Codesmith

Short Version
Pros: AMAZING HIRING SUPPORT, solid curriculum, amazing people, friends to last a life time, challenging experience,
Cons: Beginning to outgrow their current space

Long Version
If your are anything like me you might be reading this review with a little bit of skepticism. Four months ago I was that person -- I was tentatively hopeful that Codesmith would be experience I need to radically change the direction of my life but was skeptical of the claims that they made. I was not a person who attended the Hards Parts series in their NYC classroom or even someone who joined in on the online class -- I discovered them through CSX (great free course by the way!). After working through about 60% of CSX I decided I was going to give Codesmith a shot. I applied, passed the cultural interview and attempted the technical interview. I failed my first attempt, but It was the catalyst I needed to take CS Prep, a three week online prep course. This course when way beyond the basics and ended with me building my first ever project from scratch!! It gave me the confidence to say I can do this. Right after CS Prep I did my second attempt at the Codesmith interview and passed -- little did I know what a difficult and fantastic journey this would be.

The Codesmith Immersive program was the difficult thirteen week I have ever had. LONG LONG days packed with lectures, coding challenges, and amazing conversations with my cohort-mates. Codesmith not only teaches you how to write code but also how to THINK about code. It teaches you the tools to approach any problem with a mindset that is determined to figure out the answers. Learning the toolkit of a fullstack developer (JavaScript, Node/Express, Databases, React/Redux) was just the beginning --- mixed into this first half of the program are daily coding exercises designed to promote understanding of algorithmic approaches, coding units which taught not only skills but more importantly TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION, code presentations and a Hackathon! 

In the second half of the Codesmith experience you work alongside a team to build a dev tool that is open sourced to the community at large. This is a daunting task but, obtainable because Codesmith has already taught you how to breakdown problems, find solutions and not give up. While building this tool you also begin an amazing hiring prep program which covers everything from how to apply to jobs (cover letters and double downs), create your resume (thanks Will!) but also how to negotiate (thanks Erik!). On top of all this work in the second half of the program you are expected to give a public talk on a tech topic! 

This brings me to the part that you have been waiting to read about. After one month on the job hunt I have secured my first ever role in software engineering. The hiring support that Codesmith offers is amazing -- there are people guiding and supporting you every step of the way. You can get support for everything: interview practice, resume reviews, cover letter help, double down help, technical tutoring, whiteboarding or even just a pep talk. When I first landed my job the offer was just a tiny bit lower than I was hoping for, I reached out to Erik and with his advice and support I was able to increase my offer!! In short, if you having doubts that bootcamp experience can work, trust me when I say Codesmith works! They understand what the industry is looking for in engineers and how to help you frame your journey to tech in a way that is honest, real and more importantly competent. I can not more highly rate this program and would encourage anyone who is considering Codesmith to go for it!

Cannot recommend this place enough.  Felt more like a summer camp than school.  Was super challenging and learned about 1-2 year's worth of self-taught material in 3 months.  I had a very strong background in analytics prior to coming here and had applied to over 100 jobs with no success.  After the program was over, I received 2 very, very good offers within weeks after having applied to just a handful of jobs.  I am now working at my dream job, a job I would never have landed without this experience.

The people make this place- everyone is very nice and facilitates an amazing learning community.  Job assistance is top notch.

This is not a bootcamp- it's a life-changing engineering immersive.  If you love being challenged, being surrounded by some of the most talented people in the country, while having a good time doing it, come here.

Just apply Codesmith. I’m a graduate from cohort 29. I guess many of you reading this review might have concerns. Maybe it’s not about 3 months of curriculum because anyone would’ve invested 3 months if they could become a decent software engineer within; I believe it must be the 18k tuition fee and some doubts that if it would work that way. However, results are just right at you. Almost every one of my family (cohort 29) and previous graduates are doing great in IT industry as a software engineer (can be easily found on LinkedIn). During 3 months, they taught me not only cutting-edge tech stacks (Javascript, React, and Redux), also how to think, speak, and behave like a software engineer. Everyday challenges made me develop my communicating and cooperating skills with my cohorts people. The system of Codesmith is just well-organized to help you in every single step to initiate your software engineer career such as how to write a professional resume and how to handle interviews with even negotiation skills. Now, I’m working as a full stack software engineer with full of satisfaction. Applying Codesmith was the best choice I’ve ever made in my life, and I would’ve definitely applied to Codesmith again if I go back. Don’t hesitate, be one of us.

