury of being able to work on the program full-time, but it still took longer than I anticipated, largely because I spent a lot of time on my capstone projects. These projects are a valuable and unique aspect of the program that teach you a lot and leave you with a great portfolio, but designing, building, testing, and styling these projects from scratch can eat up a lot of time. 

Community:

I was suprised that the community was one of the most valuable aspects of Thinkful. Emma, the program manager for Portland and Seattle, is amazing and puts on Thinkful Family Dinners every two weeks. These in-person events are a fun way to get to know other people in the program and often brought in speakers who presented on topics like networking, game development, and hackathons.

The Slack community was also great and quite active. It was a useful place to get feedback and have questions answered. Q&A sessions (open online office hours) were fairly useful, but I didn't end up using them very often. There is often a line of students waiting and it often takes quite awhile to get a question answered...some sort of quota or ticket system could help make these more valuable. TJ was a standout Q&A mentor and also leads great workshops on a variety of interesting topics almost every day.

Instructors:

I had great mentors throughout the program. Thinkful had to switch my mentors twice for administrative reasons, which was disappointing, but I got along well with each and they were all very knowledeable. Alanna was an excellent guide through the fundamentals portion before Lawrence took over for the majority of my program. He was instrumental in helping me choose projects, troubleshoot bugs, and understand difficult concepts. Ali was my mentor for the final month of the course and did an excellent job stepping in. He helped me wrap up my final capstone and was a great help practicing for technical interviews.

Curriculum:

Overall, the curriculum was thorough, provided good code examples, and covered the latest development technology. I'm sure it's a monumental task keeping up with constant updates for all the tools, software, and platforms they cover, but at times, it was sometimes frustrating to run into broken instructions (especially on Windows). The material is almost completely text and code examples, which are well-written. It frequently encourages you to use official documentation, which turned out to be a great skill that served me well as I moved through the program.

The major missing element was a search feature. The curriculum is very large and paginated by Unit, Section, Lesson, etc. It can be a challenge to find that one line you're thinking of without being able to search the whole curriculum.

Job Assistance:

Throughout the course, you complete mini career lessons, such as building a resume, optimizing your LinkedIn page, and how to network. These were helpful and I feel well-prepared to look for jobs. As soon as you graduate, you're paired with a career coach who you meet with weekly to check your progress and answer questions. Thinkful isn't going to necessarily find and get you the job you want, but they'll do a lot to prepare you to do it yourself.

Overall, I had a pretty good experience at Thinkful. Thankfully I spent about 6 months learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript before starting, so I was able to get through the fundamentals section really fast which helped me to graduate on time. I know quite a few people who weren't able to graduate on time, which really doesn't surprise me since you do have to devote a LOT of time to studying and working on projects. 

The curriculum was good but really only covers the basics, and it's all readings (no videos or anything). For example, they gave you kind of a short tutorial on React, which definitely was not enough, so in addition to that I also had to read all of the React documentation, do a Codecademy React course, and watch some youtube tutorials. But they give you enough to get started. 

I also found the Node section to be extremely lacking, and I know a bunch of other people who feel the same about that. 

Also, I had four different mentors. My first mentor was very good, but unfortunately they only assigned him to me for the fundamentals section. I then got assigned another mentor who was terrible and didn't even know Node or React, so I switched. I then got assigned another mentor who was great, but had a VERY strong accent and it was very difficult to understand him, so I switched again. Then my last mentor was ok. 

But my husband, who is a full-stack developer, is the one who would help me the most. Sometimes my mentors would spend our entire session trying to help me figure out one of my problems, and they wouldn't be able to solve it, so I would have to ask my husband who would literally solve the problem is under 5 minutes. Sometimes even like 30 seconds. It was crazy. 

The Q&A sessions are also not very helpful, and I only went to a few of them. A few times they were able to help me, but mostly they weren't much of a help. Unfortunately there can sometimes be like 6 other people in the Q&A so they have to be fast with helping you. There are definitely some good Q&A mentors though, like Luis and TJ. They're really good! 

But overall, I definitely learned a lot. I still don't really feel like I'm that great of a developer, but I know that takes time, and I'm going to have to keep learning and doing projects on my own. I just graduated though and am hoping to find a job soon! 

