Coding Dojo

I applied and was accepted to the December Cohort in Dallas for Coding Dojo.  After trying to communicate with them after they happily took my $1,000 deposit, I was given the run around.  Because it was such a big investment and the communication was severely lacking (voicemails and emails unreturned), I decided to ask for a refund. 

No response.  Ironically, I got an email the week before the cohort was supposed to begin saying something along the lines of congratulations, 20% of people don't make it this far.  I responded saying I'm a part of the 20%, please return my deposit.  

My email was forwarded to someone else, who emailed asking if we could talk.  We set up a time for him to call on December 7th.  We spoke, he said he will get the refund processed.  Nothing.  I sent a text on December 29, 2019 saying we still haven't received a refund.  He gave me an email address to send a reminder to get it processed.  Which is ironic since he claimed it was being done on December 7th but it would take 30 days.  It's now January 28, almost a full month since I sent the email and still nothing.

At this point, I'm looking at a court action to get my $1,000.00 back.  

Learned more than I could've imagined in 14 weeks and definitely more than I did when I was trying to teach myself. The instructors are supportive, but always encouraging you to become a self-sufficient problem solver. This bootcamp made me fall in love with code and opened my eyes to the power of technology. I loved the 3 stack curriculum, but not sure if I would have a stronger foundation going into the job search market if I went to a bootcamp that focused on one. Overall though, great experience!

Amazing bootcamp with amazing people who just want you to strive and succeed. I've never attempted a bootcamp of any sort. This is going to push you past your limits and level you up as an individual, that is a fact. This was definitely worth it and extremely rewarding. I learned more than I could've hoped for from this program. Initially I tried to self-teach myself how to code but I had no idea where to start or what to do. They lay out an efficient step by step process and build you towards building applications in a matter of weeks. Thank the lord for coding dojo!

I took the Coding Dojo online course which met live online twice a week. When I graduated at the end of October, I felt like I'd just completed my first year at Hogwarts: I learned the existence of many things I hadn’t even imagined, studied hard, had my projects blow up in my face every other day, met some new great friends, faced difficult challenges with them and ultimately prevailed with the help of my magical and powerful instructors. It was challenging and rewarding and I feel like I’m becoming a more capable person who can now do some pretty cool things that I couldn’t do before. And there’s still so much more to learn! Do I think it’s perfect? No. Do I recommend it? Yes. 

First, right up front, Coding Dojo is not easy. I was warned that the program demands a lot of study time outside of class but it was even more demanding than I expected, mainly due to my own hectic work schedule. If you are going to enroll, be sure your schedule is clear and your loved ones will be supportive and not resentful of your absence… I found the schedule to be demanding and after months of coursework, the pace felt relentless. Having someone to give you moral support and who can cut you some slack on your home and social duties is very helpful. There were definitely those in my cohort who seemed to have an easier time than I and at least one who was consistently ahead of the rest of us, so I think I may have struggled a bit more than many. I had three instructors in my coursework and I am pleased to say that every instructor and TA I worked with demonstrated a genuine desire to help me learn and succeed. There are many choices out there for learning coding and when considering which one to take, my biggest worry was that I would not get my money’s worth. The instructors and staff at CD showed me many times that they are not about grabbing my money – they were flexible when they could be and gave me every chance to succeed.

Coding Dojo has a Learning Platform from which you get most of your information. The idea is that you read, watch videos and do assignments and then class is your chance to ask questions, build on what you’ve learned and work with a group to apply your knowledge. It’s important to keep up with the platform schedule because if you don’t, you don’t get as much out of the live class experience. The platform is nicely designed and pretty easy to navigate. The information could be a bit uneven at times… some areas went into very deep detail, others left me wanting a little more info that I found elsewhere. One of the things that impressed me about Coding Dojo is that they are constantly striving to improve the platform. If you think you’ve found an error, there’s a popup available on every page to report it. When my class told our instructor that an item could have been clearer or needed to be updated, he quickly updated the item with our recommendation right on the spot.

Other things I liked: like a martial arts dojo, they establish a tone of respect and humility that encourages learning by enabling students to admit what they don’t know. My instructors maintained their enthusiasm and positive attitude even at the times when I felt lost and/or incredibly stupid. Coding Dojo heavily promoted the idea of students teaching each other and I was admittedly dubious at first. I thought I'd be risking getting bad info from someone who didn't know what they were talking about or wasting my time teaching someone who was behind me instead of moving myself forward. As it turns out, I was completely wrong: I learned a great deal of useful things from my fellow students and my own understanding of the material was greatly enhanced when I tried explaining it to someone else. I also found that having a study buddy helped motivate me to put in more hours at the keyboard. I also discovered that I actually enjoy working as part of a team on coding projects, something I really did not expect. 

If I were to offer some constructive criticism, it would be to give individual feedback on our assignments. Other than the exams, I didn't get feedback on the many assignments I uploaded. I knew that they worked -- I tested them before I uploaded them -- but I would have liked to know if there was a much better way to have completed the assignment. 

I am in the early stages of portfolio preparation and job hunting so I don't have any feedback on that part as yet. 

Prior to the bootcamp I came from a marketing background with zero coding experience. I learned more at Coding Dojo than I thought was possible in 14 weeks. I have walked away with a plethora of new skills and I am so glad that I decided to go through this immersive program! With that said if you are planning to attend the bootcamp be prepared to put other priorities in your life on hold, you need to invest a significant amount of time into the course work if you want to get through the program. 

Coding Dojo works hard to stay up to date on all the newest in the tech industry, part of that being the instructors and business team that they find the best of the best for. Ensuring a strong instruction team, they are able to provide insightful and self suffcicent material and lectures to the students. The environment that they create in the collabortive classrooms encourages students to work together and learn what its like to work as a developer in the industry. The amount of material that they are able to cover in 3 short months, along with teaching students how to be self sufficient produces some of the best learners and developers. I wouldnt take back my experience at the Dojo for anything in the world. The genuine connections that I made throughout my time in the bootcamp has changed my life, and I feel fully prepared to enter the tech industry with all the resources that are provided to help me through that process.