Although I’ve never attended another bootcamp, based on my experience with talking to other friends that have attended other big name bootcamp (like App Academy), and by what I see the Codesmith staff do, I can confidently say Codesmith is likely one of the best if not the best program out there.First, I’ll talk about my thoughts on the curiculuum, life at CS, and the staff.The production project is what sets Codesmith and their graduates apart from other coding school graduates. Instead of creating a CRUD app, you spend 1 week as a group diving deep into various parts of the tech stack to learn at a deep level something that full time developers may not know much about. (Remember that the surface area of tech is very large and no one can be good at everything). As you research, your group will try to develop an application/library that helps with that particular technology. Once you start building and coding, you’ll get much more familiar about that piece of technology, which allows you to speak at a much deeper level and carry better conversations during your interview. If your team is interested in backend technology, your team might look into message brokers, such kakfa or rabbitmq, or look into new api technology, such as graphql. This is great because in your interview, you can now talk about that technology confidently because you spent a decent amount of your time learning and coding an open source project for it.In terms of landing your first dev job, the core curiculuum, which is done in the first half of the program, covers everything you need to know and more. The “and more” part is their unit on AWS, Docker, and Devops. I’m not sure if theres any other program that talks about devops.Life at CodesmithWhen your at Codesmith, you’ll be surrounded by people trying to achieve the same goal. At first, I thought that it was going to be super competitive since everyone is essentially competing for the same job. However, you quickly grow out of that mentality and everyone begins to help and teach each other what they know or learned from reading articles, etc. It’s much more effective for everyone in the cohort to help each other out because everyone will learn so much more and get there so much faster. A rising tide brings up all the boats.The staff is very helpful, is constantly working to improve their curiculuum, and just seems to do a lot of things well.In terms of improving their curiculuum, the devops/aws/docker unit is an example of how they consantly work to improve their curiculuum. Another example is that they will take feedback on the curiculuum and will act upon it and incorporate it into the lectures. No curiculuum at any bootcamp is perfect, however, if you decide to join Codesmith, I can guarantee you that your lectures and curiculuum will be better than when I went there.They were also able to coordinate community talks with very senior developers about their work at the Codesmith locations. A notable example is that they were able to get Felix Rieseberg, a senior staff software engineer and one of the founders of Electron to talk about Electron and also have a more private Q&A session with only codesmith students. Although people may overlook this bullet, since it really has nothing to do with whiteboarding, coding, etc, for my particular experience, it provided great insight for me into how an extremely senior developer thinks and talks about technology. This non-technical knowledge that you might learn just might give you an edge during an interview (remember that they are interviewing you for BOTH technical and non-technical aspects of the job)And of course the most important part is everyone that you meet during your stay at codesmith. The network and friends that you gain are invaluable to your success.

When I first came to Codesmith's "JavaScript the Easier Parts" I thought I had a decent foundation. I knew how to do a "for" loop. I knew that constant variables cannot be re-assigned. I felt like I was going to crush that workshop. And then...I heard the lead instructor Phil talk about 'execution context' and I had no idea what that meant. And what the heck is a call stack? 

It was at this point that I knew Codesmith truly went under the hood in explaining core Javascript concepts. So I kept coming back, week after week. Easier parts. Hard parts. CS Prep (their online 2-week prep program to help get you admitted to the 13-week residency).