Very interesting course that covers a lot of ground. Excellent place to test your abilities and push yourself farther than you had before. I came in to the course with some knowledge of C#, Ruby, and JS. This course pushed me to complete projects and then improve and make them professional looking. The mentors are a nice bonus but not as valuable as the reviews and practice interviews which will test your mettle and reveal your weaknesses. If you can afford it and have some experience and are looking to get serious about web development, give it a try.

First of all, I'm only giving this a 2* mainly because the mentor. I first enrolled in Thinkful's flex bootcamp. It said you need about 20-25 hours a week to complete the program which in my opinion without any coding background is completely inaccurate. You meet with the mentor for 1 hour 3 times a week. Although the experience of having a mentor can be great, Thinkful makes it sound like they will always be able to help you. A lot of these mentors do the teaching as a side job and are incredibly busy with their own jobs as well so don't expect much help from them outside of the mentor sessions.

Next, their course curriculum was pretty mediocre and can be a bit confusing (After the program I bought many Udemy courses which I thought were far superior). I was constantly using google and youtube to get a better understanding of anything and everything.

Lastly, I believe Thinkful themselves is still a growing company and therefore vastly short on employees. When I was a student they changed the program when I was directly in the middle of it without any of my knowledge and I had to go back and complete extra parts of the curriculum. I had to go through about 3 mentors and 2 program managers which is completely ridiculous. In the end, I felt completely cheated of not only my experience but my money I paid for the program. They make it sound great and promising in the beginning but in reality I was constantly left alone talking with a few students from slack. Don't comit this much money if you can't put a minimum of 40 hours a week into this program. In my honest opinion, save yourself the money and either try a different bootcamp or buy courses on Udemy.

I'm currently enrolled in the Full Stack Flex Bootcamp and I'm very much enjoying the process. It's tough so far, but it's been a great experience with my Mentor, Program Manager, and all the other enrolled students in the Slack groups. I always feel like I have support through the process (even late at night or early in the mornings, someone's in the Slack just like me) and I can always bounce off code or issues with my classmates. My mentor has been great, he's always available for a video/screen share and when I've been battling with something he helps me see where the issue came from but also reframes the problem and potential solutions in ways that make sense.

I'm excited to keep working away at my course and would highly recommend this course, and Thinkful, to anyone looking to extend their knowledge or make a full pivot into something else (like I am).

I'm currently enrolled in Thinkful's Full Stack Flex program, and I'm really enjoying it so far!  I recently graduated from college with a minor in computer science, and I wanted to get more experience with web development specifically to increase my chances of getting a job.  I feel like I've learned lots of good coding skills since I've started, and my mentor (who is amazing!) has also given me a lot of helpful advice on interviewing and networking.  The local program manager (I'm based in San Diego) has been very friendly and she organizes events periodically so people in the program can meet in person.  

So far the curriculum hasn't been too overwhelming or difficult for me- however, I had a decent amount of previous coding experience before I started, so your experience may be different.  The lessons are well organized, and they also provide links to many additional resources if you want more background info on a specific topic.

Overall, my favorite parts so far are probably the mentorship aspect and the fact that the curriculum is fairly project-based, so you end up with a good portfolio of projects that showcase the skills you've learned.  

Hi all! Im a Data Science student with Thinkful. It's been about two months since I started the program. It's been a great experience overall.

The application process was straightforward. My first contact with Thinkful was at a workshop for interested applicants. I had some great conversations with the people I encountered that day. They gave me access to a two week free-trial of the course. I then formally applied, had a phone interview and was admitted for the fundamentals course.

The course has been a great match for my background, while still being challenging. I have experience as an accountant in the film industry. I had coding experience with excel and was losely acquainted with Python through some Edx courses I attempted before Thinkful. The reason why I joined is that I wanted an actual commitment, which I didn't feel toward free online courses. The first parts of the fundamentals course were a bit of a steep curve on the programming side, for me. But after I became used to the basics, everything else fell into place gradually. I had more knowledge of statistics/math than programming, so take that into consideration. 

Ive done great advancements and am excited for the next part of the program. Im currently finishing my capstone report for the fundamentals course and Im impressed at how much I accomplished in just this past month. 