Before I get ahead of myself, let me say this: Codesmith is not easy to get into. I don't have a tech background. All of this was new to me. But I finally got admitted in July 2019. If you're thinking about going to Codesmith I highly recommend it. Just know, that it is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to spend 12+ hours a day 6 days a week for 13 weeks. The true growth comes after the day technically ends at 8pm. You'd see juniors and seniors working in the conference rooms, going over data structures, algos, etc. 

The main reason why I chose Codesmith was the culture and the inclusive community. Everyone in the building is here to help you. They actually walk the walk. From the fellows, instructors, and your cohortmates, the support is there for you when you struggle. (Trust me, you will struggle). But the struggle is where the growth happens.

Before this goes too long, I'll just say this. If you're looking for a school to push you past your limits, apply for Codesmith. 

JSB is a great course to learn the fundamentals of Javascript. The environment is an immersive online room where everyone is participating and learning together. There are breakout sessions where you work one on one with one or more partners. JSB is perfect for someone who needs to get the fundamentals down. If you go on to do Codesmith's CS Prep course or the immersive program, the tuition you paid for JSB rolls over to those programs. JSB is an excellent way to start to get comfortable with techincal communication ,which would otherwise be difficult to do on your own. You also get tapped into an amazing community of people who are striving for the same thing that you are. I believe right now they have a free tuition opportunity for female identifying students. If that's you or you are just getting started with Javascript, you have no reason not to take this course! You will learn a lot and it will inspire you to continue your education towards becoming a software engineer!

Coming to Codesmith has been one of the best decisions I've made. The program makes a concerted effort to bring up students that are underrepresented in the STEM community. As a female and a member of the LGBTQ community, I felt absolutely at home at Codesmith. Not only do they make an active effort to include women in their cohorts and staff, but they tackle issues that women frequently face in engineering programs by including lectures on imposter syndrome and implicit bias in their curriculum. The effort that the program puts into inclusion shows - women and engineers from underrepresented backgrounds thrive here. I have made friends and allies at Codesmith that I plan on keeping in touch with for years to come. 

Through the 13 week program, I built applications that provide real utility to developers onboarding new technologies. I come from a non-technical marketing background, but I’ve always loved problem-solving and wanted to move into programming. After completion of the program, I have grown in ways that I never predicted and I feel prepared to enter the workforce as a technically strong, highly communicative, passionate software engineer.

 

Codesmith has been a life changing since I've been here.  Not only have I grown extremely close to all of my cohort mates but I've had the chance to build some incredible technology.  

The curriculum has an enormous focus on learning through pair-programming and solidifying that understanding through building apps/dev tools.  Without Codesmith's mentoring, guidance, and structure I don't think I would have had either the motivation or the engineering prowess to build a cli tool, npm module, and web app to convert React class components to functional components with hooks syntax.

I attended the Codesmith coding school, and I was appreciative that event the intial entrance process required me to grow as an engineer, but gave me the resources to do so. Throughout the program, I not only grew exponentially as an engineer, as a systems architect, as a problem solver, but also as a person. I'm thankful for the entire codesmith community I have around me, and the network this program has given me to move into my dream job. The hiring portion is so well-informed and so intentional, and I look forward to using these tools well into my career. 

I’m a total newbie and I want to be a software engineer.  I want to be prepared as much as I can before I dive deep into coding bootcamp.  After intensive research (ranking more than 15 schools), I concluded that Codesmith was the one for me.  I enrolled in their JavaScript for Beginners and was excited to take that first step in my coding journey.

I know that there’s a lot of free materials out there, but here are the reasons why I paid for the course (and why it’s worth it for me):

1. the tuition fees from Javascript Beginners get deducted when you take Codesmith’s next course (CSPrep or the 12 week immersive).  Since I’m going all the way to immersive, than I’m basically getting a free Basics course.    

2. The experience of doing pair programming which you can’t get by studying alone.  Pair programming brings a lot of benefits:

A) it helps you get unstuck if you encounter a problem that you can’t seem to solve.  As they say, 2 heads are better than one. 

B) it helps you develop those soft skills (communication) that are in high demand in software engineering jobs.  In fact, on day 1 our instructor (Jinsung, she’s awesome) insisted on these soft skills and helped us develop them.  Now, I automatically think not only on how to create code, but how to communicate it effectively to others. 

1. The camaraderie you develop with your cohort.  Codesmith’s values are about helping each other and forming a community.  And all my cohorts were very supportive and helpful. One group built a fantastic project using codes that were new to me.  So I asked if I could study what they did and they immediately sent me the code for my reference. We all have our group in slack and everyone is willing to help quickly.

2. Time.  Yes, I got to study the basics and build an adventure game in just 2 Saturdays.  If I studied on my own, then I wouldn’t have been able to achieve so much in such a short span of time.

3. Bonus: our instructor (Jinsung) and the intangibles she taught us in class.  She’s a great teacher. She taught us how to create code (not just learn how to code), to think like an engineer, and communicate our codes well.  I learned diagramming and technical communication. Things that are hard to learn from self study.

So, there you have it.  My 5 reasons as to why Codesmith’s JavaScript for Beginners is a great way to start your coding journey.

 

Before committing to Codesmith, I’ve researched and considered a lot of different programs.  I had realized that there were some reputable programs, while there were some questionable programs.  I was accepted to two reputable programs, but I knew that I wanted the most challenging experience and knew Codesmith was the right program for me.  

First, the outcome speaks for itself.  If you need objective evidence, review the CIRR report.  

Second, the production projects really stand apart from other programs.  The residents tackle and solve real problems faced by software engineers.  You develop a deep knowledge in one area of the technology (not working on projects like Facebook, Yelp or Airbnb clones which seems pretty popular at other programs).  This part really made a big difference in my decision.  

Third, the admission process was rigorous so I knew that the standards of the cohort would be high.  I wanted to be around smart, high potential people.  

Fourth, I didn’t know much at the time, but the hiring support has been amazing.  I can’t speak about other programs, but Codesmith been great so far in this aspect. In fact, I think that the outcome of this program is the result of its hiring program.  Every program teaches open source technologies like React, so what differentiates Codesmith from the rest is its hiring program.

If you want to take you skills from zero to 60, consider other programs.  But if you want to take your skills from 20 to 120, this is the program for you. 

 

 

I can't say enough good things about my experience with Codesmith. After graduating with my Bachelors in Computer Science, Codesmith was the next best step for me to go from a junior level to mid-level engineer. The atmosphere and learning environment that they've been able to create through the curriculum and JSHP shows their deep dedication to building and supporting the best engineers in the market. As a Codesmith Resident, I went from not being able to build out a full-stack application, to building out 4 of my own as well as a developer tool — working with bleeding-edge technology. If I had a chance to do it all over again, I would. After graduating, they helped me secure and negotiate a six-figure job with an amazing company in the heart of New York. 

I’m not sure I can do justice to the amazing people at CodeSmith but I’ll try my best.  I remember reading the awesome reviews about the CodeSmith program while I was in living abroad several years ago and I wished that I had the opportunity to be a part of all the awesomeness that was described. Fast forward to today and I can say that the I had a chance to get a small taste of the real thing and it is richer and more impactful than I could ever imagine.  I cannot say enough about the quality of the people - the teachers are caring, smart, and go above and beyond to help students.  The students, prospective students, and staff that I met at JS the hard parts were intelligent, kind, and really nice to be around.  The people at CodeSmith have done an excellent job of attracting the kind of people who you could imagine having life-long friendships with.  What you’ll find are people from all sorts of backgrounds and experiences.  One of the instructor at JS the hard parts was once homeless, another was a DJ, and another was a college dropout (and I’ve learned since that he was accepted at Google).  To me, this is a place of second chances.  In my technical interview, I wasn't asked about my previous work experience or my college degree or my age.  It seemed like the tests and questions were only to gauge  my motivation and  merit and I appreciated not having to talk about the bad decisions that I have made in my past.  