There's an active Thinkful community in LA. I've been going to several gatherings organized by Thinkful for its students. They are aprox every other week. I've met some awesome people there and learned stuff as well, since they all have discussions or presentations. My favorite was a "Sunday Brunch and Mimosas at the Park" in West Hollywood :). 

My mentor really makes a difference. I meet with a mentor online twice a week for 45min per session. Thinkful has its own videocall system where you can share your screen with your mentor while calling. Then I write code and follow his suggestions for improvements, etc.

I would recommend.

I’m about halfway through Thinkful’s full stack flex program. It was the best decision I’ve ever made for myself. The curriculum is solid, but the mentors are game changers. I’ve met a handful and they are wonderful people with a passion for helping others. Don’t get me wrong, this is hard work and takes patience and discipline. It’s worth it! 

The cost of the program may seem like a lot but I can tell you it’s worth every penny. You get a lot of bang for your buck. If I could go back in time, I would’ve joined sooner. Do it! 

I am a graduate of the Full Stack Flex program at Thinkful and would difinitely recommend the program to prospective students. The program is full of many high quality features and benefits designed to help you throughout the learning process. In addition to 2 weekly 1-on-1 meetings with a dedicated mentor, you also have access to several on-going live Q&A sessions as well as a dedicated slack channel where you can turn to with any questions or challenges you're facing. Aside from these, the curriculum is very well structured, and the program interface is very well designed, creating a smooth user experience from start to finish. Overall, I am very satisfied with my experience and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to advance their career as a developer.

I have been doing Full Stack Flex program at Thinkful for almost three months now and I have learned so many things. One of many things I like about Thinkful is their on going/live Q&A lead instructor sessions. Through out the day and night there are available sessions where students can join and as questions  or get help with their capstone projects.  Another point I like that makes Thinkful special is their weekly mentors. I meet with my mentor whose really knowledgeable and knows how to teach,  twice a week.  We go over examples  but pretty much they can answer those difficult questions that you can't find in your own or  need further explanation. I also appreciate having the slack group but want makes it special  is those local groups  where students can get together for activities or study groups. Over all, I am glad I joined them ! 

The thinkful coding bootcamp experience was extremely helpful to someone like me with no professional experience or coding experience. I was able to complete the bootcamp while working (delivery driver) and got 4 portfolio projects to show for it. I believe this is what is helping me land interviews and code challenges. Also the mentor they pair you with is very experienced and helpful. I still stay in touch with him to this day. 

After graduating there is job assistance that is super helpful. My coach has helped with resume and linkden (invaluable for someone with no experience in the area) and we meet weekly to discuss goals 

Hello World,

I chose Thinkful because of Course Report. After I committed myself to learning development, I spent 3 days reading and using Course Report to get a sense of how students felt about their time in a particular program, what would fit my schedule, my budget, and what I felt I needed for resources to be successful. Course Report has all of that, so read up and see what fits you and start your coding career.

To start, learning something new is going to be all about "YOU". The time you put in and  the drive you have to learn the material will be what makes this program successful for new students. Thinkful will provide the opportunity if you provide the hard work and dedication.

Thinkfuls Engineering Immersion course was a daily 9-5 coding experience. Plus studying at night and at times on the weekend.

Engineering Immersion provides daily stand ups lead by an Industry Certified instructor giving a material overview and explanation of the the days exercises. Paired programming throughout the days exercises to work along with someone. T.A.’s to help during the day to resolve any issues your pair runs into. One on one mentoring sessions to review and share the skills learned from the exercises, and guidance given for better coding practices. Q and A sessions that have a specific technology focus to help get in-depth answers. Workshops to introduce you to new technologies or to learn programming tricks and secrets. Program Managers that go out of their way to make sure you are getting all the resources needed to be successful and that your goals are being met. There is a lot of Active Slack channels. Some are where your group discussions turn into ideas. Tech specific channels to get late night answers. Career channels where alumni recruit new students for employment, and City channels to get to know your community of developers and hear about events in your area.

After this experience, I am excited to take the next steps in my career. Here is a link to my portfolio => https://www.dameonmendoza.com

Thank you Course Report, and Thinkful for giving me this opportunity.