  So I didn’t pass my first technical interview because I didn’t prepare well enough for the communication component. I was given resources to help me prepare for a retest (you’re given 3 opportunities to pass) but because retaking the test meant missing the cohort that I was applying to, I had to give up a small dream I had of joining the immersive program altogether(I have a wife and child so I couldn’t wait). I’ve since found work at a small startup doing some application development and machine learning.  Yet, I do feel a sense of missing out on what I could have been and how much better I would be as a software engineer in the long term.    I have read so many books and watched so many tutorials over the years to be able to hazily understand Javascript but it took only a few hours at CodeSmith to finally truly understand callbacks,  classes, prototypes, functional programming, and other javascript concepts.  I can easily see how someone who has finished CodeSmith’s program can qualify for mid and senior level positions because they really do teach on a deep level in a way that helps you extend what you know and apply it to solve different kinds of problems.  If you are lucky enough to ever have the opportunity to study at CodeSmith, I would encourage you to do so. I wish I could. 

My first experience with Codesmith was with CSX and the weekly L.A. workshops, Intro to Javascript and Hard Parts. At the time, I was brand new to coding, my only experience being Code Academy's "Intro to Javascript" course which I had completed in the previous weeks. 

It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted to apply for the three month immersive program. But as much as I had learned attending Hard Parts and working through CSX, I knew I wasn't at the level I needed to be to pass the technical interview. 

So I signed up for CS Prep. The experience was great, and it definitely prepared me for the technical exam. Our instructor Shane was brand new, and there were a couple times when his inexperience was apparent. But overall, he was an excellent instructor - very familiar with the material, attentive and helpful, encouraging, etc. 

I definitely recommend CS Prep if you plan on applying for the immersive program. 

I took CS Prep from June 22nd - July 9th with the hope of getting into the Codesmith Software Engineering Immersive Program; with its money-back guarantee + tuition rollover, applying seemed like a no-brainer. After getting in, I very quickly realized the curriculum was a lot more difficult than any curriculum (mostly Codecademy and FreeCodeCamp) that I had encountered before. CS Prep did a great job of providing information on a lot of difficult concepts that these courses often skip entirely/gloss over, while still managing to make it accessible for a JS beginner such as myself. Also, the curriculum focused heavily on developing skills such as technical communication, pair programming, and problem-solving, all of which are super important for the immersive technical interview.

For me, the best part of CS Prep had to be the course instructor, Shane. Shane’s energy, enthusiasm for both teaching and JavaScript, and his dedication to the success of his students were what made the course such an amazing experience for me. Shane always had a great attitude in class that helped keep us all engaged, and was super easy to talk to when it came to asking questions, both relating to the coursework and outside stuff.

I ended up interviewing and getting into the immersive program soon after CS Prep ended, mostly because of how prepared the program made me feel for the interview. CS Prep's emphasis on developing better technical communication, problem solving skills, and pair programming ended up being a major help during the technical interview. While the actual coursework for the program is difficult, it’s possible to grow into a much stronger developer if you keep up with the work. Overall, I would completely recommend CS Prep to anyone who is hoping to further developed their JS skills and/or is considering applying to the immersive program.

I recently completed a cohort of CS Prep with Shane Taylor. It was an excellent experience for me - I had just come off the back of having failed the Immersive technical interview twice and needed to brush up on Javascript fundamentals, get more pair programming experience, and fill in the gaps in my technical communication vocabulary. Shane and CS Prep provided all this and more. Shane is a more-than-capable teacher and a very kind and empathetic person. Part of the course included recording videos of ourselves coding - and his feedback on our videos was thoughtful, rigorous and detailed. I would highly recommend CS Prep to anyone who has not yet passed their immersive technical interview!

I just finished CS Prep, a two-week online program offered by Codemith. I recommend CS Prep to those searching for a pre-cursor to a full-time bootcamp. 

CS Prep cohorts consist of 10 three-hour classes. Each class follows an efficient structure - first 30 mins are for individual coding practice; following 2 hours are for a lecture led by the main instructor; the final 30 mins are for pair programming.

The lectures are engaging and allow for active student participation. Most core topics are covered.

The pair programming sessions are invaluable. Students pair up and practice coding challenges together. Students alternate roles between challenges - one student verbalizes their thought process for solving a given problem, while the other student writes code to match the instructions. The routine reinforces comprehension and improves student's ability to logic through directives from others.  

Zero complaints. Two thumbs up. Drew

I went through Codesmith immersive program from December -> March 2019.  It was a very stressful decision for me, I left my pregnant wife and 2 year old in Montana and moved to Venice for the 3 months I was in codesmith.  I needed to make sure that it was worth my time and money.  I did extensive research (just like you are doing now because you're reading this review) and narrowed it down to a few.  I was looking for THE BEST program period.  It could have been anywhere in the country and price wasn't a huge factor.  I just needed the knowledge as quickly as possible.  The curriculum, community of people and staff took my skills to where they needed to be.  6 weeks after I graduated I landed a mid-level software engineering job at a very well known company with a total comp package of ~180k.  And almost all of my cohort-mates had a very similar result at the time of writing this review.  Keep in mind...I worked my ass off.  But the hard work was contagious in the cohort and everyday I was excited to dive deeper and push myself and everyone around me.  That's what Codesmith does best.  By the end of the 3 months I was a sobbing mess, leaving people that have become lifelong friends after our time at Codesmith.  Checkout easy parts/hard parts online or in person and it will give you a good idea of the curriculum.  The x factor that codesmith has is the community that it breeds, job search prep and hiring support.  If you work hard to get into codesmith, are able to put your ego aside go through this program working your hardest everyday, follow their advice on applying for jobs => You will succeed. Period.

Having done a TON of research on ALL the bootcamps, I feel very confident that 1) the Codesmith residency is the best 'bootcamp' availabile, and 2) I made the correct decision in choosing Codesmith (I applied and got into all the major alternatives). Here are the main reasons:

1) It's the hardest to get into. A lot of the program is pair-programming and projects. You have to struggle and build, and if you don't have smart, capable people around you, you won't get as much out of it,

2) The curriculum is geared towards projects. Not just 'build a commerce website', but projects that are impressive, applicable to developers, and look good on resumes,

3) Phil - the main instructor in New York, and Will - the founder - are both natural teachers and speakers that keep you engaged and help make complicated concepts digestable and relatable. But maybe even more importantly, they're both genuinely invested in you and your development and success. 

4) The culture - it's a fun place to be, and if you're going to be spending 80 hours a week somewhere, that's pretty important.

 

I just want to mention how phenomenal Codesmith was during my time there. 

Codesmith was my second bootcamp and it was an absolutely different experience compared to my first. The reason I'm writing this review is because I feel that Codesmith is a bootcamp that doesn't get the exposure it deserves in terms of their absolute dedication to software engineering excellence.

During my time as a resident, I had the pleasure of working on a major production project with three other engineers, one who graduated from Harvard in Data Science, specializing in Python and SQL databases, another who was the lead marketing manager for a technology startup, and the third had 10 years professional work experience as a DevOps engineer. Needless to say it was a different feeling here in terms of the type of residents/students coming to study here.

I was "partly" surprised about how patient all of my other cohort-mates/colleagues were, especially coming from their prestigious backgrounds. But the reason I say "partly" is because this is what makes the Codesmith community amazing. The community at Codesmith is as much about the culture as it is about the level of engineering. And that was something that made this bootcamp experience much more memorable and worth every penny and minute!!

The production project for me was the most rewarding piece because we built a developer tool to test the interoperability between a developer's different microservices. If someone was to tell me that I would have been technically able to build this before the program, I would have said they're crazy. But not only did I feel technically able to take on bigger challenges like this, I felt emotionally empowered too. 

Lastly, I just want to say everything, from top to bottom was amazing. Who would of thought someone like me, who started to learn how to code less than a year ago would be able to say I am a Codesmith graduate and a newly hired Software Engineer within the same week of graduating the program.